Brad Ziegler notched his 40th consecutive save last night. That's pretty elevated territory for any closer, and the streak is now tied for tenth-longest in baseball history - with a guy who went to the Hall of Fame, Dennis Eckersley, who got his forty saves in a row in 1991 and 1992. If Ziegler gets one today, that will leap him up several notches on the ladder, to be tied for seventh, alongside Heath Bell (2010-11), Trevor Hoffman (1997-98) and Rod Beck (1993-95). Here's the full list of the top 10: Interesting that there are four players who were, at one time or another, Diamondbacks pitchers on the list, with Valverde and Gordon present, too.
This year, Ziegler has been particularly good in save situations, less so otherwise - his Save ERA is 0.75, having allowed just one run over 12 innings. Non-saves? 5.14, with eight earned runs in 14 frames of work. Is this just the random fluctuation of small sample sizes? The numbers for his career are much closer together, with a Save ERA of 2.38 and a non-Save ERA of 2.57. What's also impressive is how consistent he has been, in an area known for volatility. He's on pace for his ninth consecutive season throwing 50 innings and with an ERA+ better than 105. The only reliever who can match that is Jonathan Papelbon, and with a 2016 ERA+ of 98, he needs to step up his game.
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