Save Percentage Calculator
Definition – What is “save percentage”?
Save Percentage is a relief pitcher’s number of saves to the number of times they have had an opportunity to save.
It is intended to be used along with the pitcher’s ERA (earned run average), wins, the total number of saves, and other statistics to evaluate the pitcher’s performance.
Save percentage is helpful as statistics such as ERA can be skewed if the relief pitcher inherits some runners on base, and statistics such as pure pitching performance do not take into the pitcher’s long-term win/loss results.
Formula – How to calculate Save Percentage in Baseball
In Baseball, save percentage is calculated as follows:
Save Percentage = Saves ÷ Save Opportunities
Example
If a relief pitcher has had 27 save opportunities and made 22 saves, then:
22 ÷ 27 = 0.815, or 81.5%
Therefore, the relief pitcher’s save percentage is 81.5%
Sources and resources
- Wikipedia – Save (Baseball) – Explanation of a save in baseball.
- Statistics on saves from ESPN and Baseball Reference.
- Rules on baseball and baseball statistics from Major League Baseball, NCAA (Baseball), NCAA (Softball), NCAA (Baseball and Softball), NFHS, and the International Baseball Federation.