Which Team in the NL West Has the Best Closer for 2025?
The NL West has one of the best collections of closers of any division in the league. But just how do they rank against each other?
There’s a reason many MLB teams fear the term “West Coast road trip” and it’s not just because of the travel. That part of the country is home to the NL West division, a murderer’s row of teams few wish to face.
You have the Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB’s reigning champions, as well as the San Diego Padres, who easily snagged the top Wild Card spot last year. Both teams won over 90 games last season.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, 2023’s MLB runners up, missed a 2024 Wild Card spot by virtue of a three-way tiebreaker while the San Francisco Giants finished nine games further back. Also the Colorado Rockies exist.
After many of the league’s top names found their way to the division in the offseason (see Blake Snell, Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes, etc), the NL West figures to be brutal yet again. That sentiment applies across the board to many of the division’s positions, which includes closers.
Trying to come back late against an NL West team in 2025 will not be fun because the division is loaded with strong closers. Here, we’ll take a look at just how they stack up against each other and rank them from worst to best.
5. Tyler Kinley, Colorado Rockies
2024 Stats: 67 G, 64.0 IP, 12 SV, 1 BS, 6.19 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 4.79 FIP, 10.13 K/9, 4.64 BB/9
It’s hard to say exactly who will be closing games for the Rockies the first time they hold a close lead in the regular season (which, let’s be honest, might not happen for a while). Right now, though, we’re going with right-hander Tyler Kinley.
Eight different pitchers picked up saves for the Rockies in 2024, but it was Kinley who led the way with 12 of them. He didn’t lead by much, though, as Victor Vodnik and Jalen Beeks were right behind him with nine a piece.
Kinley converted 12 of his 13 save opportunities and struck out a fair amount of batters, but that’s most of the good news. His ERA, WHIP, and walk rate were all elevated and he gave up 11 homers, the most of any full-time reliever on the team.
His performance seemingly opened the door for someone else to step into the role for 2025. Vodnik, who had a similar WHIP (1.48) but lower ERA (4.28) is one candidate.
Seth Halvorsen is another. The 2023 7th rounder made his MLB debut last year and was impressive with a 1.46 ERA and 0.81 WHIP over 12.1 innings. He also averaged 100 mph on his four-seamer.
But if spring training was the chance to audition for the role, Vodnik and Halvorsen haven’t taken advantage of the opportunity. The former has given up three runs in five innings on six hits and a walk, while the later has given up six runs in 5.2 innings on a whopping eight hits and four walks.
Meanwhile, Kinley has been nearly perfect, pitching five scoreless innings on just a hit and a walk with seven strikeouts. Maybe he doesn’t end the season in the role, but for now he seems to be the best option.
4. Robert Suarez, San Diego Padres
2024 Stats: 65 G, 65.0 IP, 36 SV, 6 BS, 2.77 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 3.49 FIP, 8.17 K/9, 2.22 BB/9
A 2024 All-Star closer only the fourth best such pitcher in the NL West? That just goes to show exactly how loaded the division is with excellent closers.
It’s certainly not a knock on Padres right-hander Robert Suarez. His road to the majors was a long one as he pitched in the Japanese leagues before ever playing in the minors and didn’t make his MLB debut until age 31. But he has been a solid big leaguer since then.
Suarez’s three MLB seasons have all come with San Diego and 2024 was his first time as a full-time closer as he took over for the departed Josh Hader. And it went quite well for him and the Padres.
The 33-year-old finished third in the NL with his 36 saves and brought his ERA back under three. And while his still good .217 batting average against was the highest of his career, 6.2% walk rate was the lowest.
There are underlying metrics that question whether the performance is sustainable: his strikeout rate, whiff rate, and hard hit rate, among other things, are all 50th percentile or lower in the league per Baseball Savant. That might catch up to him eventually, but until it does, the Padres will take the results.
3. Ryan Walker, San Francisco Giants
2024 Stats: 76 G, 80.0 IP, 10 SV, 4 BS, 1.91 ERA, 0.85 WHIP, 2.52 FIP, 11.14 K/9, 2.03 BB/9
Last year, the Giants had a decision to make. Camilo Doval, the team’s closer for three years, was struggling with an ERA close to five and career high walk and hit rates. They needed to decide whether to keep running him out or to go in a different direction.
They decided to make the change and gave the role to one of their most effective bullpen arms, right-hander Ryan Walker. In the words of the Holy Grail knight in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, they chose wisely.
Walker was excellent after taking over the closer’s role full time in early August. He would go scoreless in 16 of 17 outings, giving up two earned runs in 19.2 innings (0.92 ERA) and converting all ten of his save opportunities.
Not that he wasn’t plenty good before that. Overall, Walker’s 1.91 ERA was tied for fourth lowest in all of Major League Baseball for any pitcher who threw 70 or more innings. His 0.85 WHIP was fourth as well.
After making some big offseason additions, the Giants should hopefully find themselves ahead in more games than last year. If they can get it to the ninth with a lead, they’ll have as good a chance for a win as anyone.
2. Justin Martinez, Arizona Diamondbacks
2024 Stats: 64 G, 72.2 IP, 8 SV, 2 BS, 2.48 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 2.59 FIP, 11.27 K/9, 4.46 BB/9
The Diamondbacks found themselves in a similar situation in 2024. Paul Sewald was struggling badly in the month of July with an ERA of 10.80 in 10 innings and four blown saves in nine opportunities.
Arizona went the same route and handed over the reigns to one of the top bullpen arms in the league, right-hander Justin Martinez. And just like with the Giants, the results were a resounding success.
Martinez responded by racking up eight saves in less than a month, taking quickly to his new role. Save opportunities unfortunately were harder to come by as the season came to a close, but Martinez did well when called upon.
The young Martinez has the look of a closer. His sinker and four-seamer both average around 100 mph and he pairs them with slider and splitter that opponents batted under .200 against.
But even with that performance, Martinez could have some competition. A.J. Puk, who came to Arizona at the 2024 trade deadline, was excellent upon arrival with a 1.32 ERA and 0.73 WHIP in 27.1 innings. He also collected a pair of saves.
Martinez, for all intents and purposes, is the incumbent, though, and just has the feel of a high-octane, ninth inning arm. If he keeps the role, he could stay in it for a while.
1. Tanner Scott, Los Angeles Dodgers
2024 Stats: 72 G, 72.0 IP, 22 SV, 2 BS, 1.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 2.33 FIP, 10.50 K/9, 4.50 BB/9
What’s one way to tell you’re the best closer in your division? How about when a team like the Dodgers pays big money to sign you as a free agent when they don’t even have a particular need for relievers.
That was how the offseason played out for left-hander Tanner Scott. After a huge 2024 season that included his first career All-Star appearance, the southpaw earned himself a four-year, $72 million contract.
Scott was one of the hottest trade commodities at last year’s trade deadline. He was already coming off a strong 2023 season with the Marlins but was nearly untouchable for them to start last year, pitching to a miniscule 1.18 ERA and 1.01 WHIP with 18 saves over 45.2 innings.
He would then be traded to the Padres where he continued to excel, though he stepped out of the closer role to set up Suarez. Now, he heads up the I-5 to join San Diego’s division rivals.
Scott is a closer who works off of the classic, high-powered fastball-slider combination. As he has refined it over the years, particularly adding around a foot of additional extension from his MLB debut to now, he has seen opponent hard hit rates and exit velocities decrease along with his ERA.
After signing Scott, the Dodgers signed another one of 2024’s top closers in Kirby Yates. Other pitchers might end up worrying about their job, but Scott wouldn’t have been paid what LA paid him to be a setup man. He’s not only the best closer in the division, he’s one of the best in all of baseball.
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Matt Carroll is a writer for Just Baseball and former site expert at Reviewing the Brew. He studied journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and currently…