The Padres have a few question marks on their roster still. One of them certainly is not closer. Robert Suarez has that on lock. Where does he rank among MLB closers?

Rollie Fingers. Rich “Goose” Gossage. Mark Davis. Trevor Hoffman. Heath Bell. Huston Street. Kirby Yates. If the Padres are good at one thing, it’s finding and developing All-Star closers. Robert Suarez is the latest in a long line of stellar Padres’ closers.

He certainly has the second-best entrance of any Padres closer ever, as no one is touching Hell’s Bells.

Oh I am all in on Robert Suarez’s entrance! @Padres #Fire pic.twitter.com/OysMNS2ZQM

— Don Orsillo (@DonOrsillo) August 13, 2024

Suarez took over full-time closer duties last year after the departure of Josh Hader. All he did was notch 36 saves with a 2.77 ERA, earning his first career All-Star selection. Last year, he was probably the best closer in all of baseball ,not named Emmanuel Clase.

Turns out, Clase is having a bit of a rough start to his 2025 campaign in Cleveland. In 11 appearances, his ERA is ballooning to 7.84 with two blown saves. That means the title of “best closer in baseball” is up for grabs.

Or is it? Has Suarez already taken it?

If you are going by purely who has the most saves in Major League Baseball at the moment, it is indeed San Diego’s Venezuelan flamethrower, with 10.

It also helps to have not yet even allowed a run in 11 innings so far, which he hasn’t.

One challenger has emerged from the American League, and it might hurt the Padres fans’ hearts. It’s Mariners closer Andres Munoz. Yes, that one, the one San Diego packaged in a trade with Ty France, Luis Torrens, and Taylor Trammell to acquire Austin Adams, Dan Altavilla, and Austin Nola.

Ouch.

Still, Munoz has one less save than Suarez, and San Diego’s man beats him out with a 1.20 FIP, compared to 1.79. Suarez’s WHIP is also superior, at a microscopic 0.455 versus 0.846. Hader is out to a strong start too, but has allowed one more earned run than Suarez and Munoz with three less saves than Suarez.

Robert Suárez, 99mph pic.twitter.com/ZRcZAHCRw9

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 23, 2025

Another notable closers haven’t had the expected hot start to 2025.

The Mets’ Edwin Diaz has a 4.91 ERA. Jose Alvarado is doing well in Philadelphia, but has done something that Suarez has not, and that’s allow earned runs.

Only Matt Strahm has a higher reliever WAR than Suarez, but he is not a closer.

Suarez checks all the boxes as an elite closer. He is in the 96th percentile for both expected batting average allowed and expected ERA. His fastball velocity ranks in the 97th percentile. His devastating changeup has a 45.8 percent whiff rate.

By all accounts, Suarez is currently the best closer in baseball. At least, he is off to the hottest start. Baseball is a marathon, and things have a way of evening out over a larger sample size.

Nick Lee

Native of Escondido, CA. Lived in San Diego area for 20 years. Padres fan since childhood (mid-90s). I have been writing since 2014. I currently live near Seattle, WA and am married to a Seattle sports girl. I wore #19 on my high school baseball team for Tony Gwynn. I am a stats and sports history nerd. I attended BYU on the Idaho campus. I also love Star Wars.