Apologies to Cade Smith and Hunter Gaddis, but we’re only ranking the closers here rather than all relief pitchers, so this piece won’t be a Cleveland takeover. Even with that caveat, though, there are far more talented closers than spots available below.
To be clear, these aren’t fantasy baseball rankings, and the number of saves each player on this list will tally is only part of the equation. Swing-and-miss stuff, consistency, reliability, availability and a track record of ninth-inning success all have to be taken into account, considering how volatile relievers can be from year to year.
Also, if you nearly won the Cy Young Award as a reliever last season, that doesn’t hurt a player’s case, either.
Our eight-part position player series continues with the top 10 closers entering the 2025 season.
2024 stats: 3-7, 2.12 ERA, 59.1 IP, 77 K, 0.7 fWAR
2025 ZiPS projections: 7-3, 2.62 ERA, 58.1 IP, 79 K, 1.0 fWAR
Among relievers with at least 20 saves last season, the only pitcher who held opponents to a lower batting average than Muñoz (.153) was Kirby Yates (.113). Muñoz ranked in the 90th percentile or better in chase rate, whiff rate, strikeout rate and ground-ball percentage. Opponents hit worse than .200 against all three of his offerings, but his slider is what sets him apart. He held hitters to a .138 batting average and struck out 49 batters with the pitch. If he’s healthy, he’s a top-10 closer.
2024 stats: (Injured – DNP)
2025 ZiPS: 5-2, 2.56 ERA, 52.2 IP, 73 K, 26 SV, 1.0 fWAR
Bautista was, quite simply, the most overpowering pitcher in baseball the last time we saw him. In 2023, his fastball averaged 99.5 mph and his strikeout rate was an absurd league-leading 46.4%. After missing all of last year recovering from Tommy John surgery, can he get that velocity back? And if he doesn’t, can he still be a dominant force? We’re about to find out.
2024 stats: 9-6, 1.75 ERA, 72 IP, 84 K, 22 SV, 1.6 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 9-4, 2.92 ERA, 67.2 IP, 83 K, 25 SV, 1.1 fWAR
Considering the number of Dodgers relievers who could also work into the ninth inning role, Scott may not end up with the saves total as other players in these rankings. In terms of talent, though, he is deserving of this placement — if not even higher — which is why he earned a four-year, $72 million commitment from the Dodgers this winter. The left-hander ranked second in bWAR behind only Emmanuel Clase last year and leads all relievers in fWAR over the last two years.
2024 stats: 6-2, 1.95 ERA, 69.1 IP, 68 K, 34 SV, 1.6 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 5-3, 2.83 ERA, 57.1 IP, 65 K, 33 SV, 0.8 fWAR
He’s 35 now but appears to be aging like fine wine. Of the six pitchers who recorded at least 34 saves last season, Iglesias and Emmanuel Clase were the only ones with an ERA under 2.00. Iglesias’ strikeout rate has steadily declined from the 37.7% mark he posted four years ago, but his production hasn’t waned. His 1.95 ERA, 0.74 WHIP and .160 opponents’ batting average were all career-best marks last season, and he did.
2024 stats: 6-4, 3.52 ERA, 53.2 IP, 84 K, 20 SV, 1.1 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 6-3, 2.95 ERA, 55 IP, 81 K, 36 SV, 1.1 fWAR
In his first year back from a torn patellar tendon, he didn’t miss bats the same way he did in 2022. Nonetheless, Díaz was still an elite closer down the stretch following a disastrous month of May, a stint on the injured list and a sticky-stuff ban in June. In the second half, Diaz held opponents to a .158 batting average and a .509 OPS while registering the highest strikeout rate among qualified relievers (44.3%).
2024 stats: 8-8, 3.80 ERA, 71 IP, 105 K, 34 SV, 0.9 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 8-4, 3.03 ERA, 62.1 IP, 90 K, 33 SV, 0.9 fWAR
It might’ve been easy to miss after his inauspicious start to the year, but Hader led all relievers in strikeouts in 2024. While his hard-hit rate and 12 home runs surrendered were a bit concerning, his unseemly 3.80 ERA was also a bit misleading, as his expected ERA was more than a full run better and his WHIP was even lower than it was the season prior, when he had a 1.28 ERA as an All-Star in San Diego.
2024 stats: 7-4, 2.04 ERA, 66.1 IP, 79 K, 49 SV, 2.3 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 7-3, 2.77 ERA, 61.2 IP, 75 K, 35 SV, 1.0 fWAR
It’s pretty simple: When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best relievers in baseball. Last year, he led the majors with a franchise-record 49 saves. At one point, he converted 31 consecutive saves in a row. While his strikeout rate dipped from prior years, only two relievers (Bryan Abreu and Tyler Kinley) recorded more strikeouts on their slider last season. Plus, it clearly didn’t prevent him from doing his job.
2024 stats: 2-2, 2.49 ERA, 65 IP, 104 K, 28 SV, 2.3 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 3-1, 2.81 ERA, 64 IP, 93 K, 30 SV, 1.2 fWAR
It feels silly not putting a city name next to “Athletics.” Anyway, it’s one thing to throw absolute cheddar the way Miller does; it’s another to turn that into a 41.8% strikeout rate, by far the best among all relievers last season. His absurd start to the season — he had a 0.89 ERA and a negative FIP (-0.13) through his first 16 outings — was unsustainable in his first year as the A’s closer, but he still ended the year with the lowest expected ERA in MLB (1.77).
2024 stats: 1-0, 1.25 ERA, 21.2 IP, 38 K, 14 SV, 0.8 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 5-2, 2.64 ERA, 44.1 IP, 61 K, 31 SV, 0.8 fWAR
OK, so the season didn’t end the way either of the top two players on this list would’ve liked. For Williams, it didn’t begin the way he would’ve preferred, either. But in between the back injury that cost him the first four months of the season and the stunning four-run implosion in the wild-card series against the Mets, Williams and his “Airbender” changeup were in typical dominant form. From the time he returned to action on July 28 until the end of the regular season, he ranked second among relievers in strikeout rate. And prior to the Mets’ playoff outburst, Williams had allowed just three runs and one home run all year.
2024 stats: 4-2, 0.61 ERA, 74.1 IP, 66 K, 47 SV, 2.2 fWAR
2025 ZiPS: 6-1, 2.15 ERA, 71 IP, 70 K, 34 SV, 1.4 fWAR
I mean, just look at that ERA. It takes a particularly special season from a reliever to finish third in Cy Young voting. Of course, the eight runs and three home runs he surrendered in eight postseason innings made for a bitter end to an otherworldly 2024 campaign, but it doesn’t change the fact that he had allowed just five earned runs and two home runs all year in the regular season. Last year was Clase’s third straight season with at least 40 saves. Over that three-year stretch, he has a league-leading 133 saves — 30 more than the next closest player on the list.
Honorable Mentions: Jhoan Duran, Jeff Hoffman, Ryan Walker, Robert Suarez
Rowan Kavner is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at @RowanKavner.
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