Best Closers in MLB 2026

Source MLB StatcastThrough Oct 25, 202651 ranked closersRatings refreshed nightly

Cade Smith is the highest-rated closer in MLB 2026 on Legends Deck, at 95 overall. The top three are Cade Smith, Jhoan Duran, Mason Miller, ranked by a percentile transform of real 2026 Statcast data. Every player here is a playable card.

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Best closers2026 · 51 ranked

Every closer who played an MLB game in 2026, ranked by Legends Deck card rating, with team, pitching stats and Statcast numbers.
#	Player	OVR ▾	W	ERA	WHIP	K/9	BB/9	HR/9	xERA
1	Cade Smith	95	6	1.95	0.96	13.0	2.8	0.6	2.83	View card ›
2	Jhoan Duran	95	2	1.82	0.99	12.7	1.5	0.3	2.06	View card ›
3	Mason Miller	95	5	1.67	0.90	16.6	3.3	0.4	1.70	View card ›
4	Louis Varland	95	5	1.27	1.00	11.2	2.6	0.2	2.37	View card ›
5	Tanner Scott	92	1	2.69	0.99	11.6	2.1	0.6	3.03	View card ›
6	Josh Hader	92	4	1.01	0.76	11.1	3.0	0.2	1.93	View card ›
7	Mason Montgomery	92	6	2.88	1.03	13.8	3.4	0.8	2.53	View card ›
8	Trevor Megill	92	3	2.63	0.89	10.1	2.2	0.1	2.64	View card ›
9	Aroldis Chapman	92	3	1.92	1.12	12.4	4.0	0.5	2.64	View card ›
10	Bryan Baker	91	4	1.44	0.91	9.1	3.2	0.6	3.08	View card ›
11	Jacob Latz	91	3	2.13	0.81	10.4	2.9	0.8	2.66	View card ›
12	David Bednar	91	7	2.47	1.04	9.9	2.6	0.5	2.88	View card ›
13	Raisel Iglesias	88	1	2.55	1.08	9.6	2.5	0.9	3.50	View card ›
14	Jeff Hoffman	87	6	3.55	1.32	13.9	4.1	0.6	3.35	View card ›
15	Andrés Muñoz	85	5	4.24	1.22	14.0	3.8	1.4	3.27	View card ›
16	Rico Garcia	85	5	3.09	0.97	9.1	3.0	1.2	2.92	View card ›
17	Gregory Soto	84	6	3.63	1.16	10.6	3.9	0.7	3.03	View card ›
18	Bryan Hudson	83	5	3.74	1.28	7.9	2.4	0.7	3.20	View card ›
19	Devin Williams	83	3	4.43	1.57	11.5	4.7	0.7	3.22	View card ›
20	Calvin Faucher	82	5	3.56	1.32	9.6	4.9	0.1	3.65	View card ›
21	Emilio Pagán	82	5	3.38	1.03	9.5	2.3	1.5	3.42	View card ›
22	Robert Suarez	81	4	1.06	0.88	6.9	1.6	0.3	3.35	View card ›
23	Hogan Harris	81	4	3.33	1.45	11.3	5.4	1.0	3.73	View card ›
24	Seranthony Domínguez	80	5	3.63	1.24	9.4	4.5	1.3	3.65	View card ›
25	Bryan Abreu	79	6	3.73	1.36	11.5	5.9	1.3	4.12	View card ›
26	José A. Ferrer	79	4	4.18	1.47	7.5	2.8	1.0	4.09	View card ›
27	Jacob Webb	79	6	3.36	1.25	9.8	3.4	1.3	4.35	View card ›
28	Camilo Doval	79	3	4.15	1.48	9.8	4.9	1.0	3.76	View card ›
29	Kenley Jansen	79	4	3.20	1.04	10.2	4.6	1.4	3.60	View card ›
30	Andrew Kittredge	78	3	3.54	1.37	7.5	2.0	1.1	4.01	View card ›
31	Caleb Kilian	78	4	4.91	1.36	10.6	4.2	1.1	3.57	View card ›
32	Steven Cruz	77	2	4.30	1.26	10.0	3.1	2.1	4.06	View card ›
33	Riley O'Brien	74	3	4.08	1.28	9.0	4.1	0.7	4.99	View card ›
34	Daniel Palencia	72	2	3.64	1.21	9.1	3.3	1.2	3.76	View card ›
35	Paul Sewald	72	2	4.73	0.99	8.9	2.2	2.2	4.12	View card ›
36	Pete Fairbanks	71	4	6.31	1.35	12.4	4.6	1.7	4.42	View card ›
37	Jordan Romano	71	0	5.61	1.43	10.4	5.1	1.1	3.63	View card ›
38	Clayton Beeter	70	6	4.50	1.40	8.8	5.8	1.5	4.79	View card ›
39	Yoendrys Gómez	68	3	4.30	1.45	8.7	5.2	0.9	5.51	View card ›
40	Will Vest	67	3	6.08	1.43	9.1	3.4	0.7	3.98	View card ›
41	Dennis Santana	67	2	5.56	1.43	7.8	4.0	1.6	4.69	View card ›
42	Lucas Erceg	66	4	5.59	1.80	6.3	6.0	0.9	4.66	View card ›
43	Ryan Helsley	66	0	4.11	1.43	12.3	5.3	1.8	2.92	View card ›
44	Edwin Díaz	65	2	8.68	1.98	13.5	5.3	1.4	4.60	View card ›
45	Kyle Finnegan	64	3	4.30	1.66	7.0	5.0	1.5	5.77	View card ›
46	Joel Kuhnel	62	1	4.40	1.49	5.6	3.6	1.4	5.77	View card ›
47	Kodai Senga	60	0	7.34	1.65	11.0	6.0	2.0	5.37	View card ›
48	Alex Lange	59	2	6.75	1.63	9.0	5.0	1.9	5.44	View card ›
49	Seth Halvorsen	53	1	5.90	1.72	7.1	5.3	1.9	6.27	View card ›
50	Félix Bautista	45	0	—	3.00	16.2	5.4	5.4	6.31	View card ›
51	Carlos Estévez	45	0	—	18.00	0.0	54.0	27.0	29.59	View card ›

Best closers seasons, all-time

The best single seasons by a closer, 1,850 qualified seasons since 1913, ranked by ERA+ (100 x league ERA / pitcher ERA, same league-season, no park adjustment). Swipe the table sideways on mobile; filter by era below.

Era

Showing 136 of 136 ranked seasons

Best closers seasons, all-time: era-adjusted single-season leaderboard, Lahman 1871-2025
#	Player	Year	Team	ERA+	ERA	W	L	SV	SO	IP	K/9
1	Zack Britton	2016	BAL	782	0.54	2	1	47	74	67	9.9
2	Fernando Rodney	2012	TBA	677	0.6	2	2	48	76	74.7	9.2
3	Emmanuel Clase	2024	CLE	664	0.61	4	2	47	66	74.3	8.0
4	Dennis Eckersley	1990	OAK	636	0.61	4	2	48	73	73.3	9.0
5	Alex Colome	2020	CHA	549	0.81	2	0	12	16	22.3	6.4
6	Blake Treinen	2018	OAK	544	0.78	9	2	38	100	80.3	11.2
7	Jonathan Papelbon	2006	BOS	494	0.92	4	2	35	75	68.3	9.9
8	Rich Gossage	1981	NYA	474	0.77	3	2	20	48	46.7	9.3
9	Wade Davis	2015	KCA	428	0.94	8	1	17	78	67.3	10.4
10	Jose Mesa	1995	CLE	419	1.13	3	0	46	58	64	8.2
11	Brad Ziegler	2008	OAK	412	1.06	3	0	11	30	59.7	4.5
12	Craig Kimbrel	2012	ATL	392	1.01	3	1	42	116	62.7	16.7
13	John Smoltz	2003	ATL	382	1.12	0	2	45	73	64.3	10.2
14	Kirby Yates	2019	SDN	369	1.19	0	5	41	101	60.7	15.0
15	Koji Uehara	2013	BOS	366	1.09	4	1	21	101	74.3	12.2
16	Eric Gagne	2003	LAN	356	1.2	2	3	55	137	82.3	15.0
17	Rollie Fingers	1981	ML4	352	1.04	6	3	28	61	78	7.0
18	Dale Murray	1974	MON	350	1.03	1	1	10	31	69.7	4.0
19	Aroldis Chapman	2025	BOS	349	1.17	5	3	32	85	61.3	12.5
20	Kirby Yates	2024	TEX	344	1.17	7	2	33	85	61.7	12.4
21	Tim Burke	1987	MON	344	1.19	7	0	18	58	91	5.7
22	Josh Hader	2021	MIL	342	1.23	4	2	34	102	58.7	15.6
23	Josh Hader	2023	SDN	342	1.28	2	3	33	85	56.3	13.6
24	Hung-Chih Kuo	2010	LAN	335	1.2	3	2	12	73	60	11.0
25	Emmanuel Clase	2021	CLE	334	1.29	4	5	24	74	69.7	9.6
26	B. J. Ryan	2006	TOR	333	1.37	2	2	38	86	72.3	10.7
27	Armando Benitez	2004	FLO	333	1.29	2	2	47	62	69.7	8.0
28	Greg Holland	2013	KCA	330	1.21	2	1	47	103	67	13.8
29	Kenley Jansen	2017	LAN	329	1.32	5	0	41	109	68.3	14.4
30	Joe Nathan	2008	MIN	327	1.33	1	2	39	74	67.7	9.8
31	Drew Storen	2014	WAS	327	1.12	2	1	11	46	56.3	7.3
32	Ugueth Urbina	1998	MON	326	1.3	6	3	34	94	69.3	12.2
33	J. J. Putz	2007	SEA	326	1.38	6	1	40	82	71.7	10.3
34	Ryan Helsley	2022	SLN	323	1.25	9	1	19	94	64.7	13.1
35	Mariano Rivera	2005	NYA	316	1.38	7	4	43	80	78.3	9.2
36	Takashi Saito	2007	LAN	316	1.4	2	1	39	78	64.3	10.9
37	Jeremy Jeffress	2018	MIL	312	1.29	8	1	15	89	76.7	10.4
38	Edwin Diaz	2022	NYN	310	1.31	3	1	32	118	62	17.1
39	Mariano Rivera	2008	NYA	310	1.4	6	5	39	77	70.7	9.8
40	Craig Kimbrel	2013	ATL	309	1.21	4	3	50	98	67	13.2
41	Robb Nen	2000	SFN	309	1.5	4	3	41	92	66	12.5
42	Shigetoshi Hasegawa	2003	SEA	306	1.48	2	4	16	32	73	3.9
43	Craig Kimbrel	2017	BOS	304	1.43	5	0	35	126	69	16.4
44	Randy Myers	1997	BAL	303	1.51	2	3	45	56	59.7	8.4
45	Michael Jackson	1998	CLE	300	1.55	1	1	40	55	64	7.7
46	John Wetteland	1993	MON	295	1.37	9	3	43	113	85.3	11.9
47	Bruce Sutter	1977	CHN	291	1.34	7	3	31	129	107.3	10.8
48	Billy Wagner	1999	HOU	291	1.57	4	1	39	124	74.7	14.9
49	Felix Bautista	2023	BAL	290	1.48	8	2	33	110	61	16.2
50	Andrew Miller	2016	NYA	289	1.45	10	1	12	123	74.3	14.9
51	Joe Nathan	2006	MIN	288	1.58	7	0	36	95	68.3	12.5
52	Joe Nathan	2013	TEX	287	1.39	6	2	43	73	64.7	10.2
53	Joe Nathan	2004	MIN	286	1.62	1	2	44	89	72.3	11.1
54	Damaso Marte	2003	CHA	286	1.58	4	2	11	87	79.7	9.8
55	Trevor Hoffman	1998	SDN	286	1.48	4	2	53	86	73	10.6
56	Devin Williams	2023	MIL	285	1.53	8	3	36	87	58.7	13.3
57	Emmanuel Clase	2022	CLE	285	1.36	3	4	42	77	72.7	9.5
58	Terry Fox	1961	DET	285	1.41	5	2	12	32	57.3	5.0
59	Jeff Montgomery	1989	KCA	284	1.37	7	3	18	94	92	9.2
60	Billy Wagner	2010	ATL	281	1.43	7	2	37	104	69.3	13.5
61	Billy Wagner	2005	PHI	280	1.51	4	3	38	87	77.7	10.1
62	Robb Nen	1998	SFN	278	1.52	7	7	40	110	88.7	11.2
63	Jim Brewer	1972	LAN	273	1.26	8	7	17	69	78.3	7.9
64	Mariano Rivera	2003	NYA	273	1.66	5	2	40	63	70.7	8.0
65	Jim Kern	1979	TEX	268	1.57	13	5	29	136	143	8.6
66	Ken Tatum	1969	CAL	267	1.36	7	2	22	65	86.3	6.8
67	Steve Howe	1994	NYA	267	1.8	3	0	15	18	40	4.1
68	John Hiller	1973	DET	266	1.44	10	5	38	124	125.3	8.9
69	Ted Abernathy	1967	CIN	266	1.27	6	3	28	88	106.3	7.4
70	Mariano Rivera	1999	NYA	266	1.83	4	3	45	52	69	6.8
71	Al Worthington	1964	MIN	265	1.37	5	6	14	59	72.3	7.3
72	Roberto Hernandez	1996	CHA	261	1.91	6	5	38	85	84.7	9.0
73	Bryan Harvey	1991	CAL	256	1.6	2	4	46	101	78.7	11.6
74	Steve Howe	1983	LAN	252	1.44	4	7	18	52	68.7	6.8
75	Dennis Eckersley	1989	OAK	249	1.56	4	0	33	55	57.7	8.6
76	Dave Smith	1987	HOU	247	1.65	2	3	24	73	60	11.0
77	Frank Linzy	1965	SFN	247	1.43	9	3	21	35	81.7	3.9
78	Jesse Orosco	1983	NYN	246	1.47	13	7	17	84	110	6.9
79	Hoyt Wilhelm	1967	CHA	246	1.31	8	3	12	76	89	7.7
80	Tug McGraw	1980	PHI	246	1.46	5	4	20	75	92.3	7.3
81	Mel Rojas	1992	MON	245	1.43	7	1	10	70	100.7	6.3
82	Mark Eichhorn	1986	TOR	243	1.72	14	6	10	166	157	9.5
83	Jeff Brantley	1990	SFN	243	1.56	5	3	19	61	86.7	6.3
84	Bob Apodaca	1975	NYN	243	1.49	3	4	13	45	84.7	4.8
85	Jeff Russell	1992	TEX	242	1.63	4	3	30	48	66.3	6.5
86	Rich Gossage	1977	PIT	241	1.62	11	9	26	151	133	10.2
87	Bob Lee	1964	LAA	240	1.51	6	5	19	111	137	7.3
88	Roberto Hernandez	1992	CHA	239	1.65	7	3	12	68	71	8.6
89	Joe Hoerner	1966	SLN	234	1.54	5	1	13	63	76	7.5
90	Terry Fox	1962	DET	232	1.71	3	1	16	23	58	3.6
91	Frank Linzy	1967	SFN	224	1.51	7	7	17	38	95.7	3.6
92	Phil Regan	1966	LAN	223	1.62	14	1	21	88	116.7	6.8
93	Darold Knowles	1972	OAK	223	1.37	5	1	11	36	65.7	4.9
94	Eddie Watt	1969	BAL	220	1.65	5	2	16	46	71	5.8
95	Sparky Lyle	1974	NYA	218	1.66	9	3	15	89	114	7.0
96	Al Hrabosky	1975	SLN	218	1.66	13	3	22	82	97.3	7.6
97	Dick Hyde	1958	WS1	216	1.75	10	3	18	49	103	4.3
98	Ellis Kinder	1953	BOS	216	1.85	10	6	27	39	107	3.3
99	Ken Sanders	1970	ML4	212	1.75	5	2	13	64	92.3	6.2
100	Johnny Murphy	1941	NYA	210	1.98	8	3	15	29	77.3	3.4
101	Ryne Duren	1959	NYA	206	1.88	3	6	14	96	76.7	11.3
102	Al Benton	1949	CLE	198	2.12	9	6	10	41	135.7	2.7
103	Hersh Freeman	1955	CIN	187	2.16	7	4	11	37	91.7	3.6
104	Ryne Duren	1958	NYA	186	2.02	6	4	20	87	75.7	10.3
105	Wilcy Moore	1927	NYA	181	2.28	19	7	13	75	213	3.2
106	Lindy McDaniel	1960	SLN	180	2.09	12	4	26	105	116.3	8.1
107	Ace Adams	1942	NY1	180	1.84	7	4	11	33	88	3.4
108	Joe Berry	1944	PHA	177	1.94	10	8	12	44	111.3	3.6
109	Joe Heving	1944	CLE	176	1.96	8	3	10	46	119.7	3.5
110	Joe Black	1952	BRO	174	2.15	15	4	15	85	142.3	5.4
111	Marv Grissom	1954	NY1	173	2.35	10	7	19	64	122.3	4.7
112	Dutch Leonard	1952	CHN	173	2.16	2	2	11	37	66.7	5.0
113	Gerry Staley	1959	CHA	172	2.24	8	5	14	54	116.3	4.2
114	Jim Konstanty	1955	NYA	171	2.32	7	2	11	19	73.7	2.3
115	Dave Jolly	1954	ML1	168	2.43	11	6	10	62	111.3	5.0
116	Ray Narleski	1954	CLE	167	2.22	3	3	13	52	89	5.3
117	Turk Farrell	1957	PHI	163	2.38	10	2	10	54	83.3	5.8
118	Joe Page	1949	NYA	162	2.59	13	8	27	99	135.3	6.6
119	Ellis Kinder	1951	BOS	162	2.55	11	2	14	84	127	6.0
120	Jack Russell	1933	WS1	159	2.69	12	6	13	28	124	2.0
121	Jack Quinn	1931	BRO	145	2.66	5	4	15	25	64.3	3.5
122	Garland Braxton	1927	WS1	140	2.95	10	9	13	96	155.3	5.6
123	Firpo Marberry	1924	WS1	137	3.09	11	12	15	68	195.3	3.1
124	Clint Brown	1937	CHA	135	3.42	7	7	18	51	100	4.6
125	Firpo Marberry	1926	WS1	134	3.0	12	7	22	43	138	2.8
126	Charles Bender	1913	PHA	133	2.21	21	10	13	135	236.7	5.1
127	Firpo Marberry	1925	WS1	127	3.47	9	5	15	53	93.3	5.1
128	Clint Brown	1939	CHA	119	3.88	11	10	18	41	118.3	3.1
129	Clint Brown	1940	CHA	119	3.68	4	6	10	23	66	3.1
130	Johnny Murphy	1938	NYA	113	4.24	8	2	11	43	91.3	4.2
131	Wilcy Moore	1931	BOS	113	3.88	11	13	10	37	185.3	1.8
132	Firpo Marberry	1932	WS1	112	4.01	8	4	13	66	197.7	3.0
133	Johnny Murphy	1937	NYA	111	4.17	13	4	10	36	110	2.9
134	Dick Coffman	1938	NY1	109	3.48	8	4	12	21	111.3	1.7
135	Johnny Murphy	1939	NYA	105	4.4	3	6	19	30	61.3	4.4
136	Al Benton	1940	DET	99	4.42	6	10	17	50	79.3	5.7

Starter seasons: IP >= the league's scheduled games that year (1 inning per scheduled team game); relief seasons: IP >= one-third of that bar. Closer seasons additionally require 10+ saves. Era adjustment is league-season normalization only, not park-adjusted; WAR-style value is tracked separately.

How this leaderboard is built

Legends Deck rates every closer using real 2026 Statcast data. For pitchers, the key inputs are fastball velocity, spin rate, expected ERA (xERA), xwOBA against, put-away rate, and zone control. No scout opinions, no card-by-card tuning: the same fixed pipeline for every player.

Full methodology: How Legends Deck card ratings work. Or read the ranked breakdown: Best Closers in MLB 2026.

The historical board above covers 1871-2025 and is built from the SABR/Lahman database (CC BY-SA): a season counts at a position when the player played the most games there that year, and seasons where pitching made up at least half of a player's games stay on the pitcher boards. Rankings use league-season-normalized OPS+ and ERA+ (no park adjustment); WAR-style value rankings are planned separately and not used here yet.

Questions

Who is the best closer in MLB 2026?

Cade Smith is the highest-rated closer in MLB 2026 on Legends Deck. The top three are Cade Smith, Jhoan Duran, Mason Miller, ranked by a percentile transform of real Statcast data refreshed nightly.

How are MLB closers ranked on Legends Deck?

Pitchers are scored on a percentile-normalized blend of fastball velocity, spin rate, expected ERA (xERA), xwOBA against, put-away rate, and zone control — pulled live. No editorial weights, just math.

All positions ›

Best Closers in MLB 2026

Source MLB StatcastThrough Oct 25, 202651 ranked closersRatings refreshed nightly

Player

Team

OVR ▾

ERA

WHIP

K/9

BB/9

HR/9

xERA

Cade Smith

1.95

0.96

13.0

2.8

0.6

2.83