Whats bonkers is how hes divvied up the thefts evenly between the NL and AL. These are seemingly small differences, but the impact it has had on the game is significant. Cron was the first 2023 NL Player of the Week, but he has cratered since and entered Sunday with a .681 OPS -- though in a hopeful sign for the Rockies, he went 3-for-5 with a double and a homer against the D-backs to end the month of April. Scouting Director: Brad Ciolek. All advice, including picks and predictions, is based on individual commentators opinions and not that of Minute Media or its related brands. Is your team acing -- or flunking -- the early part of the MLB season? A pitcher can still receive either a win or a loss (or a no-decision) after recording a blown save, depending on the ensuing results. He had to pitch at least three or more effective innings and preserve the lead. Please Gamble Responsibly. All-time blown saves leader Goose Gossage blew 112 saves in his 22-year career. ", "saves blown," "saves lost," "blown leads in save situations". Marte had 22 steals for the Marlins before he was dealt to the As in July. Do you have a sports website? Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. He has a 5.75 ERA with nine walks in 20 . Full-year historical Major League statistics provided by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette of Hidden Game Sports. The conversion rate doesnt necessarily indicate that closers are performing worse: Thankfully using leverage index, we can see how pitchers are performing in save, or save-like, situations. A save can only be attributed to the pitcher getting the last out. To put that number in context, the great Mariano Rivera, MLBs all-time saves leader, blew 80 saves in his entire 19-year career. As long as relievers are being used more, the number of total blown saves will increase along with it. All Rights Reserved. Sunday Notes: Bill Haselman Recalls the Brawl That Almost Broke Cal's Streak, Effectively Wild Episode 2000: We Thought of More Things We Like About Baseball, The Sleeper and the Bust Episode: 1169 Sunday FAAB ft. Michael Govier, Starting Pitchers Arent Leaning On Their Best Pitches, Late Inning Leads Are Becoming Less Secure, Effectively Wild Episode 1729: Thats Just Like, Your Opinion, Man. Using league-average values has its flaws, but at a high level its safe to say that most starters should be on a short leash once they get through the order twice. That makes him just the sixth catcher in history with a 40-homer season and the first since the Braves Javy Lopez hit 43 in 2003. You can bet online while youre watching a Chicago Cubs game on TV, streaming a Kansas City Royals game on your computer, or tracking the score of a New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game on your phone. Lopez and Roy Campanella (1953) are the only other catchers with a 40-homer season at age 31 or older, and both of them had at least one other 30-homer season in their career. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. . This practice is in marked contrast to earlier patterns of bullpen usage, where the relief ace would be used in all situations where the game was close, either with his team in the lead, or tied, or trailing by one or two runs, and often for two or three innings or more. This season, the league-average FIP for starters on their third time around is 4.66. 0:41. * Home Games qualifier is In the modern era, dating back to 1901, there have been 34 times in which a pitcher plunked at least 20 batters in a season, most recently when the Cubs Kerry Wood hit 21 batters in 2003. The first number is Ohtanis slugging percentage as a hitter. When high leverage innings come around, they want to have the absolute best options available. It's important to remember this when assessing closers based on their blown saves. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. All logos are the trademark & property of their owners and not Sports Reference LLC. Blown saves were introduced as a statistic in 1988 as a counterbalance for the statistic "saves. Consider the alternative. View 2021 MLB Pitching stats, Pitching leaders & player - Earned Run Average Pitching statistics. Statistical data provided by Gracenote. 2002 Rangers, 33 3. is the number of hit batsmen for Padres pitcher Austin Adams. Physically present in AZ/CO/CT/IL/IN/IA/KS/LA (select parishes)/MA/MD/MI/NH/NJ/NY/OH/OR/PA/TN/VA/WV/WY only. As we near October and the stakes get higher, teams with a reliable bullpen could have an even bigger edge than in the past. (tie) 1973 Braves, 321996 White Sox, 325. Bryce Harpers NL MVP odds improving. That the Phillies are still in postseason contention in spite of all the blown saves is oddly impressive. Which players and teams have the most blown saves during the 2023 MLB season? They probably didnt like what they saw, meaning Scott could enter spring training as the de facto closer next year. All major league baseball data including pitch type, velocity, batted ball location, Elephant Rumblings: Ramon Laureano returns, but losing streak continues. Its a lot different allowing an inherited runner on third with nobody out to score compared to coming in with a guy on first with two outs. Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Hes already broken Wei-Yin Chens record of 49 plate appearances without reaching base by hit, walk or hit-by-pitch, which was set in 2016 with the Marlins. A save (abbreviated SV or S) is a statistic awarded to a relief pitcher, often called a closer, who enters the game under certain conditions and maintains his team's lead until the end of the game. Statistics. Logos were compiled by the amazing SportsLogos.net. Thats well above relief pitchers average of 4.19. Do you have a sports website? But this is ridiculous. Well, this is the opposite of that. This season, however, has seen a ton of blown leads in late innings. Well, Grandals batting average is just .230. With 69 walks and 49 hits, Grandal is on pace to become just the 10th player in history with more than 60 walks and fewer than 60 hits. A relief pitcher in a hold situation, however, will get tagged with a blown save if he gives away the lead in that outing. And depending on how these last few weeks go, it could be historic. For more information, please read our Legal Disclaimer. TeamRankings.com is solely responsible for this site but makes no guarantee about the accuracy or completeness of the information herein. The Rays converted just one of three opportunities, elevating their blown saves total to an MLB-worst 36. I like the shutdown/meltdown stat a lot, but its kind of hard to explain to someone. Remember, though: Weve got some games left. Williams allowed two walks before giving up a base hit against the Marlins and allowing both runners to score. But enough hyperventilating. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Data Provided By 2021 Starting Pitchers . Ugh. There isnt just one weak link snapping over and over, but rather six different relievers have been charged with at least one blown save. The same cant be said for Shawn Armstrongs performance against Cleveland. It's also accessible from the RosterResource drop-down menu and from any . According to Elias, this marked the first time since 1894 that two teams had road losing streaks of 20 games or more. any player Yeah,, Ive been calling that a blown hold with my friends, but obviously thats a fake stat. Weve long known the Rockies are a different ballclub at Coors Field. Thats an expanse as wide as the Rocky Mountains. is the times Dodgers (and former Nationals) pitcher Max Scherzer has reached base in 53 plate appearances. Stolen Bases When the runner advances one base unaided by a hit, a putout, an error, a force-out, a fielder's choice, a passed ball, a wild pitch, or a balk. Toronto Blue Jays (18-10, third in the AL East) vs. Boston Red Sox (15-14, fourth in the AL East), Chicago Cubs (14-13, third in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (10-17, fifth in the NL East), Cleveland Guardians (13-15, second in the AL Central) vs. New York Yankees (15-14, fifth in the AL East), Philadelphia Phillies (15-13, fourth in the NL East) vs. Los Angeles Dodgers (16-13, second in the NL West), San Francisco Giants (11-16, fourth in the NL West) vs. Houston Astros (14-13, second in the AL West). Compare that to just five years ago: in 2016, six pitchers finished with 40 or more saves and a total of 12 different pitchers had over 40 save opportunities. This was Daz's second straight blown save -- he also blew one Friday, though the Mets would come back to win -- and his fifth in his last 14 save chances. * Click on a player to see more information about their specific events including videos of plays if available. Another way to illustrate how the usage of top relievers has changed over the past four decades is to compare Hall of Fame reliever Rollie Fingers, who pitched in the 1970s and early 1980s, and Trevor Hoffman, who retired after the 2010 season and is second on the all-time list, have been used. A blown save occurs when a relief pitcher enters a game in a save situation, but allows the tying run to score. Visit the sportsbook today to get closer to the diamond! Gambling problem? Going back to 2015, relief pitcher FIP has increased from 3.83 to 4.19, but for high leverage situations, its increased by more than twice as much from 3.25 to 4.16. Visit BetMGM.com for Terms & Conditions. Tampa Bay Rays relievers continue to falter late in games, and it cost them again this week. (The word "effectively" has been removed from the MLB rules. Latest on Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman including complete game-by-game stats on ESPN. The content on this site is for entertainment and educational purposes only. All images are property the copyright holder and are displayed here for informational purposes only. The bullpen, with a 7.06 ERA that was the highest in baseball in 90 years, let the game slip away 14 times in their 32 losses as they finished one game out of the wild-card race. The spotlight shines especially bright on high-leverage relief appearances in this environment. The days of multiple workhorse closers meeting the 40-save benchmark are gone. It wouldnt be fair to put it all on the last week of the season, but if the Milwaukee Brewers miss out on the postseason, their missed opportunities over the past seven days could be where everything fell apart. The Brewers sit two games back of the Philadelphia Phillies for the final playoff spot, with only three games left in the season. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction? That said, given the strong possibility that the NL adopts the designated hitter next season, the mark Scherzer has set might instantly become unbreakable. These are the stories we aim to tell here in our annual look at the most bonkers stats this 2021 baseball season has produced. The average FIP for relievers this season is 4.19; its an improvement over the last two homer-happy seasons, but still a bit worse than the pre-2019 years. When not writing about baseball, he is a data scientist and outdoor sport enthusiast. A blown hold would be the cleanest way to add context to what really happened, plus it would be easy (well, easier than other options) to retroactively adjust players stats from the past. But he still has a shot at the post-Deadball era of 23 hit batsmen, set by Howard Ehmke of the 1922 Tigers. completeness, Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. In contrast, at the end of the 2006 season, Hoffman had 482 career saves, but only 7 of two or more innings, and none of three or more. Free MLB baseball player stats and stats leaders in simple, easy to read tables. (All stats are through Thursday's play. He can be found on Twitter at @cgutwein. Focusing on save conversion rate can be a bit misleading, though. Maybe say increase or decrease the probability of winning by 6%. any player. The current rule has been in effect since the beginning of the 1975 season. The Miami Marlins flying up the blown saves list is a perfect metaphor for how their season has gone. I mentioned earlier that the league-wide save conversion rate is bottoming out. Under this new rule, a relief pitcher earned a save under one of two conditions: A pitcher could be credited with the save even if he had not finished the game, provided he had been removed either for a pinch hitter or a pinch runner. If a reliever enters with a man already on third base, and he allows that runner to score the tying run, he is charged with a blown save. Whats worse, its been everybody. the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. After recasting their bullpen last offseason, the Phillies are two blown saves away from the record. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, He is the finishing pitcher in a game won by his club; and. (Hes still a pretty good pitcher, though.). Using the FanGraphs Splits Leaderboard tool, we can run pitching splits based on high-leverage (anything with a LI of 2.0 and above) situations. Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREEYour All-Access Ticket to the Baseball Reference Database. Despite the setback, Melancon has been one of the best closers in the league in 2021, converting 32 of his 37 save opportunities and leading all of baseball in saves. He qualifies under one of the following conditions: He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning; or, He enters the game, regardless of the score, with the potential tying run either on base, at bat, or on deck; or, He pitches for at least three innings. When a starter is pitching well, the manager ends up in a difficult situation (lets all think of Kevin Cash in last years World Series). But this recent collapse by one area of the team has been enormous and thorough. What this means is that Ohtani could give up a home run to the next 32 batters he faces, and his opponents SLG would still be two points lower than his own. Although many blown saves occur in the ninth inning or later, they aren't limited to the ninth inning. Many thanks to him. Their strikeout and walk rates are decent, but theyve served up a ton of homers, many of them game-winners. On August 20, the Oakland As were in postseason position. Like, the kind of stuff that, were you to submit it to your creative writing teacher in high school, would come back with red edits all over the place and a note to see me after class., These are the stories we aim to tell here in our annual look at the most bonkers stats this 2021 baseball season has produced. Check out ESPN.com's Best Closers of 2023 2002 Rangers, 333. Four different pitchers were on the hook for a blown save. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Explore New York Yankees - Earned Run Average stats and team leaders on FOXSports.com, including home runs, rbi, strikeouts and more. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Some defensive statistics Copyright Sports Info Solutions, 2010-2023. any player We regret to inform you Adams wont be breaking Chick Frasers record of 32 hit batsmen with the 1901 Philadelphia Athletics. * Division Games qualifier is Unfortunately, at this point, its not a question ofif the Phillies will tie or break the Rockies MLB record, butwhen. Latest on San Diego Padres relief pitcher Josh Hader including complete game-by-game stats on ESPN. Of course, the Phillies have collectively blown these saves; its truly a team effort. Ian Kennedy, acquired at the trade deadline, has three of the Phillies' MLB-high 32 blown saves going into Friday's game. The no-hitter count. This is why sabermetricians have devised a number of other measurements for relievers that seek to indicate which pitchers have been most successful in relief, whether or not they post gaudy save totals. This isn't a pathetic team by any means. Eligibility restrictions apply. MLB Leaders: Blown Saves. Read more YONG KIM / Staff Photographer. 2021 Yankees 61 0 6 4 .600 . Record: 52-110-0, Finished 5th in AL_East ( Schedule and Results ) Manager: Brandon Hyde (52-110) General Manager: Mike Elias (Executive VP & GM) Farm Director: Matt Blood. A blown save (abbreviated BS) is charged to a pitcher who enters a game in a save situation but allows the tying run to score. The Marlins are 25 games below .500, and their bullpen pitched like it this week. 2021. Do you have a blog? Call (800) 327-5050 or visit gamblinghelpline.ma.org (MA), Call 877-8-HOPENY/text HOPENY (467369) (NY). At the outset of the week, Jason Adam was on the hook for a blown save against the Cleveland Guardians. Perez still has a real shot at Hall of Famer Johnny Benchs single-season record for a catcher (45), set in 1970. He argued that traditional pitching statistics - relief wins and losses - were not adequate in capturing the work done by relief specialists and proposed the save as a way of measuring the number of times a relief pitcher was successful in one of the most critical missions that he had to accomplish - preserving a lead. Explore all Kansas City Royals MLB player stats - including batting average, RBIs, home runs & more! * All Games qualifier is *Many detailed statistics are based on play-by-play accounts accumulated by Retrosheet. Scherzer will not have enough plate appearances to touch right-hander Bob Buhls all-time record for most at-bats without a hit -- set when Buhl went 0-for-70 for the Cubs and Milwaukee Braves in 1962 (Buhl reached base seven times via walk and hit-by-pitch, hence the distinction from Chen). Most of the additional blown saves this season are a function of bullpen usage. Brewers pitchers converted just one of three saves this week, dropping them out of a Wild Card berth. Blown Saves sho. To circumvent that problem, the hold statistic has been created, and is in effect a save credited to a middle reliever. SV - Saves BSV - Blown Saves IP - Innings Pitched H - Hits R - Runs ER - Earned Runs HR . Two earlier versions of the rule awarded saves differently. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. Hector Neris has already tied the franchise record for most career blown saves, though he has largely stabilized his pitching after a hectic June and July. He could, theoretically, earn the save if he moves to another position and resumes pitching at a later point if a save situation is once again in effect. But even with Hader, the Brewers as a team have 27 saves in 47 opportunities for a conversion rate of 57.4%. All rights reserved. A relief pitcher is awarded a save when he meets all three of the following conditions: Under the last condition, the official scorer has some discretion as to whether or not to award a save. We present them here for purely educational purposes. * Last 2 Weeks qualifier is These totals may be incomplete (3.6% of all plays from 1914 to 1972 are missing or have incomplete accounts, click link for year and team summary of data completeness) for some players prior to 1973 and even complete seasons may not match the official totals due to errors in both the official totals and the . Blown saves are used as a tool to evaluate the effectiveness of a closer. As a result, ignorant commentators will often say that a middle reliever is not cut out to be a closer since he has such a poor save percentage, even though those numbers are not at all comparable to those of closers. Their coverage includes sports news across players, teams and coaches, providing betting previews and predictions, fun facts and more. In an ideal world, its an afterthought that the closer will get the job done. Thats how we settle the standings. Instead, theyre in danger of matching an all-time record; the 2004 Colorado Rockies currently own MLBs single-season record with 34 blown saves in a single season. None of the other pitchers who hit 20 batters had fewer than 178 2/3 innings pitched. Day Mode. Copyright: ESPN Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Rel:Saves-Blown Saves-Holds; TBF:Batters Faced; Latest Videos. While fellow trade piece Kyle Gibson has been a stabilizing force in the Phillies rotation, Kennedy has collapsed since being sent here from Texas. Other jobs, such as keeping a team in the game, getting out of a jam, and pitching in extra innings, are not covered by official statistics. They also blew a pair of six-run leads and a pair of four-run cushions, though the starters contributed to some of those larger comebacks too. is the number of steals for Starling Marte. While the FIP is higher by 0.22, its reflective of the game as a whole (the average FIP among all pitchers is 0.26 higher, so almost exactly the same). . All of that is pretty amazing, but what makes it doubly so is that Perez, who is 31 years old and has caught more than 8,600 innings in the big leagues, had never hit more than 27 homers in a season. Live sports betting is the perfect way to take your baseball betting to the next level. C.J. Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images. Get complete stats for players from your favorite team and league on CBSSports.com CBSSports.com . Find out more. So far this season, 370 pitchers have logged at least 10 innings in relief, with an average workload of 29 IP. Maybe re-classify anything before the 9th a Blown Hold? For elite closers this is more or less true, even this season. Tampa Bay held a 1-0 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth before Armstrong surrendered two earned runs to erase the Rays advantage, getting saddled with the loss. * League Games qualifier is This has also trickled into high-leverage situations. The save rule was first adopted for the 1969 season and amended for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. For games played before 1969, saves have been figured retroactively using the current definition. The Dominican Republic native's most recent . Their overall numbers are ugly. 1:51. Relievers were making nearly two more appearances in 2019 than their 21 counterparts at this stage in the season. Hes fifth in the AL in steals, and his NL total is still fourth even though his last steal for Miami was more than six weeks ago! And its come at a particularly unfortunate time, down the stretch of the postseason race salvage just three or four of those seven blown save losses, and the As are in the thick of the race instead of teetering on the edge. A pitcher who comes into the game in the circumstances described above is said to have a save opportunity. Rel:Saves-Blown Saves-Holds; TBF:Batters Faced; Latest Videos. All Rights Reserved. If a pitcher enters in the eighth inning and surrenders the tying run in a save situation, he is given a blown save -- regardless of whether he pitches the ninth. Collectively, the team barely hit a 50% conversion rate, converting just four of eight save chances. Of Fingers' 341 career saves, 135 entailed pitching two or more innings, including 36 of three or more innings. What started out as a dominant 2021 campaign for New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has ultimately gone off the rails in the past few weeks. It was possible, under both earlier versions of the save rule, to see boxscores in which pitchers were credited with saves in situations where they would not earn them under the current rule. . But what makes it so special? The most recent was Jay Buhner (69 walks, 59 hits) with the 1999 Mariners. Or write about sports? year and team summary of data Their odds of reaching the playoffs are down to 5% at best. Fingers obtained 101 of his saves when he entered the game with either the winning or tying run already on base; for Hoffman, only 36 of his saves had come in such situations. Three teams have passed them in the standings, and theyre now 3.5 games out of that Second Wild Card, with 18 left on the schedule. Blown saves are blowing As postseason chances, Esteury Ruiz delivers a walk-off as As beat Reds 5-4. . Like Reliver A loads the bases, Reliver B gives up the bomb would be 1.5 ER for Reliver A (.75 for the runner on 3rd + .5 for the runner on 2nd + .25 for the runner on 1st), while reliever B would get 2.5 ER (.25 for the runner on 3rd + .5 for the runner on 2nd + .25 for the runner on 1st + 1.00 for the donger). 21+ (18+ NH/WY). Second, strikeouts have been trending up in recent years, so pitchers are hitting their pitch count limits earlier in games. Void in ONT. SV - Saves BSV - Blown Saves IP - Innings Pitched H - Hits R - Runs ER - Earned Runs HR . https://www.baseball-reference.com/bpv/index.php?title=Save&oldid=1253895, Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. Perhaps they were inspired by the Orioles, who just one night earlier had snapped a 20-game road losing streak of their own (before eventually embarking on a streak in which they lost 19 straight overall). 2004 Rockies, 342. Currently, the largest full-season differential between home and road winning percentages in the modern era is held by Connie Macks Philadelphia As in 1945, when they went 39-35 at Shibe Park (.527) and 13-63 elsewhere (.171) -- a differential of .356. These stories are often potent, powerful, suspenseful, even inspirational. I had the exact same thought. Gambling Problem? But what makes this even more incredible is that the 2020 Twins pitching staff had a .404 opponent OPS with the bases loaded -- the fifth-best mark all-time (albeit in a shortened season). L. After losing their closer in spring training, Oaklands bullpen did an admirable job adapting and getting the job done for four-plus months, especially with only one major addition at the trade deadline. Of course, the relievers arent solely responsible for every bad thing thats happened this year. Find detailed Aroldis Chapman Pitching Stats on FOXSports.com. Its possible to have many blown saves in a game, and still to even get a save in that game. Many thanks to him. Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. But just to make this all even crazier, theres still a chance that neither of these clubs winds up with the worst road record in baseball this season. If they had a somewhat functional bullpen, the Phillies would stand firmly atop the division, on their way to their first postseason appearance in a decade. With bullpens being asked to do more work more often, relief pitchers workloads are being managed very carefully. Were the closers in 2015 better than the closers this season? Most teams are using their 26th roster spot for an additional arm in the bullpen while also freely moving pitchers on and off the roster to allow sufficient rest between outings. On behalf of Boot Hill Casino & resort (KS). Watch our How-To Videos to Become a Stathead, Subscribe to Stathead and get access to more data than you can imagine. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Despite dramatically reshaping a bullpen that last year posted the highest ERA in 90 years, the Phillies stand a real chance of climbing into this top eight: 1. This is White Sox catcher Yasmani Grandal's on-base percentage. The save thus measures only one task asked of relievers. A save (abbreviated SV or S) is a statistic awarded to a relief pitcher, often called a closer, who enters the game under certain conditions and maintains his team's lead until the end of the game.The save rule was first adopted for the 1969 season and amended for the 1974 and 1975 seasons. On Wednesday, Jose Alvarado blew save #31 in the eighth inning, but J.T. Even getting 40 save opportunities has been elusive for all but a handful of pitchers: Just two closers Melancon and Liam Hendriks are on a comfortable pace to eclipse 40 save opportunities, with a handful of others right around that number. However, as Ryan Spaeder notes, the Phillies have led in 109 of their 145 games this season, but have a 73-72 record. This is the Twins opponent OPS with the bases loaded. 2004 Rockies, 34 2. There are two big driving forces behind this. The second is his opponents slugging percentage when hes a pitcher. Montas on the bullpen: Theyve been having a tough time, but those guys have been grinding for the whole season. All picks and predictions are suggestions only. The 2023 version of the Bullpen Report includes five different sections, as well as the closer chart, which can be found at the bottom of the page. Thats how we connect and compare eras. Through August 4, 2019, there were 355 such pitchers with an average workload in excess of 31 IP. You already know this one, but that doesnt make it any less bonkers. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. The Phillies ultimately won the game in the most Phillies way possible, on a walk-off passed ball. Still, theres no possibility of home-field advantage for the Rays anymore. It was a close race, but they . ).608, .335. . All UZR (ultimate zone rating) calculations are provided courtesy of Mitchel Lichtman. Any reliever preserving the lead prior to the last pitcher is only awarded a hold. The Rays may usurp the Seattle Mariners over the final few days of the regular season, setting the stage for a playoff battle against the Toronto Blue Jays. No other MLB team has more than 16 blown saves. The Sporting News, a weekly publication for which Holtzman also wrote, began calculating saves several seasons before the scoring rules provided an official definition.