Who are the best hitting pitchers in MLB history? Let us take a look back at the ten best hitters ever to toe the rubber.
Pitchers are often described as an easy out in baseball. If there are two outs and runners in scoring position when the pitcher walks up to the plate, it is quite common for a strike out or a ground out – ending all potential at a big inning.
However, there are some pitchers that, if taken lightly at the plate, may come around to bite the opposing pitcher – whether it be an RBI single, or a home run.
Since baseball began, there have been many pitchers that not only dominated on the mound, but were a threat when handed a helmet and bat.
In today’s game, only the National League pitchers get to swing the bat consistently. Inter-league games lead to the American League pitchers getting a turn, but for the most part, having a good hitting pitcher in the NL is key.
Many Hall of Famers that are known for their pitching talents are easily overlooked when it comes to hitting. But, there are a few that actually hit in the mid-.200s or higher and were threats to hit the ball out of the park every time at-bat.
While there are not too many of them, there are a few handfuls that were known for their hitting. So, let us take a trip back through time and look at the ten best hitting pitchers in MLB history.
Very rarely do pitchers have such pop that they are moved from the rotation and placed into the lineup on a daily basis. Well, for New York’s Babe Ruth and St. Louis’ Rick Ankiel, this was just the case.
Ruth is known as one of, if not the best hitter in all of baseball. However, many do not realize that while a member of the Boston Red Sox, Ruth was a dominant pitcher with a deadly swing. In the infamous trade with the New York Yankees, Ruth transitioned from an ace into a consistent power hitter.
While in Boston, Ruth posted a 2.19 ERA in 158 games (143 starts). As a hitter, he was .308 at the plate with 49 home runs, 112 extra base hits, and an OPS+ of 190.
In his first year for the Yankees, Ruth hit 54 home runs. He only threw four innings that season and made four other appearances while in pinstripes. The rest of his career they say, is history.
The St. Louis Cardinals brought up Ankiel to be a starting pitcher. In his first season, he appeared in nine games and had a 3.27 ERA and 10.6 K/9. The next year – which was his rookie season due to games played – Ankiel was dominant over 31 games. He was 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and finished second in the Rookie of the Year voting.
After that season, things began to go south for Ankiel. On the mound, he lost his control. He made just six starts his sophomore year, giving up a 7.13 ERA. An injury kept him out of 2002 and in 2004, he debuted again, this time out of the bullpen. In 10 innings, he posted a 5.40 ERA.
The Cardinals began to transition him into a hitter. In his rookie season, he hit .250 with two home runs. Potential was there and the Cardinals turned the left-hander into an outfielder.
In 2007, eight years after his major league debut, Ankiel hit .285 with 11 home runs in 47 games. The next year was hit best, hitting .264 with 25 home runs and 21 doubles. His last game came in 2013, finishing the year with 71 at-bats and an average of .182 .
Pitchers turned hitters are very rare in baseball. Because of Ruth’s and Ankiel’s bat, they truly separated themselves from the other pitchers on this list.
Next: Too Young to Tell
Honorable Mentions 2.0: Too Young to Tell
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The New York Mets have two of the best hitting pitchers in all of baseball. And no, it’s not Bartolo Colon. Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz both made their major league debuts in 2015. Instantly, they both became threats at the plate.
Syndergaard was up for most of the 2015 season, while Matz only made six appearances in the regular season. In his rookie season, Syndergaard hit .209 with a double and his first major league home run. The highly-touted prospect nicknamed Thor, was not expected to hit this well in the beginning.
Last season, Matz hit .286 with five RBI and a double. He was only up for a few starts before the playoffs, but was an instant impact both on the mound and at the plate.
The following year, Syndergaard’s average has dropped to .125, but he has two more home runs to add to his career totals. Matz is currently hitting .235 with a double. He has yet to hit a home run.
While both hitters seem to have promising careers both at the plate and on the mound in the future, it is too early to tell if they can top the 10 other players on this list.
Next: Madison Bumgarner
10. Madison Bumgarner – San Francisco Giants
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Madison Bumgarner is the ace of the Giants. He is among the best in baseball pitching-wise. But, at the plate, he is arguably the best active hitting-pitcher.
In eight seasons to date, Bumgarner sports an average of .180. He also has 13 home runs, 45 RBI and an OPS+ of 47. While his average is under the Mendoza line, Bumgarner has significantly improved at the plate since his rookie season.
In 2014 and 2015, he hit .258 and .247 respectively. He also hit nine of his 13 home runs in that span. In both of those years, Bumgarner took home the Silver Slugger award. The award is given to the best offensive player at each position, showing that Bumgarner has been the best for the previous two seasons.
Thus far in 2016, Bumgarner is hitting .156 with two home runs, five RBI, and a double.
Because of his dominance on the mound and at-the-plate, Bumgarner has single-handedly helped the team win. In his most recent start, he threw 7.2 shut out innings including a two-run home run in the fifth inning.
Bumgarner seems to have a lengthy career ahead of him and may even hop a few other pitchers on this list.
Two Cy Young seasons, one Most Valuable Player award, and nine Gold Glove awards is just the beginning of the accomplishments for St Louis’ Bob Gibson.
Gibson, one of the most dominant pitchers in the 1960s and early 70s, was also a talented hitter. Over 17 seasons, Gibson hit .206 with 24 home runs and 144 RBI. He also added 49 extra base hits and an OPS+ of 50.
His best season as a hitter came in his second Cy Young season, where he hit .303 with with two home runs and an OPS+ of 100. While that was his only time hitting above .300, Gibson put together five other seasons in which his average was .200 or higher.
Gibson also had some power in his swing. Twice he put together five home run seasons. Six other times Gibson had multi-home runs seasons. While there was no Silver Slugger award back in the 1960s and 70s, Gibson would have been a candidate year-in and year-out.
A Hall of Famer and Cardinal great is known for his dominance on the mound, as his career ERA sits at 2.91. But, only few actually acknowledge that he was a threat at the plate as well.
Walter Johnson, like Gibson, is known as one of the most dominant pitchers in the game. The two-time MVP has a career 2.17 ERA, 417 wins, and over 3,500 strikeouts.
Johnson led the league in wins on six different occasions. He also led in ERA five separate times, as in four of the five seasons his ERA finished below 1.50 – unheard of in today’s game.
The ace of the team wherever he went, Johnson was always reliable on the mound. Since making his debut in 1907, Johnson stuck out, not only for his pitching capabilities, but his hitting as well.
In his career, he sports a .235 average. He has also hit 24 home runs, 94 doubles, and 41 triples. His career OPS+ is 76.
His best season came in 1925 (age 37), where he hit .433 with two home runs, 20 RBI and seven extra base hits in just 97 at-bats.
Age did not affect the right-hander, as in his last season (age 39), he was a threat at the plate. He hit .348 with two home runs and an OPS+ of 136, way above the league average of 100.
Johnson was both a great pitcher and hitter throughout the 1910s and 20s, putting together a Hall of Fame career.
Next: Red Ruffing
7. Red Ruffing – Boston Red Sox/New York Yankees/Chicago White Sox
Unlike Gibson and Johnson, Red Ruffing was not one of the most dominant pitchers of his time. While he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, he finished his career with a 3.80 ERA and a 4.1 K/9 ratio.
The right-hander finished just 27 wins shy of 300 total wins in his career. He was most dominant as a Yankee, where he was selected to his only six All-Star games.
What Ruffing lacked pitching-wise when comparing the No. 8 and 9 players, he made up for at the plate. In 22 seasons, Ruffing hit .269 with 36 home runs, 111 extra base hits, and 273 RBI.
Ruffing’s best season came in 1930 where he hit .364 with four home runs. He finished his career hitting .300 or above in seven of his 22 seasons.
Eight separate times has Ruffing his over .300 in the season. Even more impressive is that Ruffing hit at least one home run in 16 straight seasons.
Ruffing was a solid pitcher. He was used often and did the job. However, when he struggled, his bat heated up and proved to never be an easy out. So much so that he was called upon to be a pinch-hitter on multiple occasions.
Dontrelle “D-Train” Willis was once a dominant up and coming ace in the Marlins organization. In his rookie season, he made an All-Star team and won Rookie of the Year. Two years later, he won 22 games and finished with a 2.63 ERA, finishing second in the Cy Young race.
However, that is when Willis’ career began to tank. A 3.87 ERA in just 12 starts was followed by a 5.17 ERA. He was then packaged with Miguel Cabrera in a trade to the Detroit Tigers. The following four seasons he bounced around two more teams and never finished a season with a sub-5.00 ERA.
Despite the struggles on the mound, Willis was always a strong hitter. In his final year with the Reds, the left-hander hit .387 with a home run. In his early years with Florida, he hit .234 with eight home runs and 15 extra base hits over five years.
Over his nine-year career, Willis finished with an average of .244, nine home runs, and 19 extra base hits. Who knows how his stats would end up if his struggles on the mound was not the cause for a relatively short career for a once promising prospect.
Next: Don Newcombe
5. Don Newcombe – Brooklyn Dodgers/Cincinnati Reds/Cleveland Indians
Don Newcombe started his career with four All-Star selections in his first five years. In each of those four seasons, the right-hander posted an ERA of 3.70 or lower. He was a reliable pitcher and was relied on often while a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Near the end of his career, however, his numbers declined and Newcombe was forced to bounce around from team to team.
His best year came in 1956 (ironically not resulting in an All-Star selection), where he won 27 games, posted a 3.06 ERA, and took home both the Cy Young and MVP award.
While Newcombe was great on the mound, he was great at the plate as well.
In 10 years, Newcombe hit .271 with 15 home runs and 108 RBI. He hit over .300 four separate times and finished with an OPS+ of 85.
Newcombe’s statistics began to decline near the end of the career, as his average during his last seasons dipped to .196 with no home runs.
His struggles on the mound led to his early retirement at age 34. However, in the 10 years he played, he was reliable on the mound and at the plate.
If there was a Silver Slugger award, there is no doubt he would have taken home a handful in the 1950s.
Next: Mike Hampton
4. Mike Hampton – Houston Astros/Atlanta Braves/Colorado Rockies/Three others
Mike Hampton had a slow start to his career, starting with the Seattle Mariners before heading to Houston. While in Houston, he posted six straight seasons of sub 3.83 ERA. As a pitcher, Hampton was at his best early on in his career.
Once traded from the Astros, Hampton’s career began to go downhill. His only year as a New York Met, the left-hander posted a 3.14 ERA and 15 wins. Over the next eight years, Hampton finished with a sub 4.20 ERA twice.
In 1999, his last season as an Astro at the time (he did play for the team again 10 years later), Hampton won his first Silver Slugger award. He hit .311 with six extra base hits and 10 RBI. That was one of four times Hampton finished with an ERA higher than .300.
For the next four years, Hampton bounced around three different teams, winning the Silver Slugger each year. His struggles on the mound were consistent. During those years, his bat proved to be his only asset.
The five-time Silver Slugger award winner finished his 16-year career hitting .246 with 16 home runs, 27 extra base hits, and 79 RBI. The two-time All-Star is often remembered for his hitting and rightfully so: he took home five Silver Slugger awards.
Carlos Zambrano was always a solid pitcher. Near the end of his career he struggled, but early on for the Chicago Cubs, he was reliable. He had three All-Star selections and finished his best season with a 2.75 ERA, 16 wins, and an 8.1 K/9 ratio.
However, besides pitching and his outbursts in the dugout, Zambrano is also notoriously known for having a powerful swing. The big 275-pounder hit a home run every year from 2003 until his last season in 2012.
Zambrano is a three-time Silver Slugger award, winning the first when he hit six home runs and drove in 11. Two years later, the right-hander hit .337 with four home runs and five extra base hits. The following year- his last Silver Slugger – Zambrano hit four home runs and drove in 11.
Always a threat at the plate, Zambrano would more often than not cause a pitcher to second-think throwing a fastball in the strike zone. Zambrano could turn on the ball and drive it deep into the outfield with ease.
The 12-year hitting career for Zambrano ended with an average of .238, 24 home runs, and an OPS+ of 62. He also had 29 extra base hits and 71 RBI.
Next: Wes Ferrell
2. Wes Ferrell – Cleveland Indians/Boston Red Sox/Washington Senators/Three Others
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Like the aforementioned Ruffing, Wes Ferrell experienced his fair share of problems on the mound. He finished his career with a 4.04 ERA, 193 wins, and two All-Star selections.
While he did finish with 25 wins one year, more often than not his ERA ended up above 4.00.
However, Ferrell was one of the most dominant pitchers when he walked up to the plate. In 1929, he hit his first major league home run. He finished that year with 12 RBI and eight extra base hits. The following year, his average jumped up to .297 (from .237). He tacked on 11 extra base hits.
From there, Ferrell went on to finish his 15-year career with a .280 average, 38 home runs, 69 extra base hits, and a whopping OPS+ of 100.
He even became a pinch-hitter and was called upon multiple times, proving how much of a threat he was at the plate.
While Ferrell bounced around six teams over 15 years, he was also consistent at the plate. He had just two seasons with an average above .300 (three if you count his four at-bats in his last season), but made up for it hitting above .270 six times.
One pitcher, however, has bested Ferrell on the list of most dominant pitchers while at the plate.
However, what Owings lacked on the mound he made up for in his bat. In six seasons, Owings finished with a .283 average, nine home runs and 16 extra base hits.
When he was demoted from the starting rotation, Owings made appearances at the plate as a long reliever and a pinch hitter. In his rookie season, he took home the Silver Slugger, hitting .333 with four home runs and eight extra base hits.
The thing that separates Owings apart from the other nine pitchers is his OPS+ of 106. That is the highest among all the pitchers on the list and is above the league average, which, according to FanGraphs, is 100.
That means Owings was not only hitting better than opposing pitchers, but he was hitting better than many hitters as well.
If his career was not cut short by his struggles on the mound, who knows how much higher his statistics at the plate would be. But one thing is for certain. Despite only playing six years, Owings is the best hitting pitcher in MLB history. Stats don’t lie.
