Mariano Rivera built his Hall of Fame resumé with nearly two decades of dominant work, the vast majority of it coming in the ninth inning.
The Yankees closer recorded 652 saves in his legendary career, establishing a Major League record that is likely to stand for years to come.
But what if Rivera was breaking into the Majors today? Would he have had the opportunity to pile up that impressive save total? Based on the way many clubs are utilizing their best relief arms these days, that seems unlikely.
“Matchup cards are overriding the traditional closer role,” an American League executive said. “The fan in me doesn’t like it, but it’s a well-supported strategy.”
That’s not to say that the “traditional closer” role has disappeared altogether. San Diego's Mason Miller has been the best reliever in the game, and each of his first 11 appearances this season has come either in a save situation or in the ninth inning of a tie game.
Miller, David Bednar, Jhoan Duran, Aroldis Chapman, Jordan Romano and Devin Williams are the only pitchers on their respective teams to earn a save in 2026 as their clubs continue to employ a conventional ninth-inning mentality for their ace relievers.
The other 24 teams? For some of them, their bullpen usage has been anything but traditional.
Through the first 23 games of this season, 86 pitchers have earned at least one save, the highest total in any season since 2000. The next closest total in any season during the past quarter century came in 2022, when 77 pitchers had earned at least one save by this point in the year.
“We're all trying to find opportunities to put our best arms, our best out-getters, against the other team's best hitters, because those are the leverage moments,” an AL executive said. “Whether it's deploying your best reliever in the eighth inning because he's going to face the heart of the order, or even running out an opener to make sure he faces the top of the order, that can matter more than doing it in the ninth against the 7-8-9 hitters.”
The change in bullpen usage by most teams is hardly a fad; it’s been trending in this direction for the past few seasons.
“I think the traditional roles of there's a seventh-inning guy, eighth-inning guy and ninth-inning guy, you still can do it if you have the right pieces,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “But the way bullpens are built today, I think everybody's in a very versatile role. It's a real thing, whereas 20 years ago, it was not a thing; the closer waited until the ninth inning.”
In each of the past four seasons, more than 200 pitchers recorded at least one save, something that had never happened prior to 2022. That season also saw a record 130 relievers earn multiple saves, part of a five-year run (2021-25) that had no fewer than 112 pitchers record multiple saves each season -- the five highest totals in the game’s history.
Last season, eight teams had at least six pitchers with multiple saves, matching the total number of teams with that distinction between 2000-17.
The Diamondbacks led the way with nine multi-save relievers, while a total of 17 Arizona pitchers earned at least one save -- both of those establishing a new big league record. Injuries certainly played a part in both of those figures, but Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen acknowledged that the “traditional closer” is becoming a thing of the past.
“The days of guys running a closer out there three days in a row in April, it just doesn't happen,” Hazen said. “Nobody does that anymore, so everybody needs to have a backup closer to be able to pitch in those environments. We're no different, [but] I don't think you want more than two or three -- and you certainly don't want 17.”
One NL executive pointed to Andrew Miller’s time with the Yankees and Cleveland as a turning point in this area. After a very successful season as New York’s closer in 2015, Miller moved into a “fireman” role the following year when the Yankees traded for Aroldis Chapman, who was coming off of four All-Star seasons as the Reds' closer.
Miller became a versatile weapon for then-manager Joe Girardi, who would call on the left-hander in any situation from the sixth inning on, often deploying him against the heart of the opponent's lineup. When Miller was traded to Cleveland that summer, Terry Francona took the same approach with the southpaw.
“The most important spot in the game can come in the seventh, eighth or ninth -- or even earlier,” the NL exec said. “A lot of times, thinking about how to maximize how many games you can win in a homestand, a road trip or a single series dictates using a different guy in the ninth based on the part of the lineup, pinch-hitters available and other factors.”
Many relievers through the years have appeared more comfortable pitching only in save situations, though that has become less of an issue as bullpen usage has evolved. Relievers are being used differently in the Minors, preventing them from acquiring the “closer’s mentality” that many of their predecessors have had.
“There are certain guys that are really regimented and routine-oriented,” an AL executive said. “Chapman is a good example; he wants to pitch the ninth. He believes in his mind that that's the most important time of the game for him to come in -- to get those last three outs. There's nothing you can say, do or show him that will change his mind. There has to be player buy-in, and I think it starts at the lowest levels. Emphasizing to players, ‘We're going to deploy you in a way where you can get important outs for us.’ That's something that has to be communicated time and time again.”
Counting stats such as saves can play a big role in salary arbitration hearings, which could be a motivating factor for pitchers wanting save opportunities. But the “shift in culture,” as one AL executive called it, has started to make players understand that facing the meat of a lineup in the eighth inning might be the true “save” situation.
“If, in the eighth inning, your top reliever is pitching to some combination of [Aaron] Judge, [Giancarlo] Stanton and [Ben] Rice, that’s a better outcome than pitching the ninth against the bottom of the Yankees’ order,” an AL executive said. “I think we're in a transitionary phase; it's becoming more common and mainstream to do it that way, but it's still a work in progress.”