The St. Louis Cardinals’ 50 greatest players

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#33 Bruce Sutter CP

Here we have perhaps the most dominant reliever to ever wear a Cardinals’ uniform. While Sutter only pitched in four seasons with the Cardinals his dominance is well known.

In four seasons with the Cardinals, Sutter dominated totaling an ERA of 2.72 and FIP of 3.28 and 127 saves in his time as a Cardinal (a record at the time), setting the record for NL saves in a season in 1984 with 45.

What made Sutter so dominant, is that he wasn’t your typical closer. He didn’t just pitch one inning. He would sometimes pitch two or three innings at a time limiting you to just 6-7 innings to get a lead. He cut the game down and made things easy for his manager.

This is easily evident by his performance in the 1982 postseason in which he pitched a total of 12 innings in just six appearances. He didn’t allow a single baserunner in his 4.1 innings. He struggled a bit in the World Series allowing four runs on six hits, but still notching two saves and helping the Cardinals to defeat the Brewers to win the title.

Sutter’s split fingered fastball revolutionized the game, and while his fWAR isn’t close to some of the greats, his impact on the game and in Cardinals’ history is easily known as he is a member of the Hall of Fame, Cardinals’ Hall of Fame, and has his number retired by the Cardinals. Making him easily one of the 50 best Cardinals of all time.

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