The Best MLB Pitchers Ever? That’s Hard to Say

A friend of mine on Facebook (or Meta), also a Giants fan, posted a comment by Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole that Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw is closing in on the 200 victory mark, “is the last of his kind.” Just to be up-front, I am a Dodgers fan, but my friend’s reasoning has nothing to do with this storied rivalry.

My friend continued on his post: “I guess it’s supposed to mean he’s from another era of pitchers who put together careers of longevity.” My friend added, “Let me just put some old-school refinement on the topic. Did you know that Kershaw has had 25 complete games in his career?”

My friend continued, “That’s five fewer (complete games) than Juan Marichal had in 1968 alone. To show you this isn’t an anti-Dodger rant, Kershaw’s 25-lifetime complete games are two fewer than Sandy Koufax’s totals for 1965 and 1966 (27 each year). 

“So, sure, Kershaw will get to the Hall of Fame. But he does not measure up against the greats,” he concluded.

What are the Criteria?

Well, I figured this puts an interesting spin on how we judge the greats of the game of Major League Baseball. Examining different eras is usually how we debate baseball and other sports. For instance, Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry is regarded by some as the most excellent shooter of all time. But what about the shooters who played before the 3-point line? Is Curry better than, say, Jazz great Pete Marovich? How can we say for sure? 

Some baseball milestones will stand alone forever. Will Cy Young’s record of 749 complete games in a career be broken? How about Charles Radbourn with 60 wins in a season in 1884? , Do we consider Radbourn one of the greatest pitchers of all time? There are many fans out there who don’t even know who Radbourn is.

We consider Marichal and Koufax among the finest who threw from the mound, but where do pitchers like Nolan Ryan stand? Ryan had seven no-hitters, a record 5,714 strikeouts, and a blazing fastball that wouldn’t quit. Yet Ryan only had 37 complete games in his entire 27-year career.

Fast forward to someone like Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander. He completed his 17th season and carried an 18-4 regular-season record this past season with an impressive 1.75 ERA. In addition, he has 244 career wins (and counting). Do we not consider Verlander one of the greatest pitchers despite only pitching 26 complete games in his career?

Comparing Different Eras

Perhaps the point here is how we judge players and adequately compare them to players of different eras. To illustrate how the game was other, Jim Palmer’s salary in 1966 was $7,500, but he was starting a family and needed to buy a home. So he took another job selling suits at Hamburgers Clothing in downtown Baltimore for $150 a week, “enough to pay for groceries, hot water, and electricity.” We’re talking about one of the great pitchers of all time.

Other greats had other jobs. Willie Mays sold cars in San Francisco in the off-season, Lou Brock ran a flower shop, and Stan Musial sold Christmas trees in St. Louis. So, here was an era where players had to take time away from the game to do other jobs to make ends meet.

However, the whole landscape changed with the introduction of free agency, among other things. MLB salaries skyrocketed and are now among the richest of any professional sport. For instance, pitcher Max Scherzer makes over $43 million, and 36 players earned $20 million or better for the 2022 season. 

Why is this significant? Players no longer needed to work odd jobs, and, for pitchers, this allowed them time to develop other pitches. In contrast, their predecessors relied on a fastball and curve, utilizing straight over-the-top deliveries and high-kicks to relieve strain in the case of Marichal and Koufax.

How Pitchers Have Changed

Nowadays, it’s not just a fastball but a cutter, four-seam fastball, two-seam, or split-finger. Breaking balls used to be primarily curves. Now we’re seeing the emergence of the slider or 12-to-6 curveball. In the past, pitchers like Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins overpowered hitters. Instead, pitchers, today want to confuse hitters with a lot of movement with attempts to paint the corners of the plate. 

Still, this has drawbacks, and arguments can be made that pitchers were putting too much strain on their arms. Many big-league pitchers have Tommy John surgery, where the UCL needs repair due to overuse. However, this procedure, recovery time, and a return to the mound could take as long as two years.

Meanwhile, baseball underwent a transformation that began in the 1970s with the rise in the use of relief pitchers in the major leagues. It started with what was referred to as “firemen,” or the stopper who came in generally with hopes of earning a save in the last inning or two. That blossomed into increased use of middle relief pitchers or a setup staff.

Bullpen Takes a New Role

Teams are now carrying as many as 13 pitchers on their rosters. Furthermore, we are seeing an increase in what is now known as relief games where a manager will start a relief pitcher. That pitcher will generally go two, maybe, three innings, and then he is followed by a parade of middle relief pitchers ending with the stopper, assuming things go well with this setup.

As you can see, the time for starting pitchers going the distance has all but disappeared. Look at the 2021 season, and you’ll see four pitchers tied for the most complete games in that season. Those four pitched a total of three complete games each. In addition, only four pitchers surpassed 200 innings in 2021. This past season, Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara had six complete games, but only three other pitchers had more than two. 

Furthermore, owners are spending big dollars on their pitching staff and want the best return for their dollar. So, that meant doing what it took to prevent starting pitchers from going on the IL. The way to do that is to cut down the innings pitched from the starters and spread the wealth, you might say, among the relievers.

Something else to consider is that we may see the day when starting pitchers who average six innings a game are elected to the Hall of Fame. We already see stoppers in the Hall who generally pitch an inning. Will we see the day when middle relief pitchers enter the Hall? What would be the criteria, then?

Comparing Superstars

Still, it boils down to what era we’re talking about. I think Verlander and Kershaw can compete with the greats of the past, but I don’t know for sure. I can turn this around and ask whether Marichal and Gibson can compete with today’s pitchers and hitters. Could they put up the same numbers today as they did in the past? Probably not.

Complete games could be a consideration, but it’s not an end-all. Before we judge one pitcher as being more significant than another based on statistics, it’s essential to examine all factors that went into a pitcher’s performance. For instance, does a pitcher dominate hitters regularly? Does he always carry a solid strikeout-to-walk ratio? Is his ERA among the best pitchers, say, six-to-seven innings per outing?

Basing a pitcher’s worth over one category is easy, but it’s certainly not fair and, thus, inaccurate. Maybe we should consider all of the factors mentioned before, so we make a complete case for who are the best pitchers in baseball. 

Don’t base a pitcher’s worth on one category.