CLOSING THE DOOR

MO’S MARK OF 652 SAVES NOT IN JEOPARDY

Mariano Rivera’s record of 652 saves appears safe, with the most obvious candidates at least 300 saves away. Here’s a look at how Rivera accumulated those saves along with the rest of the all-time top five and five current closers with the best shot at the record:

Aroldis Chapman has been in the majors for a decade and an elite, full-time closer for eight seasons, and he isn’t even halfway to Mariano Rivera’s mark of 652 regular-season saves.

“It’s impressive to sit here and think about his numbers and that number almost seems unreachable,’’ Chapman said through an interpreter about Rivera’s MLB record. “To think about how many opportunities you need to get there and how long you have to pitch at a high level.’’

Rivera, who will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame this weekend in Cooperstown, hit quite a few milestones over the course of his 19-year career, including his 42 postseason saves and 0.70 playoff ERA.

And the numbers stand out, especially to a fellow closer like Chapman, who first finished games with the Reds and then — after his first stint with the Yankees — served as the closer during the Cubs’ championship run in 2016.

Despite the pressure Chapman faced in helping end the Cubs’ 108year World Series title drought, he says there’s no comparing pitching in Chicago with The Bronx.

“In my experience, saving games is just different here,’’ Chapman said. “It’s hard to say why it’s different in New York compared to Cincinnati and Chicago, but it’s a different animal.’’

The pitcher with seemingly the best chance to catch Rivera is Craig Kimbrel, who entered Thursday with 337 career saves.

But Kimbrel is 31 and didn’t find a team until the Cubs signed him last month.

Kimbrel has averaged 41 ¹/2 saves over the past eight years and he would need to keep that up for another 7½ seasons in order to get to Rivera.

Chapman, also 31, said he hopes to be able to pitch into his 40s, like Rivera did, but acknowledged the challenges he — or anyone else — would have to overcome.

“That’s hard,’’ Chapman said. “Baseball has changed a lot. In this market, teams want young players. I hope I can close games at that age, but it’s not easy to do. It might be tough for anyone to get to.’’

IT’S IMPRESSIVE TO SIT HERE AND THINK ABOUT HIS NUMBERS AND THAT NUMBER ALMOST SEEMS UNREACHABLE. — AROLDIS CHAPMAN ON MARIANO RIVERA’S 652 SAVES