Who is the best MLB pitcher over the last 35 years?

There has always been a discussion around the best pitcher that Major League Baseball has ever seen. However, this would be hard to compare due to totally different eras of the sport. In this article, we will be looking back to the last 35 or so years to determine who the best MLB pitcher has been.

The MLB pitchers that will be mentioned in this article are from 1988-present and only those who are qualified will be considered. We will say 1,000 innings or more would qualify.

MLB pitching leaders since 1988 by various statistics

Earned run average (ERA)

1. Clayton Kershaw – 2.48 ERA (2577.0 IP)
2. Jacob deGrom – 2.52 ERA (1326.0 IP)
3. Jose Rijo – 2.82 ERA (1379.2 IP)
4. Pedro Martinez – 2.95 ERA (2720.0 IP)
5. Chris Sale – 3.06 ERA (1582.2 IP)
6. Greg Maddux – 3.06 ERA (4821.1 IP)
7. Max Scherzer – 3.12 ERA (2663.0 IP)

These are hard to judge because of the difference in innings pitched, but you get a solid idea of which pitchers limit runs, nonetheless. With that being said, let’s dive deeper into this.

Strikeouts (K/9)

1. Chris Sale – 11.10 K/9 (1582.2 IP)
2. Jacob deGrom – 10.91 K/9 (1326.0 IP)
3. Yu Darvish – 10.81 K/9 (1488.0 IP)
4. Max Scherzer – 10.73 K/9 (2663.0 IP)
5. Randy Johnson – 10.57 K/9 (4103.0 IP)
6. Stephen Strasburg – 10.55 K/9 (1470.0 IP)
7. Gerrit Cole 10.53 K/9 (1650.1 IP)

While these pitchers generated lots of swings and misses, there are much more that goes into a pitcher than strikeouts. This does give you an idea of dominance, however.

Limiting the walks: Which pitcher had/has the most control (BB/9)

1. Bret Saberhagen – 1.60 BB/9 (1749.0 IP)
2. Brad Radke – 1.64 BB/9 (2448.0 IP)
3. Greg Maddux – 1.71 BB/9 (4821.2 IP)
4. Jon Lieber – 1.73 BB/9 (2086.2 IP)
5. David Wells – 1.79 BB/9 (3166.1 IP)
6. Curt Schilling – 1.85 BB/9 (3079.0 IP)
7. Roy Halladay – 1.88 BB/9 (2692.2 IP)

Now that we know which pitchers were the best at staying in the strike zone and limiting walks, we can look at more stats.

FIP (Fielding Indepent Pitching)

1. Jacob deGrom 2.62 FIP (1326.0 IP)
2. Clayton Kershaw 2.76 FIP (2577.0 IP)
3. Pedro Martinez 2.91 FIP (2720.0 IP)
4. Chris Sale 2.92 FIP (1582.2 IP)
5. Stephen Strasburg 3.02 FIP (1470.0 IP)
6. Max Scherzer 3.09 FIP (2663.0 IP)
7. Corey Kluber 3.10 FIP (1577.1 IP)

FIP is similar to ERA, but it focuses solely on the events a pitcher has the most control over — strikeouts, unintentional walks, hit-by-pitches and home runs. The stat measures a pitcher’s effectiveness in an accurate way

WHIP (Walks plus Hits plus Innings Pitched)

1.      T1. Jacob deGrom 1.00 WHIP (1326.0 IP)
2.      T1. Clayton Kershaw 1.00 WHIP (2577.0 IP)
3.      2. Chris Sale 1.04 WHIP (1582.2 IP)
4.      3. Pedro Martinez 1.05 WHIP (2720.0 IP)
5.      4. Max Scherzer 1.07 WHIP
6.      T5. Stephen Strasburg 1.10 WHIP (1470.0 IP)
7.      T5. Gerrit Cole 1.10 WHIP (1650.1 IP)

WHIP is a very important stat when comparing pitchers because it shows how good a pitcher is at getting outs while not allowing walks or hits of any kind.

One last stat to go over.

K-BB%. How often does the pitcher get a strikeout opposed to a walk?

1. Chris Sale – 25.2% (1582.2 IP)
2. Jacob deGrom – 25.0% (1326.0 IP)
3. Max Scherzer – 23.1% (2663.0 IP)
4. Gerrit Cole – 22.7% (1650.1 IP)
5. Stephen Strasburg – 22.3% (1470.0 IP)
6. Yu Darvish – 21.4% (1488.0 IP)
7. Pedro Martinez – 21.2% (2720.0 IP)

Using these six stats, you could accurately pick some of the best starting pitchers out. Obviously, it won’t be perfect but let’s continue.

Jacob deGrom appeared in five of these leaderboards along with Chris Sale and Max Scherzer.

Stephen Strasburg appeared in four, along with Pedro Martinez.

Clayton Kershaw appeared in three, along with Gerrit Cole.

Greg Maddux appeared in two, along with Yu Darvish.

These pitchers remain in the discussion. Let’s compare them.

Weighting the Stats

Before I come to a decision, it would be best to weight the stats. To do this, I will list which stats are more valued or more important, starting with most valued

1. FIP, out of the nine pitchers in the discussion, Jacob deGrom leads in FIP
2. ERA, out of the nine pitchers in the discussion, Clayton Kershaw leads in ERA
3. K-BB, out of the nine pitchers in the discussion, Chris Sale leads in K-BB
4. BB/9, out of the nine pitchers in the discussion, Greg Maddux leads in BB/9
5. K/9, out of the nine pitchers in the discussion, Chris Sale leads in K/9

My Opinion

In no way am I saying that this list is touting that one pitcher is better than the other. These are just based on stats from the last 35 years. Many of the players included here have not finished their careers out yet, so the innings pitched differential is large.

Top 8 pitchers from the last 35 years (excluding innings pitched, purely stat based)

1. Chris Sale
2. Jacob deGrom
3. Clayton Kershaw
4. Pedro Martinez
5. Max Scherzer
6. Stephen Strasburg
7. Greg Maddux
8. Gerrit Cole

Factoring in innings pitched and my personal predictions for the rest of these players careers, this would be my top 8 pitchers from the last 35 years (minimum 1,000 innings pitched so far).

1. Jacob deGrom
2. Clayton Kershaw
3. Pedro Martinez
4. Max Scherzer
5. Chris Sale
6. Greg Maddux
7. Gerrit Cole
8. Stephen Strasburg

Honorable Mentions:

• RHP Justin Verlander (3163 IP, 3.24 ERA, 9.10 K/9, 2.50 BB/9, 3.36 FIP, 18.0% K-BB)
• RHP Roy Halladay (2749 IP, 3.38 ERA, 6.93 K/9, 1.94 BB/9, 3.39 FIP, 13.5% K-BB)
• LHP Randy Johnson (4135 IP, 3.29 ERA, 10.61 K/9, 3.26 BB/9, 3.19 FIP, 19.8% K-BB)
• LHP Johan Santana (2025 IP, 3.20 ERA, 8.83 K/9, 2.52 BB/9, 3.44 FIP, 17.2 K-BB%)
• RHP Curt Schilling (3261 IP, 3.46 ERA, 8.60 K/9, 1.96 BB/9, 3.23 FIP, 18.1 K-BB%)

Who do you think should have made the list? Let us know in the comments section below.