We aren’t going to see one other Mariano Rivera anytime quickly. In all probability not ever. There was nobody who has come near his mixture of dominance, effectivity and sturdiness over a sustained interval — after which was even higher within the postseason.
No statistic can present the whole image of the poise and precision with which Rivera pitched, or measure the boldness with which he imbued his staff — or the dread within the opponent when he was simply lurking and never even within the sport but.
However I do love this as a technique to at the very least get quite a lot of pixels. Rivera had 11 seasons wherein he logged at the very least 60 video games and produced an ERA at the very least one hundred pc higher than league common (two occasions it was 200 % higher). Joe Nathan is subsequent greatest at six. Nobody else has greater than 4.
So once you see even a snapshot of Rivera — a glimpse of the weather that made him higher at what he did by a higher distance than anybody else ever — it’s jolting, like an aroma transporting you again to childhood. And for many of the previous two seasons, particularly from mid-August of 2024 onward, Luke Weaver channeled items of Rivera.