Billy Wagner’s 422 saves place him sixth on the all-time list. Only Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera (652), Trevor Hoffman (601), Lee Smith (478), and All Stars Francisco Rodriguez (437), John Franco (424) have more.
Among lefties, Wagner is second only to Franco in saves. Looking at the two pitchers, it’s clear Wagner is far superior.
Though Franco has two more saves than Wagner, it took him five additional seasons. Franco tallied 30 or more saves in 8 of his 21 seasons with a high of 39 in 1988. Wagner reached the 30-save plateau 9 time in 16 seasons, reaching 40 saves twice with a high of 44 in 2003.
Wagner’s strikeouts per nine innings is a masterful 11.9; Franco comes in at 7.0 K/9. The dominance of Wagner becomes clearer the closer you look. Opponents hit .187 off of him. In a lower run-scoring environment, hitters batted 49 points higher off of Franco. When it comes to ERA+ Wagner far outpaces Franco, 187-138. The cumulative statistic of WAR favors Wagner as well. Despite pitching 342 1/3 less less innings, Wagner’s WAR (27.7) outshines Franco’s (23.4).
Many believe Wagner’s sustained excellence is worthy of Cooperstown induction. Whether he gets in or not, Wagner remains the greatest lefty reliever in baseball history.
Shown here is a Strat-O-Matic card from 2000 autographed by John Franco. Bucknell University math major Hal Richman originated the Strat-O-Matic game in 1961. Advertised in Sports Illustrated and sold out of Richman’s basement, Strat-O-Matic gave its players the ability to make managerial decisions based on MLB statistics.