Trevor Hoffman is undoubtedly one of the greatest closers of all time, and a pioneer of the closing role. With 601 career saves (second all time behind Mariano Rivera), and 1133 career strikeouts, Hoffman was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball history.
Comparisons
To put things into perspective, Bruce Sutter is a Hall of Fame relief pitcher. Sutter had a fantastic career with 1042 career innings pitched, 861 strikeouts, and 300 career saves. Hoffman had 47 more innings pitched, 272 more strikeouts, and 301 more career saves. Granted, saves are not a very reliable statistic due to the changing of relief roles, so let’s take a look at WAR.