50 Greatest MLB Pitchers ranked by their regular season performances

Relative Opposition BB to K
Rank First name Last name First year Last year Pitching PER ERA UnERA OBA Ratio
1 Pedro Martinez 1992 2007 110.71 2.80 0.29 0.325 0.234
2 Carl Hubbell 1928 1943 109.65 2.98 0.48 0.367 0.432
3 Walter Johnson 1907 1927 109.53 2.17 0.73 0.336 0.388
4 Billy Wagner 1995 2007 109.19 2.40 0.23 0.312 0.256
5 Mariano Rivera 1995 2007 109.14 2.35 0.20 0.328 0.278
6 Pete Alexander 1911 1930 108.90 2.56 0.65 0.355 0.433
7 Rube Waddell 1897 1910 108.64 2.16 1.07 0.345 0.347
8 Ed Walsh 1904 1917 108.58 1.82 0.85 0.315 0.355
9 Lefty Grove 1925 1941 108.53 3.06 0.58 0.389 0.524
10 Al Spalding 1871 1877 108.09 2.14 3.44 0.388 1.099
11 Cy Young 1890 1911 108.07 2.63 1.25 0.361 0.434
12 Christy Mathewson 1900 1916 107.80 2.13 0.91 0.336 0.337
13 Greg Maddux 1986 2007 107.80 3.11 0.39 0.361 0.296
14 Trevor Hoffman 1993 2007 107.77 2.73 0.30 0.322 0.263
15 Curt Schilling 1988 2007 107.51 3.46 0.18 0.357 0.228
16 Randy Johnson 1988 2007 107.42 3.22 0.41 0.354 0.308
17 Roger Clemens 1984 2007 107.32 3.12 0.33 0.359 0.338
18 Francisco Rodriguez 2002 2007 107.25 2.37 0.19 0.318 0.322
19 John Smoltz 1988 2007 107.04 3.26 0.29 0.358 0.331
20 Tommy Bond 1874 1884 107.03 2.31 2.48 0.358 0.225
21 Dizzy Dean 1930 1947 106.97 3.02 0.52 0.376 0.390
22 Dazzy Vance 1915 1935 106.80 3.24 0.54 0.380 0.411
23 Sandy Koufax 1955 1966 106.73 2.76 0.36 0.332 0.341
24 Chief Bender 1903 1925 106.51 2.46 0.86 0.351 0.416
25 Amos Rusie 1889 1901 106.47 3.07 1.86 0.392 0.881
26 Tom Seaver 1967 1986 106.38 2.86 0.29 0.344 0.382
27 Tim Keefe 1880 1893 106.30 2.62 1.78 0.350 0.476
28 Addie Joss 1902 1910 106.22 1.89 0.93 0.312 0.396
29 Bret Saberhagen 1984 2001 106.15 3.34 0.30 0.363 0.275
30 Whitey Ford 1950 1967 106.08 2.75 0.40 0.365 0.555
31 Mordecai Brown 1903 1916 106.03 2.06 0.91 0.336 0.489
32 Silver King 1886 1897 106.00 3.18 1.92 0.389 0.789
33 Juan Marichal 1960 1975 105.99 2.89 0.52 0.346 0.308
34 Kid Nichols 1890 1906 105.98 2.95 1.45 0.381 0.679
35 Babe Adams 1906 1926 105.95 2.76 0.64 0.351 0.415
36 Johan Santana 2000 2007 105.94 3.22 0.22 0.337 0.264
37 Mike Mussina 1991 2007 105.93 3.70 0.24 0.372 0.283
38 Lon Warneke 1930 1945 105.78 3.18 0.58 0.383 0.648
39 Kevin Brown 1986 2005 105.77 3.28 0.48 0.381 0.376
40 Ed Morris 1884 1890 105.63 2.82 1.59 0.352 0.409
41 Hoyt Wilhelm 1952 1972 105.62 2.52 0.56 0.342 0.483
42 Tom Henke 1982 1995 105.52 2.67 0.21 0.331 0.296
43 John Clarkson 1882 1894 105.51 2.81 1.90 0.372 0.602
44 Charley Root 1923 1941 105.50 3.59 0.54 0.400 0.609
45 Don Drysdale 1956 1969 105.49 2.95 0.44 0.362 0.344
46 John Ward 1878 1884 105.44 2.10 2.22 0.336 0.275
47 Bryan Harvey 1987 1995 105.43 2.49 0.35 0.324 0.321
48 Warren Spahn 1942 1965 105.42 3.09 0.37 0.366 0.555
49 Paul Derringer 1931 1945 105.41 3.46 0.62 0.401 0.505
50 Robin Roberts 1948 1966 105.35 3.41 0.36 0.369 0.383

Revolutionary Baseball Pitching Efficiency Rating
This analysis determines the best pitchers in baseball irrespective of their pitching roles. The construct evaluates the statistics of ERA, Opposition On base Average, and Walks to Strike Out ratio.

Earned Runs Average is widely understood to be one of the most important statistics used to evaluate a pitcher. It shows how many earned runs a pitcher yields for every 9 innings pitched. Alongside the ERA PER Sports includes a statistic called UnERA which measures the number of unearned runs given up by a pitcher per 9 innings. It shows how well a pitcher can pitch around mistakes and therefore partially indicates the mental fabric of the pitcher.

Opposition On Base Average is a very important statistic (almost as important as the ERA) since it indicates the number of base-runners a pitcher allows per inning pitched. This is a more comprehensive measure than Opposition Batting Average since pitchers who are wild and walk or hit a lot of batters will not be accurately captured in the Opposition Batting Average stat.

Walks to Strike-Out Average is a measure of the level of dominance and control exhibited by the pitcher. High Strikeouts reflect pitching dominance and low walk totals speak to impressive control.

This statistic ignores all decision statistics (i.e. winning percentage, save percentage, or hold percentage) since winning percentage for eg. depends a lot on the amount of run support a pitcher receives (which is itself a function of his opposing pitcher on the mound). As such it may not be a true reflection of their pitching performance. Likewise, the save percentage does not take into account the quality of saves by that closer, i.e. giving up only one or zero runs per save opportunity.

In addition, in order to minimize the bias that generally occurs with pitching too few innings, the statistic adjusts for pitchers with more Innings Pitched. This measure is therefore an efficient method of determining the annual Cy Young Award winner.
Read more of the PER Hitting Analysis...

Read more of the PER Pitching analysis...

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