Astros: Billy Wagner is the poor man’s Mariano Rivera

Let’s say something that nobody else would ever consider saying. Former Astros closer Billy Wagner is as good as Mariano Rivera. No, wait. Maybe he’s better.

Billy Wagner spent most of his career with the Houston Astros and the New York Mets and put on one hell of a show. But why isn’t he getting the same love as Mariano Rivera? Let’s look at both of their Hall of Fame cases. If you ask anybody, they’ll probably say that Rivera is an easy fit for the hall.

But if you ask about Wagner, they’ll probably tell you that he would never make it into the hall. But why is that? Wagner’s numbers with the Astros, Phillies, Mets, Red Sox, and Braves were very good and many of them were either on par with those of Rivera’s or even better.

In fact, if you really look into their numbers, there’s only one stat that Rivera has a clear advantage in, and that’s saves. But the only reason that Rivera has so many more saves than Wagner is because he’s played in so many more games and had many more opportunities.

Rivera had 230 more saves than Wagner, but he also closed out 249 more games than Wagner. In total, Rivera played in 1,115 games while Wagner played in 853. Still, Wagner’s 422 saves is still a very impressive amount, it’s fifth most all time.

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In fact, less than 20 years ago, his 422 saves would have been second most all-time, behind only Lee Smith who is in the hall. So even though Rivera has a clear advantage in saves, Wagner’s number is no laughing matter. Plus if Wagner has played as long as Rivera or even Lee and Trevor Hoffman, he could have had many more.

In all the other areas, Wagner is just as good or a bit better than Rivera. Let’s take a look at his ERA, which stands at 2.31 for his career. During Wagner’s 16 year career, he had an ERA over 3 just one time. He also had six seasons with an ERA below 2. Rivera’s career ERA is 2.21, which is not much of a difference.

When you look at strikeouts, it’s kind of hard to believe that Wagner actually has more than Rivera, despite pitching nearly 400 fewer innings. Wagner has 1196 strikeouts over 903 innings while Rivera has 1173 strikeouts in 1283 and 2/3 innings.

When it came to walks and hits, Wagner also had a slight edge. Rivera’s career WHIP stands at an even 1.000 while Wagner’s stands at 0.998.

It’s not a good idea to say that he doesn’t belong in the hall or that he doesn’t have good enough stats simply because Rivera played longer than him and had more opportunities to save games.