Philadelphia Phillies: 25 Best Relief Pitchers in Franchise History

Though the use of the reliever in baseball has changed drastically over the course of the game’s history, the concept remains the same—take one of the best pitchers on your roster and throw him into a pressure-packed situation with the game on the line, whether it’s with the bases loaded in the sixth inning or trying to nail down those final three outs in the ninth.

In the long history of the Philadelphia Phillies, more than a few good relievers have donned red pin-stripes, helping to create some of the most memorable images in the history of the franchise. How many of us will ever forget Tug McGraw launching himself into the air to celebrate a World Series title in 1980, or Brad Lidge dropping to his knees to celebrate with his club 28 years later?

In this slideshow, we will take a look at the greatest relievers to ever pitch for the Phillies. As such, we will only be looking at these relievers’ statistics with the Phils, and they have been evaluated as such. Because the game has changed so much over the years, from era to era, a bevy of statistics were used to evaluate the relievers. Some heavy hitters were years pitched with the Phillies, ERA+, and games finished, and to a lesser extent, WHIP, saves and K/9, among other stats. 

So now that we’ve gotten all of that mumbo-jumbo out of the way, there’s nothing to it but to do it. Here are the 25 greatest relievers in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies.

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