Top Five Cleveland Indians Relievers of All-Time

Jul 7, 2014; Cleveland, OH, USA; Members of the Cleveland Indians pitching staff walk to the bullpen before a game against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Who Is The Cleveland Indians’ All-Time Best Reliever?

This year has seen the Cleveland Indians’ bullpen struggle: Cody Allen and Scott Atchison have ERAs north of five, and the corps as a whole has allowed free passes at the fourth highest rate in the American League. Just a few years back, the Bullpen Mafia reigned – although its greatness is questionable. Even though the Tribe hasn’t always fielded great bullpens, it has seen its share of great relievers.

With this in mind, I decided to compile a list of the Indians’ five best relief arms. My only criterion was that the player pitched more than 100 innings with the Cleveland Indians, which left 86 pitchers to consider. Also, I only judged the players based on their work in the Tribe’s ‘pen, so guys like Kerry Wood would only receive credit for his year-or-so of time as the Indians’ closer.

So let’s take a walk down memory lane and look at the Tribe’s top five relievers of all time.

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