Longest saves by Cubs pitchers By JohnW53 on Apr 18, 2021, 7:04am CDT + On April 8, Craig Kimbrel recorded his 350th career save -- his first that required 5 outs. Since then, when the Cubs have had a lead after 6 innings, several fans have half-jokingly suggested Kimbrel be brought in for a 3-inning save. ... 2,901 saves. (Saves became an official statistic only in 1969, but the rules for awarding a save were applied retroactively to earlier seasons.) 354 different pitchers are credited with those saves, from Lee Smith, with 180, to 108 with exactly 1, most recently Andrew Chafin last season. ... In just .......... Only 6 of the 327 came in the last decade. There were 8 such games in 2000-09, after 22 in 1990-99.