4. Steve Carlton, 329 wins, 115 ERA+, 5,217 2/3 innings, 4,136 strikeouts, 84.4 bWAR
A Miami boy, Carlton went from Miami-Dade College to the St. Louis Cardinals, yet another product of the incredible Cardinals scouting system in the era. Carlton was signed at 19, and he worked all the way to the MLB club in 1964, using his hard fastball and slider along with his impressive plane from his 6’4″ frame to generate plane on his pitches.
Carlton fought with the Cardinals about salary, and it eventually led to his exodus from St. Louis as he was traded after a 1970 holdout upset the Cardinals owner, even though the determined Carlton would go on to win 20 games in 1971 for the first time in his career.
After a trade to the Phillies, Carlton established himself immediately as the best left-handed pitcher in the game. He was so dominant immediately with the Phillies that he was able to win nearly half of the Phillies total team victories in his first season on the team (27 wins of the team’s 59).
Carlton would toil in Philadelphia on mediocre teams until the team started to really pick up at the end of the 1970s, eventually making the World Series in 1980 with Carlton at the front of the rotation. Overall, Carlton would sparkle in his career in the postseason, throwing 99 1/3 innings, striking out 84, with a 3.26 ERA.
For roughly two seasons in the early 1980s, Carlton was locked in a battle with Nolan Ryan over who would be the all-time leader in strikeouts. After both surpassed Walter Johnson in 1982, they went back and forth for two seasons before Ryan pulled away in 1985. Carlton remains 4th all-time in strikeouts and second among left-handed pitchers.
After injuries wreaked havoc on his 1985 season, Carlton struggled to open the 1986 season, but after being let go by the Phillies and Giants, he caught on with the White Sox and was able to post a 3.69 ERA over 10 starts. He was not able to replicate that success in 1987 with Cleveland or Minnesota, actually being left off the Twins postseason roster as they pushed toward the 1987 World Series. He’d come back for 4 more appearances with the Twins in 1988 that did not go well before being released and hanging things up for good.
Carlton was elected to 10 All-Star games, won 4 Cy Young awards and received votes in 2 more seasons, received MVP votes in 6 seasons, and won the 1981 NL Gold Glove. He also won the 1972 NL pitching triple crown.
He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1994 with 95.6% of the vote.
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