Cardinals' 5 all-time best relief pitchers in franchise history

2. Jason Isringhausen

Despite several injuries that slowed him down, Jason Isringhausen was the Cardinals' all-time saves leader with 217. He threw 300 saves for his career.

While with the Cardinals from 2002-08, he was 17-20 with a 2.98 ERA. He threw 373 strikeouts over 408 innings.

While with the Cards, Izzy was part of the 2002, 2004, 2005, and 2006 NL Central Division champions. The Cardinals appeared in World Series in 2004 and 2006. They did win the World Series in 2006. Izzy had a hip injury that sidelined him and allowed Adam Wainwright to become a household name as he was the closer in the NLCS and World Series in 2006.

Isringhausen notched a league-best 47 saves in 2004. This tied Lee Smith's record, which stood until 2015, when Rosenthal broke the record with 48 saves. Izzy was an All-Star in 2005 and earned 39 saves.

Izzy stayed through the 2008 season when he left the Cardinals in August due to a lingering tendonitis issue.

He finished out his career playing on one-year contracts with the Rays, Reds, Mets, and Angels.

Isringhausen was named to the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2019. He is a minor league pitching instructor in the Cardinals system.