List of Major League Baseball career saves leaders

In baseball statistics, a relief pitcher is credited with a save (denoted by SV) who finishes a game for the winning team under certain prescribed circumstances. Most commonly a pitcher earns a save by entering in the ninth inning of a game in which his team is winning by three or fewer runs and finishing the game by pitching one inning without losing the lead.^[1]

Mariano Rivera, the all-time leader in saves.

Mariano Rivera^[2][3][4] is the all-time leader in saves with 652. Rivera and Trevor Hoffman^[5] are the only pitchers in MLB history to save more than 600 career games. Lee Smith,^[6] Kenley Jansen,^[7] Craig Kimbrel,^[8] Francisco Rodríguez,^[9] John Franco,^[10] and Billy Wagner^[11] are the only other pitchers to save more than 400 games in their careers.

Key

Rank	Rank amongst leaders in career saves. A blank field indicates a tie.
Player (2025 SV)	Number of saves during the 2025 Major League Baseball season
SV	Total career saves
*	Denotes elected to National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bold	Denotes active player.[note 1]

List

Kenley Jansen is the active leader in career saves and 4th all-time. He is also 1 of 2 active players with 400 or more saves.

• Stats updated as of August 17, 2025.

Rank	Player (2025 SV)	SV
1	Mariano Rivera*	652
2	Trevor Hoffman*	601
3	Lee Smith*	478
4	Kenley Jansen (23)	470
5	Craig Kimbrel (0)	440
6	Francisco Rodríguez	437
7	John Franco	424
8	Billy Wagner*	422
9	Dennis Eckersley*	390
10	Joe Nathan	377
11	Jonathan Papelbon	368
12	Jeff Reardon	367
13	Troy Percival	358
14	Aroldis Chapman (22)	357
15	Randy Myers	347
16	Rollie Fingers*	341
17	John Wetteland	330
18	Francisco Cordero	329
19	Fernando Rodney	327
20	Roberto Hernández	326
21	Huston Street	324
22	José Mesa	321
23	Todd Jones	319
24	Rick Aguilera	318
25	Robb Nen	314
26	Tom Henke	311
27	Goose Gossage*	310
28	Jeff Montgomery	304
29	Doug Jones	303
30	Jason Isringhausen	300
	Bruce Sutter*	300
32	Armando Benítez	289
33	José Valverde	288
34	Rod Beck	286
35	Bob Wickman	267
36	Mark Melancon	262
37	Todd Worrell	256
38	Dave Righetti	252
39	Edwin Díaz (24)	249
40	Dan Quisenberry	244
41	Raisel Iglesias (19)	243
42	Sparky Lyle	238
43	Ugueth Urbina	237
44	Joakim Soria	229
45	Hoyt Wilhelm*	228
46	Josh Hader (28)	227
47	Brad Lidge	225
48	Greg Holland	220
49	Gene Garber	218
50	Gregg Olson	217

Rank	Player (2025 SV)	SV
51	Dave Smith	216
52	Rafael Soriano	207
53	Brian Fuentes	204
54	Jeff Shaw	203
55	Bobby Thigpen	201
56	Mike Henneman	193
57	Mitch Williams	192
58	Roy Face	191
	Keith Foulke	191
60	J. J. Putz	189
61	Mike Marshall	188
62	Éric Gagné	187
	Eddie Guardado	187
64	Jeff Russell	186
65	Steve Bedrosian	184
	Kent Tekulve	184
67	Emmanuel Clase (24)	182
	Danny Graves	182
69	Tug McGraw	180
70	Jim Johnson	178
	Ron Perranoski	178
72	Kevin Gregg	177
	Bryan Harvey	177
	David Robertson (0)	177
75	Lindy McDaniel	174
76	Bobby Jenks	173
77	Jeff Brantley	172
	Brian Wilson	172
79	Heath Bell	168
80	Billy Koch	163
81	Alex Colomé	159
	Roger McDowell	159
83	Tom Gordon	158
	Dan Plesac	158
85	Jay Howell	155
	Roberto Osuna	155
87	Zack Britton	154
	John Smoltz*	154
89	Cody Allen	153
	Stu Miller	153
91	Don McMahon	152
92	Greg Minton	150
93	Ted Abernathy	149
94	Willie Hernández	147
95	Dave Giusti	145
96	John Axford	144
	Santiago Casilla	144
	Jesse Orosco	144
	Mike Williams	144
100	Clay Carroll	143
	Darold Knowles	143

Notes

1. A player is considered inactive if he has announced his retirement or has not played for a full season.