Braves reliever Brent Suter is tied for the MLB lead for Defensive Runs Saved by a pitcher this season.
Yes, this is really true and we know how odd it sounds that a relief pitcher leads MLB in that stat this time of year. That’s not to say it hasn’t happened before. It has. In 2018 Pirates pitcher Steven Brault tallied 6 Runs Saved, which tied for the MLB lead. Brault was mostly a reliever but did have 26 innings pitched in 5 starts at the start of the season.
Brault pitched 91 2/3 innings that season, the fewest of any pitcher to lead or co-lead in Runs Saved in a non-shortened season. Suter is closing in on that innings total with 86 1/3 to this point. He’s made 3 starts, but unlike Brault they were all as an opener.
MLB Leaders in Defensive Runs Saved – Pitchers
| Pitcher | Runs Saved |
| Brent Suter | 6 |
| Michael McGreevy | 6 |
| Nolan McLean | 5 |
| Shota Imanaga | 4 |
| Tanner Bibee | 4 |
| Foster Griffin | 4 |
| Colin Rea | 4 |
| Adrian Houser | 4 |
How has Suter done this? Besides there not being any other pitchers that have stood out from the crowd, two things have moved the needle for him.
One is that he co-leads the majors in assists by pitchers with 24. That’s an unusually high total given that he had 14 in the last two seasons combined and only 4 in 67 2/3 innings pitched last season.
Suter’s pitching delivery lends itself to assists. His follow-through is long but leaves him squared to any ball hit straight back at him. He’s also increased how often he throws sinkers to 34%, the highest single-season rate in his career. In turn, he’s getting more ground balls than he has in recent seasons.
Here’s a highlight montage of some of his best defensive plays this season. You’ll hear comments from announcers repeatedly extolling his virtues in fielding his position. Even two errors this month hasn’t been enough to remove him from a spot atop the leaderboard.
The other way in which Suter is accumulating Runs Saved is that he has 6 pickoffs, which are included in his season assist totals. He’s tied for the MLB lead with Brandon Sproat of the Brewers. As the broadcasters note, he has an outstanding pickoff move.
Those have offset his allowing 4 steals allowed in 4 attempts as well as two errors on pickoffs this month and netted him another 2 Runs Saved.
This isn’t Suter’s first time in the company of MLB leaders. In 2023 his 4 Runs Saved put him in a tie for 5th. For his career, he’s the active pitcher leader in Range Factor per 9 innings, a stat that measures chances on a rate basis.
To qualify for The Fielding Bible Award, pitchers must either pitch 130 innings or record at least 5 Runs Saved. Suter has the latter covered and it looks like he’ll appear on the ballot. He has a legitimate case to win the award outright, and he’d be the first relief pitcher to win if he does
