Best Dodgers Relief Pitchers in Team History
- Kenley Jansen: The All-Time Standard for Longevity
- Éric Gagné: Peak Dominance and 'Game Over'
- Mike Marshall: The Iron Man Cy Young Campaign
- Ron Perranoski and Jim Brewer: The Firemen of Dodger Stadium's Golden Era
- Honorable Mentions: Power Arms and Modern Anchors
- The Evolution of the Dodger Bullpen Tradition
- FAQ
Pinpointing the best Dodgers relief pitchers in franchise history comes down to a balance between sustained excellence and historic peak performance. Kenley Jansen stands at the top for longevity and counting stats, holding the franchise record with 350 saves. Close behind is Éric Gagné, who delivered arguably the most dominant peak of any closer in baseball history during the early 2000s. Going further back into Chavez Ravine lore, rubber-armed workhorses like Mike Marshall and poise-under-pressure specialists like Ron Perranoski and Jim Brewer laid the blueprint for how bullpens win pennants.
Over more than a century of baseball spanning Brooklyn and Los Angeles, the Dodgers have rarely lacked elite arms waiting behind the bullpen gate. Here is a definitive look at the greatest relief pitchers to ever pull on Dodger blue.
Kenley Jansen: The All-Time Standard for Longevity
No discussion of the best Dodgers relief pitchers can start anywhere other than Kenley Jansen. Converted from a light-hitting minor league catcher into a pitcher in 2009, Jansen reached the majors in 2010 armed with an explosive, natural cut fastball that drew immediate comparisons to Mariano Rivera.
Across 12 seasons in Los Angeles (2010–2021), Jansen compiled a franchise-record 350 saves with a stellar 2.37 ERA, striking out 1,022 batters in 705 innings. During his prime from 2013 to 2017, Jansen was practically unhittable, posting a WHIP under 0.90 in four separate campaigns. His 2017 season remains one of the cleanest relief campaigns ever: 41 saves, a 1.32 ERA, and an absurd strikeout-to-walk ratio of 109 to 7.
While high-leverage postseason moments occasionally brought scrutiny from demanding fans, Jansen served as the backbone of Los Angeles' modern bullpen through eight consecutive division titles, two NL pennants, and the 2020 World Series championship.
Éric Gagné: Peak Dominance and 'Game Over'
If Jansen is the gold standard for bullpen longevity, Éric Gagné represents the most electrifying peak the franchise has ever witnessed. Between 2002 and 2004, Gagné transformed ninth innings at Dodger Stadium into rock-concert events, heralded by Guns N' Roses' 'Welcome to the Jungle' and flashing stadium scoreboards declaring 'Game Over.'
During that three-year stretch, Gagné converted 84 consecutive save opportunities—a Major League record that still stands untouched and may never fall. Armed with a 98-mph heater and a devastating vulcan changeup that dove off the table, he racked up 152 saves over those three summers.
His crowning achievement came in 2003, when he became one of the rare relief pitchers to win the National League Cy Young Award. Gagné posted a 1.20 ERA, converted all 55 of his save chances, and struck out 137 batters in 82.1 innings. While injuries cut his peak short, his three-year stretch easily cements him among the best Dodgers relief pitchers to ever take the mound.
Mike Marshall: The Rubber-Armed 1974 Cy Young Campaign
Modern baseball fans might find Mike Marshall's workload unimaginable. In 1974, 'Iron Mike' put together what remains the most durable relief pitching season in Major League history, earning him the NL Cy Young Award.
Pitching out of Walter Alston's bullpen, Marshall appeared in 106 games—all in relief—tossing an incredible 208.1 innings. He finished 83 games, won 15, saved 21, and posted a 2.42 ERA while leading the Dodgers to the National League pennant. A master of kinesiology who studied the biomechanics of pitching, Marshall believed proper arm mechanics allowed a pitcher to throw almost every day without breaking down.
Marshall proved his theory in real time. At one point during the 1974 season, he pitched in 13 consecutive games. While he spent only three seasons in Los Angeles, his historic 1974 season remains a singular achievement that secures his place among the best Dodgers relief pitchers of all time.
Ron Perranoski and Jim Brewer: The Firemen of Dodger Stadium's Golden Era
Before the one-inning closer role was invented, relief aces were known as 'firemen'—pitchers brought in with runners on base in the seventh or eighth inning to put out fires and finish the contest. During the Dodgers' pitcher-friendly dominance of the 1960s and early 1970s, two left-handed specialists perfected this craft.
Ron Perranoski broke in during the late Brooklyn-to-LA transition and became the linchpin behind Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. In 1963, Perranoski turned in a season for the ages, going 16-3 with 21 saves and a 1.67 ERA across 69 relief appearances, helping propel the Dodgers to a World Series sweep of the Yankees. Over eight seasons in LA, he pitched in 457 games with a 2.56 ERA.
Following Perranoski, Jim Brewer inherited the late-inning mantle. Armed with one of the most baffling screwballs in baseball history, Brewer anchored the bullpen from 1964 through 1975. He compiled 125 saves in a Dodger uniform and logged a 2.62 ERA across 605 appearances. Both arms gave manager Walter Alston reliable late-game answers whenever starters needed a rescue.
Honorable Mentions: Power Arms and Modern Anchors
Beyond the top tier, several other pitchers built memorable relief legacies in Los Angeles:
- Jonathan Broxton: Before Jansen took the reins, Broxton was a terrifying late-inning presence, regularly touching 100 mph and compiling 84 saves and two All-Star appearances between 2005 and 2011.
- Jeff Shaw: Acquired in 1998, Shaw spent four dependable seasons closing out games for the Dodgers, recording 129 saves with two All-Star nods.
- Todd Worrell: The veteran stopper posted 127 saves over five seasons in the mid-1990s, including a league-leading 44 saves in 1996.
- Blake Treinen & Evan Phillips: In the current era, Dodgers pitching coaches have turned reclamation projects and trade targets into elite weapons. Treinen's turbo-sinker was vital to the 2020 and 2024 World Series runs, while Phillips emerged as one of baseball's most efficient multi-inning leverage stoppers from 2022 onward.
The Evolution of the Dodger Bullpen Tradition
From the multi-inning firemen of Walter Alston's teams to the specialized strikeout artists of the modern era, the best Dodgers relief pitchers have consistently mirrored the broader evolution of relief pitching. Los Angeles has earned a reputation for bullpen development, whether finding a future Hall of Fame closer behind home plate like Jansen or turning castoffs into high-leverage dynamos under front-office leader Andrew Friedman.
Relief success can be volatile, but the franchise's ability to field elite bullpen arms decade after decade is a primary reason Dodger Stadium has remained a perennial October destination.
Frequently asked questions
Who has the most saves in Dodgers history?
Kenley Jansen holds the Dodgers franchise record with 350 saves recorded between 2010 and 2021. Éric Gagné ranks second with 161 saves, followed by Jeff Shaw with 129.
Which Dodgers relief pitchers have won the Cy Young Award?
Two Dodgers relievers have won the National League Cy Young Award: Mike Marshall in 1974 (pitching 208.1 innings in 106 appearances) and Éric Gagné in 2003 (converting all 55 save opportunities with 137 strikeouts).
What was Éric Gagné's consecutive saves streak?
Éric Gagné converted 84 consecutive save chances between August 28, 2002, and July 5, 2004. It remains the longest unbroken consecutive saves streak in Major League Baseball history.
Who pitched the most innings in a single season as a Dodgers reliever?
Mike Marshall holds the record, throwing 208.1 relief innings over 106 games during his 1974 Cy Young season. Both marks remain MLB records for relief pitchers.