MLB 10 Best Relief Pitchers of the 1990s: Franco or Wetteland?

The 1990s were an interesting decade for relief pitching because it was, more or less, the bridge between the modern relief pitchers of the 2000s and the old school style of relief pitchers from the 1980s.

So, there are things I see in these 1990s pitchers that remind me of the 1980s and there are also certainly some things that remind of today.

There were 141 relief pitchers from the 1990s. Other than the 2000s, that is more than any decade.

If a player does not appear on this list of 141, then they either didn't reach 250 games or I consider them a relief pitcher from the 1980s or the 2000s. The 1980s will be covered in a separate article and I just wrote an article on 2000s relief pitchers.

Relief pitchers will only be in one decade. For example, John Franco will appear in this article. So, he will not appear in my 1980s article, which I will write later, and he did not appear in my 2000s article.

An Explanation of the Stats

The statistics that I include will be Games Pitched, Games Started, Innings Pitched, ERA, ERA+, WHIP (OOB%), H/9 (OBA), SV, SV/50 (per 50 Games Relieved) and K/BB (ratio). I will also letter grade their length of career.

First , I will include their raw career numbers first. These are simply their career numbers.

Second , I will include their adjusted career numbers, if they had a long career (which most did). Adjusted career is this: Let's take Roberto Hernandez, for example. Hernandez had a long career. So in order to find his real numbers, I have to exclude some late seasons during his career to find the numbers that he really carried during his career.

With Hernandez, I'd exclude his 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007 seasons. That is his adjusted career. Again, this can only be done with long career players. If I don't list an adjusted career under a player's raw career numbers, then it means they didn't played long enough to adjust for their long career or it means they didn't have any bad seasons late in their career.

Third , I will include peak career numbers. Many like short peaks, not me. I include the best seasons equaling at least 250 games for a peak. It takes away the possibility of a pitcher having one or two lucky seasons. The 250-game peak will tell us how good the pitcher was at his best.   

The 141 Relief Pitchers

Here are the 141 Relief Pitchers from the 1990s that reached at least 250 games (listed in alphabetical order): Juan Acevedo, Rick Aguilera, Paul Assenmacher, Bobby Ayala, Scott Bailes, Scott Bankhead, Jose Bautista, Rod Beck, Stan Belinda, Willie Blair, Joe Boever, Ricky Bones, Pedro Borbon, Kent Bottenfield, Jeff Brantley, Dave Burba, Greg Cadaret, Cris Carpenter, Tony Castillo, Norm Charlton, Brad Clontz, Dennis Cook, Rheal Cormier, Jim Corsi, Tim Crabtree, Tim Crews, Chuck Crim, Omar Daal, Rich DeLucia, Rob Dibble, Jerry Dipoto, Darren Dreifort, Jeff Fassero, Mike Fetters, Bryce Florie, Tony Fossas, John Franco, John Frascatore, Steve Frey, Todd Frohwirth, Rich Garces, Paul Gibson, Jason Grimsley, Buddy Groom, Lee Guetterman, Eric Gunderson, Mark Guthrie, John Habyan, Chris Hammond, Bryan Harvey, Mike Henneman, Doug Henry, Dwayne Henry, Gil Heredia, Roberto Hernandez, Xavier Hernandez, Darren Holmes, Jeff Innis, Mike Jackson, Mike James, Barry Jones, Doug Jones, Les Lancaster, Bill Landrum, Dave Leiper, Mark Leiter, Curtis Leskanic, Derek Lilliquist, Graeme Lloyd, Albie Lopez, Mike Maddux, Mike Magnante, Pat Mahomes, Josias Manzanillo, Terry Mathews, T.J. Mathews, Roger McDowell, Chuck McElroy, Greg McMichael, Kent Mercker, Jose Mesa, Alan Mills, Mike Mohler, Jeff Montgomery, Terry Mulholland, Mike Munoz, Rob Murphy, Randy Myers, Jeff Nelson, Robb Nen, Gregg Olson, Lance Painter, Donn Pall, Jeff Parrett, Bob Patterson, Mike Perez, Yorkis Perez, Mark Petkovsek, Hipolito Pichardo, Dan Plesac, Eric Plunk, Jim Poole, Paul Quantrill, Scott Radinsky, Steve Reed, Mike Remlinger, Carlos Reyes, Rich Rodriguez, Mel Rojas, Bruce Ruffin, Jeff Russell, Bob Scanlan, Mike Schooler, Tim Scott, Rudy Seanez, Scott Service, Jeff Shaw, Bill Simas, Heathcliff Slocumb, Jerry Spradlin, Mike Stanton, Greg Swindell, Billy Taylor, Anthony Telford, Bobby Thigpen, Mike Trombley, Todd Van Poppel, Dave Veres, Ed Vosberg, Duane Ward, Bob Wells, Turk Wendell, John Wetteland, Matt Whiteside, Brian Williams, Mike Williams, Mitch Williams, Mark Williamson, Carl Willis, Mark Wohlers, Todd Worrell

The Top 10

10. Rod Beck (1991-2004) Career Length Grade: B+

Raw Career: 704 G, 0 GS, 768 IP, 3.30 ERA, 123 ERA+, 1.16 WHIP, 8.2 H/9, 286 SV, 20.3 SV/50 and 3.4 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 678 G, 0 GS, 744 IP, 3.21 ERA, 127 ERA+, 1.15 WHIP, 8.2 H/9, 286 SV, 21.0 SV/50 and 3.5 K/BB (exclude his last season)

Peak Career: 259 G, 0 GS, 296 IP, 2.22 ERA, 175 ERA+, 0.98 WHIP, 6.9 H/9, 113 SV, 21.7 SV/50 and 4.4 K/BB (include his 1992, 1993, 1994, 2000 and 2003 seasons)

His career 3.4 K/BB still ranks as the 11th best K/BB in the history of Major League Baseball for a relief pitcher. He posted over 2.9 K/BB during nine of the 13 seasons during his career, including the first four seasons of his career.

His career 1.16 WHIP still ranks as the 18th best WHIP in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. He recorded less than a 1.14 WHIP six times during his career and he recorded less than a 0.89 WHIP during consecutive seasons in 1992 and 1993.

By the time his career was through, he posted over 285 SV. He posted at least 20 SV during seven of the 10 seasons from 1993-2003 and he posted over 25 SV for six consecutive seasons from 1993-1998.

None of this happened on accident. He was simply a great relief pitcher that had a good arsenal of pitches that included a sinkerball, slider and split-fingered fastball.

Here’s a story about Beck that I want to share. I’ll give you the quick condensed version here and I’ll try not to get too emotional, as it’s a story with an ending that is not happy. Here it is:

Following the 2001 season, Beck had some serious arm injuries and he went under the knife for Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2002 recovering and he pitched in the Minor Leagues during that 2002 season rehabbing.

In what is now a famous story, Beck lived in a mobile home behind the Minor League ballpark during that 2002 season. Fans would come by, more or less, anytime, day or night, and he had an open door policy.

Fans would come in and have a beer and talk baseball or whatever they wanted to talk about with Beck. Unbelievable, huh? You talk about approachable, what a neat guy. A dream come true for Beck and baseball fans.

During that 2002 season in the Minor Leagues, many thought that Beck’s MLB career was over. But he did make it back to MLB when he was called back up during the 2003 season. Not much was expected from him as far as fans were concerned; the general feeling was, he’s done. He’ll pitch, but not well.

That’s not what happened. Hoffman was having arm problems and Beck was not only brought back up to MLB, he was thrown into the closer role again. To make a long story short, Beck pitched that 2003 season and he arguably had the best season of his entire career.

He pitched over 35 G of relief that season and recorded a 1.78 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 6.4 H/9, 221 ERA+, 2.9 K/BB and 20 SV. He had zero blown SV while posting those 20 SV. It was simply a magical season. A magical season that not many thought he was capable of after the surgery.

Unfortunately, just over three and a half years after that magical 2003 season, Beck was found dead in his home. Foul played was quickly ruled out by authorities.

Just over two and a half years after he threw his last pitch in MLB during the 2004 season, the great Rod Beck was gone. I still miss you, so many do. God bless. What a relief pitcher.

9. Steve Reed (1992-2005) Career Length Grade: A

Raw Career: 833 G, 0 GS, 870.2 IP, 3.63 ERA, 132 ERA+, 1.26 WHIP, 8.4 H/9, 18 SV, 1.1 SV/50 and 2.2 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 803 G, 0 GS, 838 IP, 3.51 ERA, 137 ERA+, 1.25 WHIP, 8.3 H/9, 18 SV, 1.1 SV/50 and 2.2 K/BB (exclude his last season)

Peak Career: 272 G, 0 GS, 294.2 IP, 2.63 ERA, 177 ERA+, 1.09 WHIP, 7.1 H/9, 5 SV, 0.9 SV/50 and 2.7 K/BB (include his 1995, 1998, 2002 and 2003 seasons)

He was never a closer during his career and he never even made the All Star team. Non-closer relief pitchers rarely make the All Star team, it happens, but it’s rare.

Reed probably should have made the All Star team two or three times.

For example, during the 1995 season, he pitched over 70 G and almost 85 IP of relief. He posted a 2.14 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 6.5 H/9, 252 ERA+ and 3.8 K/BB.

During the 2002 season, he pitched in almost 65 G and 70 IP of relief. He recorded a 2.01 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 191 ERA+ and 3.6 K/BB.

Folks, I’m here to tell you, those are All Star numbers and if you don’t make the All Star team with those numbers, then you’re just never going to make the All Star team.

And those are just two seasons that quickly come to mind. He had another season or two arguably just as good as those two.

This guy wasn’t a closer, but he could flat out pitch with the best of them.

8. Jeff Nelson (1992-2006) Career Length Grade: A-

Raw Career: 798 G, 0 GS, 784.2 IP, 3.41 ERA, 132 ERA+, 1.35 WHIP, 7.3 H/9, 33 SV, 2.1 SV/50 and 1.9 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 609 G, 0 GS, 623.1 IP, 3.23 ERA, 141 ERA+, 1.34 WHIP, 7.2 H/9, 21 SV, 1.7 SV/50 and 1.9 K/BB (exclude his 2002-2005 seasons)

Peak Career: 309 G, 0 GS, 334.2 IP, 2.58 ERA, 179 ERA+, 1.17 WHIP, 5.9 H/9, 8 SV, 1.3 SV/50 and 2.2 K/BB (include his 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000 and 2001 seasons)

He was never a closer during his career and is one of only two relief pitchers in this top 10 that was never a closer during his career. The other is Steve Reed, in the nine spot.

Nelson was mainly used as a middle reliever during his career; and man, was he good, you just couldn’t hit this guy.

He posted less than 7.5 H/9 seven times during his career, including the first three seasons of the 2000s, from 2000-2002.

He was simply capable of posting mind boggling numbers by season’s end. The season that first comes to mind, to me, was his 1995 season.

During that season, he pitched in over 60 G and almost 80 IP of relief. He recorded a 2.17 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 6.6 H/9, 219 ERA+ and 3.6 K/BB. What a season, that’s what he was capable of. He had another season or two arguably that good, also.

When he was on, forget it.

He also pitched extremely well in the postseason. Incredibly, he helped his teams to the playoffs during eight of the nine seasons from 1995-2003, including capturing the World Series championship during four of the five seasons from 1996-2000.

He basically pitched another full season in the postseason. During those combined eight seasons in the postseason, he pitched in 55 G and almost 55 IP. He posted a combined 2.65 ERA and 2.6 K/BB. Great postseason numbers.

And even better World Series numbers.

In fact, during the first three World Series championships combined, which were three of the last four seasons of the 1990s, from 1996-1999, he pitched in 10 G and never allowed an earned run during those three World Series championships.

Wow.

7. Doug Jones (1982-2000) Career Length Grade: A

Raw Career: 846 G, 4 GS, 1,128.1 IP, 3.30 ERA, 129 ERA+, 1.24 WHIP, 9.2 H/9, 303 SV, 18.0 SV/50 and 3.7 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 777 G, 4 GS, 1,043 IP, 3.20 ERA, 132 ERA+, 1.23 WHIP, 9.1 H/9, 290 SV, 18.7 SV/50 and 3.6 K/BB (exclude his 1998 season)

Peak Career: 253 G, 0 GS, 329.1 IP, 2.05 ERA, 196 ERA+, 1.00 WHIP, 7.7 H/9, 136 SV, 26.7 SV/50 and 5.9 K/BB (include his 1988, 1992, 1994 and 1997 seasons)

His career 3.7 K/BB still ranks as the eighth best K/BB in the history of Major League Baseball for a relief pitcher. Incredibly, he posted over 2.6 K/BB during 13 of the 16 seasons during his career, including each of the last 10 seasons of his career.

His career 303 SV still ranks 20th all time in the history of MLB. He recorded over 20 SV eight times during his career, including four consecutive seasons from 1992-1995.

That puts him in the top 20 all time in K/BB and SV. In fact, there are only seven other relief pitchers in the history of MLB that are in the top 20 all time in both of those important categories with Jones.

They are: Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner, Trevor Hoffman, John Wetteland, Robb Nen, Tom Henke and Dennis Eckersley. Those seven are kind of a who’s who of relief pitchers from the past 30 seasons; you can add Doug Jones name to that list.

Jones is an Indiana boy (Indiana Jones, as I call him, whoops, I suppose that one’s already taken).

Jones was the bridge between the old school style of relief pitching of the 1980s and the new school style of relief pitching of the 2000s. He posted incredible SV numbers and K/BB numbers like a modern day player, but at the same time, he chewed up IP like a 1980s relief pitcher.

In fact, Jones averaged 1.3 IP per G during his career and that is more IP per G than any other relief pitcher in this top 10. Every other relief pitcher in this top 10 ended their career between 1.0-1.2 IP per G. Again, Jones was, more than any other pitcher in this top 10, the bridge between the gap of 1980s and 2000s relief pitching. He had a good mix of both styles.

It worked, what an incredible relief pitcher he was.

6. Robb Nen (1993-2002) Career Length Grade: B

Raw Career: 643 G, 4 GS, 715 IP, 2.98 ERA, 138 ERA+, 1.21 WHIP, 7.6 H/9, 314 SV, 24.5 SV/50 and 3.1 K/BB

Peak Career: 289 G, 0 GS, 311.1 IP, 1.79 ERA, 226 ERA+, 1.00 WHIP, 6.6 H/9, 159 SV, 27.4 SV/50 and 4.4 K/BB (include his 1996, 1998, 2000 and 2002 seasons)

His career 314 SV still rank 16th all time in the history of Major League Baseball. He posted over 20 SV during each of the last eight seasons of his career, every season during his career except for his first two seasons.

In fact, he posted over 30 SV during each of the last seven seasons of his career, every season during his career except for his first three seasons, including leading the League in 2001 with 45 SV.

His career 3.1 K/BB still ranks as the 19th best K/BB in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. Incredibly, he recorded over 2.8 K/BB during eight of the 10 seasons during his career, including each of the last five seasons of his career.

That puts Nen in the top 20 all time in SV and K/BB. Just like Jones, in the seven spot. There are only seven other relief pitchers in the history of MLB that are in the top 20 all time in both of those categories with Nen.

They are: Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner, Trevor Hoffman, John Wetteland, Tom Henke, Doug Jones and Dennis Eckersley. Again, that’s a who’s who of relief pitchers from the past 30 seasons; add Nen’s name to that list.

Nen had a large arsenal of four or five great pitchs in his repertoire that included a slider and two or three different types of fastballs. He threw a great split-fingered fastball at normal heat fastball. He threw his heat in the mid 90s, give or take.

He just seemed to post extraordinary numbers year in and year out. He posted over a 145 ERA+ five times during his career.

During the last season of his career, he suffered extreme arm and shoulder problems. He still managed to arguably pitch the best season of his entire career that season and also helped his team to the World Series that season.

Some suggest that he ended his career by pitching in the postseason with a torn arm and shoulder. But that’s Nen, he wasn’t going to sit out the postseason, he was a warrior. It may have shortened his career, but he wasn’t going to miss the World Series.

By the way, they lost the World Series, but Nen pitched three games in that World Series and never allowed a run. In fact, during that entire 2002 postseason, he pitched in 10 games and only allowed one run the entire postseason; with a torn shoulder, wow.

What a way to end a brilliant career.

Nen has one of the 10 best peaks in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. During his peak, which is a peak of almost 290 G and over 310 IP, he recorded a 1.79 ERA, 226 ERA+, 1.00 WHIP, 6.6 H/9, 27.4 SV/50 and 4.4 K/BB.

What a peak; what a career; what a pitcher; what a warrior.  

5. Mike Jackson (1986-2004) Career Length Grade: A+

Raw Career: 1,005 G, 7 GS, 1,188.1 IP, 3.42 ERA, 125 ERA+, 1.22 WHIP, 7.4 H/9, 142 SV, 7.1 SV/50 and 2.2 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 893 G, 7 GS, 1,072.2 IP, 3.26 ERA, 130 ERA+, 1.20 WHIP, 7.2 H/9, 138 SV, 7.8 SV/50 and 2.2 K/BB (exclude his 2001 and 2004 seasons)

Peak Career: 278 G, 0 GS, 329.2 IP, 2.38 ERA, 185 ERA+, 1.07 WHIP, 6.5 H/9, 65 SV, 11.6 SV/50 and 2.6 K/BB (include his 1988, 1994, 1995, 1997 and 1998 seasons)

He’s one of only seven pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball to ever post less than a career 3.45 ERA and pitch over 1,000 G.

I can only begin to tell you how underrated this guy is. He was incredibly hard to hit. He posted less than 7.5 H/9 during 10 of the 17 seasons during his career, including five consecutive seasons from 1987-1991.

Why is he generally underrated by the casual fan?

Well, part of the reason is almost surely because he was only a closer for two or three seasons during his career.

He was an incredible closer but, again, he was only a closer for two or three seasons.

His best season as a closer was arguably his 1998 season. During that 1998 season, he pitched in almost 70 G and 65 IP in relief. He posted a 1.55 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, 6.0 H/9, 40 SV, 309 ERA+ and 4.2 K/BB.

That’s an incredible season as a closer, they don’t get much better than that.

He put up some numbers as a non-closer that were arguably as good as his closer numbers. Take his 1994 season, for example. During the strike-shortened 1994 season, he pitched in over 35 G and 40 IP in relief. He recorded a 1.49 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 4.9 H/9, 269 ERA+ and 4.6 K/BB.

Incredible.

His two best consecutive seasons were arguably his 1994 and 1995 seasons. During those two seasons combined, he pitched in over 75 G and 90 IP in relief. He posted a combined 1.97 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 6.0 H/9, 208 ERA+ and 3.1 K/BB.

Extraordinary consecutive seasons there for Jackson.

He could do it all. You need him to be a closer, he’ll be one of the best closers in the League. You need him to be a non-closer, he’ll be one of the best non-closers in the League. Oh, and he’ll be one of only 13 pitchers in the history of MLB to pitch in over 1,000 G while doing it.

He somehow had a long, incredibly good career, but quiet career. It’s very hard to do all three of those things at the same time. Well, Jackson did this, more or less.

He’s very quietly one of the 20 best relief pitchers in the history of MLB.

4. Roberto Hernandez (1991-2007) Career Length Grade: A

Raw Career: 1,010 G, 3 GS, 1,071.1 IP, 3.45 ERA, 131 ERA+, 1.37 WHIP, 8.4 H/9, 326 SV, 16.2 SV/50 and 2.1 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 778 G, 3 GS, 856.1 IP, 3.09 ERA, 146 ERA+, 1.29 WHIP, 7.9 H/9, 300 SV, 19.4 SV/50 and 2.2 K/BB (exclude his 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007 seasons)

Peak Career: 259 G, 0 GS, 315 IP, 2.09 ERA, 206 ERA+, 1.14 WHIP, 6.9 H/9, 119 SV, 22.9 SV/50 and 2.6 K/BB (include his 1992, 1993, 1996 and 1997 seasons)

His career 326 SV still rank 12th all time in the history of Major League Baseball. He posted over 25 SV during nine of the 10 seasons from 1993-2002, including eight consecutive seasons from 1995-2002.

He’s one of only 13 pitchers in the history of MLB to ever pitch over 1,000 G during a career.

There’s only one simple way to put it. This guy was up among the best relief pitchers in the League for an entire decade, period.

He arguably has one of the 20 best peaks in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. His peak consists of four of the six seasons from 1992-1997. During his peak, which is a peak of almost 260 G and 315 IP, he recorded a 2.09 ERA, 206 ERA+, 1.14 WHIP, 6.9 H/9, 22.9 SV/50 and 2.6 K/BB.

You can search every relief pitcher in the history of MLB, you’ll be hard pressed to find 20 peaks better than this one.

He one of the 20 best relief pitchers in the history of MLB.

3. Jeff Montgomery (1987-1999) Career Length Grade: A-

Raw Career: 700 G, 1 GS, 868.2 IP, 3.27 ERA, 134 ERA+, 1.24 WHIP, 8.1 H/9, 304 SV, 21.7 SV/50 and 2.5 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 547 G, 1 GS, 698 IP, 2.79 ERA, 153 ERA+, 1.19 WHIP, 7.7 H/9, 232 SV, 21.3 SV/50 and 2.6 K/BB (exclude his 1996, 1998 and 1999 seasons)

Peak Career: 270 G, 0 GS, 356.1 IP, 2.05 ERA, 200 ERA+, 1.07 WHIP, 6.9 H/9, 126 SV, 23.3 SV/50 and 3.0 K/BB (include his 1989, 1990, 1992 and 1993 seasons)

His career 304 SV still rank 19th all time in the history of Major League Baseball. He posted over 20 SV during eight of the first nine seasons of the 1990s, from 1990-1998. In fact, he posted over 20 SV during each of the first seven seasons of the 1990s, from 1990-1996, including leading the League in 1993 with 45 SV.

Don’t get me wrong because Montgomery had good ability, but not necessarily the ability of the other greats from this era. He used his brains and may have arguably been the smartest relief pitcher from this decade.

He mixed a little bit of muscle with a bus load of brains and it worked. He seemed to not have a pitching style, as he seemed to change his style for each great hitter he faced. He knew what each individual's strengths were at the plate and he made sure he didn’t pitch to their strengths. He pitched to their weaknesses.

Seems easy enough, but not many do it to the length that Montgomery did.

Again, his brains are a big part of what put him up so high on this list. Actually his statistical numbers do, but his numbers are what they are in large part because of his brains.

Does that make any sense at all?

Montgomery is another guy that arguably has one of the 20 best peaks in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. His peak consists of four of the five seasons from 1989-1993. During that peak, which is a peak of 270 G and over 355 IP, he recorded a 2.05 ERA, 200 ERA+, 1.07 WHIP, 6.9 H/9, 23.3 SV/50 and 3.0 K/BB.

Again, you can search every relief pitcher in the history of MLB, you’ll be hard pressed to find 20 peaks better than this one.

With a little muscle and a lot of brains, he’s one of the 20 best relief pitchers in the history of MLB.

2. John Wetteland (1989-2000) Career Length Grade: B

Raw Career: 618 G, 17 GS, 765 IP, 2.93 ERA, 148 ERA+, 1.14 WHIP, 7.2 H/9, 330 SV, 27.5 SV/50 and 3.2 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 556 G, 17 GS, 705 IP, 2.82 ERA, 151 ERA+, 1.10 WHIP, 7.0 H/9, 296 SV, 27.4 SV/50 and 3.3 K/BB (exclude his last season)

Peak Career: 256 G, 0 GS, 276 IP, 1.99 ERA, 234 ERA+, 1.04 WHIP, 6.6 H/9, 159 SV, 31.2 SV/50 and 3.8 K/BB (include his 1993, 1996, 1997 and 1998 seasons)

His career 148 ERA+ still ranks as the 11th best ERA+ in the history of Major League Baseball for a relief pitcher. He posted over a 135 ERA+ during each of the last seven seasons of the 1990s, from 1993-1999.

His career 330 SV still rank 11th all time in the history of MLB. He recorded over 20 SV during each of the last nine seasons of his career, every season during his career except for his first three seasons. In fact, he recorded over 30 SV during each of his last six seasons, the entire second half of his career, including leading the League in 1996 with 43 SV.

His career 1.18 WHIP still ranks as the 15th best WHIP in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. He posted less than a 1.18 WHIP during eight of the 12 seasons during his career, including six consecutive seasons from 1993-1998.

His career 3.2 K/BB still ranks as the 15th best K/BB in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. Incredibly, he recorded over 2.7 K/BB during 10 of the 12 seasons during his career, including the last nine seasons of the 1990s, from 1991-1999.

That puts him in the top 15 all time in ERA+, SV, WHIP and K/BB. Those are four very important statistical categories for a relief pitcher. In fact, there are only three other relief pitchers in the history of MLB that are in the top 15 all time in all four of those categories with Wetteland.

They are: Mariano Rivera, Billy Wagner and Trevor Hoffman. Some argue that those are the three best relief pitchers in the history of MLB. It’s no accident that they are the only three in history in the top 15 all time in those four important categories. Oh, those three and John Wetteland.

That fact should tell us something about Wetteland. In fact, it does tell us something about him.

He was just hard to hit. He posted less than 7.5 H/9 during eight of the 12 seasons during his career and he posted less than 7.0 H/9 for five consecutive seasons from 1991-1995.

He recorded less than a 2.95 ERA for eight consecutive seasons from 1991-1998, every season during his career except for his first two seasons and his last two seasons.

Wetteland also arguably has one of the 20 best peaks in the history of MLB for a relief pitcher. His peak consists of four of the six seasons from 1993-1998. During his peak, which is a peak over 255 G and 275 IP, he posted a 1.99 ERA, 234 ERA+, 1.04 WHIP, 6.6 H/9, 31.2 SV/50 and 3.8 K/BB.

Again, you can search every relief pitcher in the history of MLB, you’ll be hard pressed to find 20 peaks better than that one.

He’s easily one of the 20 best relief pitchers in the history of MLB.

1.John Franco (1984-2005) Career Length Grade: A+

Raw Career: 1,119 G, 0 GS, 1,245.2 IP, 2.89 ERA, 137 ERA+, 1.33 WHIP, 8.4 H/9, 424 SV, 18.9 SV/50 and 2.0 K/BB

Adjusted Career: 882 G, 0 GS, 1,030.1 IP, 2.53 ERA, 155 ERA+, 1.29 WHIP, 8.1 H/9, 374 SV, 21.3 SV/50 and 2.0 K/BB (exclude his 1993, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2005 seasons)

Peak Career: 287 G, 0 GS, 354 IP, 2.01 ERA, 191 ERA+, 1.20 WHIP, 7.6 H/9, 126 SV, 22.1 SV/50 and 1.9 K/BB (include his 1985, 1987, 1988, 1992 and 1996 seasons)

His career 424 SV still rank fourth all time in the history of Major League Baseball. He led the League in SV three times during his career and posted over 25 SV, each time he led the League. In fact, he posted over 25 SV during 11 of the 13 seasons from 1986-1998, including six consecutive seasons from 1986-1991.

He’s one of only three players in the history of MLB to ever pitch in over 1,100 games during a career and he’s the only one of the three relief pitchers to pitch in over 1,100 games and post less than a career 2.90 ERA.

In fact, of the 13 relief pitchers in the history of MLB to ever pitch in over 1,000 games, there are only two that have posted less than a career 2.90 ERA and over a career 135 ERA+: John Franco and Hoyt Wilhelm. Nice company there Franco.

He was just a hard guy to score against. He recorded less than a 2.95 ERA during 14 of the 21 seasons during his career, including each of the first five seasons of his career. In fact, he recorded less than a 2.65 ERA during each of his first two seasons.

He posted over a 140 ERA+ during 12 of the 21 seasons during his career and he posted over a 150 ERA+ during four consecutive seasons from 1994-1997.

He helped his team to the postseason during consecutive seasons in 1999 and 2000. He pitched 15 games in the two combined postseasons. During those 15 games combined, he recorded a 1.88 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 6.9 H/9 and 3.3 K/BB. Extraordinary postseason numbers.

His team actually made it to the World Series during the 2000 postseason. Unfortunately, they lost, but it wasn’t Franco’s fault. In fact, he pitched four games in the World Series and posted a 0.00 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and never allowed a run.

All of these facts in combination are part of the reasons that he is easily one of the 20 best relief pitchers in the history of MLB.

He’s also easily one of the 10 best left-handed relief pitchers to ever grace the fields of MLB.

The Honorable Mentions

Here are the 10 relief pitchers that just missed the top 10 for various reasons. I will list them in alphabetical order: Rick Aguilera, Jeff Brantley, Bryan Harvey, Randy Myers, Gregg Olson, Dan Plesac, Eric Plunk, Paul Quantrill, Jeff Shaw and Todd Worrell

The 10 Highest Caliber Relief Pitchers of the 1990s

I consider this to be the "Smoky Joe Wood" section. Who’s the best pitcher, putting career values , length of career, and some other things aside that affect a relief pitchers overall rating? So, these aren’t the best careers, these are the best pitchers, in a way.

Like Smoky Joe Wood in the 1910s, he was a starting pitcher that many historians feel is one of the 10 highest caliber starting pitchers in the history of Major League Baseball. But with his short overall career, he’s never rated that high when you see historians rate starting pitchers because they are almost always rating the best careers.

Don’t get me wrong, caliber is part of historians' formula too, it’s just a smaller part of the overall equation; and smaller than it should be, if you ask me, but that’s another article.

I hope that makes sense. This is basically what I’m doing here with this list. Again, this list is not a list of the best careers, that list is the list you just read. This list is the highest caliber relief pitchers. Here it is.

10. Doug Jones

9. Mike Jackson

8. Rod Beck

7. Rob Dibble

6. Roberto Hernandez

5. John Franco

4. Jeff Montgomery

3. Robb Nen

2. Bryan Harvey

1. John Wetteland

The Caliber Honorable Mentions (listed in alphabetical order): Jeff Brantley, Mike Henneman, Greg McMichael, Randy Myers, Jeff Nelson, Gregg Olson, Steve Reed, Jeff Shaw, Duane Ward and Todd Worrell

There you go, the best relief pitchers from the 1990s. The 10 best careers and the 10 highest caliber relief pitchers.