14) Bucky Walters (1934-1948,50) (198-160; 3.30 ERA; ERA+ 115; 42 SHO; 3,104 IP/ 2,990 H/ 8.7 H/9; 1,107 K/ 1,121 BB; 1.324 WHIP). Honorable mention: Curt Schilling, Tim Lincecum, Luis Tiant, Dave Stieb, Kevin Brown, David Cone, Orel Hershiser, Roy Oswalt, Eddie Cicotte. He came back from a torn ACL at age 42 to put up a typical Rivera season, and then he retired when there was plenty of reason to believe he had many years left. Reulbach used a high leg kick, a la Juan Marichal, to hide the delivery of the best curve ball of his generation. As it is, Pappas has 209 wins, as many as Bob Lemon and Hal Newhowser, and a similar number to Don Drysdale and Catfish Hunter, all of whom are in the HOF and pitched between 1950 and 1975. In Cleveland he won 25 or more games four times, and 40 games twice. SwartzSports | The Philadelphia Eagles Blog, SwartzSports | The Philadelphia Eagles Blog, Ranking Greatest Relief Pitchers Ever, Part II (#11-50), Power Ranking MLB's Greatest Relief Pitchers Ever, Part II (#11-50), SwartzSports 50 Predictions for the 2022 NFL Season, 2022 SwartzSports First Round Mock Draft (with trades), Ranking the 50 Best Players Not in the Baseball Hall of Fame, Assigning Grades to Key Members of the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles: Part I (Offense), Handing Out Major Awards for 2021 NFL Season, Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part V: #50-1), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part III: #150-101), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part II: #200-151), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part I: #235-201), Power Ranking All 235 Major League Players in the Baseball Hall of Fame (Part IV: #100-51), Ranking the 10 Greatest Relief Pitchers in Baseball History. After breaking in with the Cleveland Indians, Tommy John spent significant time with the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees, as well as a shorter stint with the California Angels. Much of the play-by-play, game results, and transaction information both shown and used to create certain data sets was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. But he will face the same hurdles as Bonds, Clemens and Sosa thanks to multiple transgressions with performance-enhancing drugs that included over a year-long suspension from baseball from 2013-14. Relief Pitcher JAWS Leaders. Pappas deserves recognition for his accomplishments, even if it is just to clear his name from the fall out of a trade for which he was never responsible. Kimbrel is the only closer in history with as many as 200 saves and a save percentage over 90, and hes sitting comfortably at first on the active leaderboard at 346 saves. After playing for the St. Louis Browns, he chose to try to sign with Cincinnati, but was blocked. Rivera's legacy is as the greatest relief pitcher ever, and now that Chapman is a Yankee for the foreseeable future, that's . And he never got a single Cy Young vote. Managers. The Tigers were focused on a youth movement after the war. Pierce was known for his battles against the White Sox nemesis, the New York Yankees, and in particular against Whitey Ford. I put Ferrell and Reuschel in the survey partly in tribute to my friend and fellow baseball researcher Adam Darowski, who has advocated heavily for their induction in recent years, though each has a nuanced case that could be overlooked in a quick survey. then in Boston. Pierce pitched four scoreless innings in relief. What did it take to be ignored by the HOF voters and veterans committee? He is 5-1 with a 2.47 ERA, 36 Ks against only 8 BB, and a WHIP of 1.077. He would also be the only pitcher in the Hall of Fame not to exceed 1,000 career innings pitched, which is a testament to the unique specialty role of being a modern closer. 8) Tommy John (1963-1989) (288-231; 3.34 ERA; ERA+ 110; 46 SHO; 4710 IP/ 4783 H/ H/9 9.1; 2245 K/ 1259 BB/ 1.78 ratio; 1.283 WHIP). The Baseball Writers Association of America has elected the newest Hall of Famer, with third baseman Scott Rolen officially getting the call on Tuesday and joining Fred McGriff -- previously elected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Players Committee -- in the Class of 2023. He won 21 games with an ERA of 1.60 and led the league in shutouts with nine. But like Bonds, Clemens did not have an easier time with the Todays Game Era Committee than he did with the BBWAA. He pitched for the Boston Red Sox in the early teens but injury caused him to establish less than 1,500 career innings. inducted position (RF). He holds the all-time record for relief appearances with at least two innings (486) and three innings (197). Im a little bummed to see Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel anchoring the list, though its not stunning. 2) Luis Tiant (1964-1982) (229-172; 3.30 ERA; ERA+ 114; 49 SHO; 3,486 IP/ 3,075 H/ 7.9 H/9; 2416 K/ 1104 BB/ 2.19 ratio; 1.199 WHIP). He sustained his excellence late into his career. Along with those pitchers, Ill evaluate others with a case to be considered among the 10 best ever, which can be broken into categories of the modern (Craig Kimbrel, Aroldis Chapman, Kenley Jansen, Francisco Rodriguez, Billy Wagner, and Joe Nathan), and the throwbacks (Sparky Lyle and Dan Quisenberry). For the most part, the best pitchers are in the HOF. They have been treated very differently by baseball writers voting for the HOF. Many historical player head shots courtesy of David Davis. Ahead of: Bob Lemon Red Ruffing Steve Carlton Don Drysdale Fergie Jenkins Dizzy Dean Lefty Gomez Red Faber Waite Hoyt Jim Bunning CC Sabathia* Herb Pennock Lee Smith Hal Newhouser He pitched in both the Cubs World Series appearances in '32 and '35, going 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA. Rollie Fingers may be the most decorated relief pitcher in baseball history, and that list includes Mariano Rivera. Blyleven toiled long and hard for the Twins in the 70s. "Billy the Kid was part of the Tigers post-war youth movement, getting a look with the club at age 18 in 45. Chapmans statistics look mind-boggling, even when you account for the fact that every reliever strikes out a ton of hitters. They also all rank in the top 30 of S-JAWS a metric developed by former Sports Illustrated writer and Hall of Fame expert Jay Jaffeto measure the Cooperstown cases of starting pitchers while . Stats: 601 saves, 2.87 ERA, 1.058 WHIP, 3.69 K:BB, 141 ERA+, Accolades: 7 All-Star appearances, Baseball Hall of Fame. measure a player's Hall of Fame worthiness. Honorable mentions: McGwire, Don Mattingly, Todd Helton (Pujols not yet eligible). Arguably Fingers most impressive statistic is his percentage of career saves that were clean saves Fingers is at 15 percent, the lowest of any Hall of Fame closer. Bert Blyleven was born in the Netherlands, but grew up in California. Or what if the fans in Cincinnati had accepted his efforts for the team? Awards. Stats: 310 saves, 3.01 ERA, 1.232 WHIP, 2.05 K:BB, 126 ERA+, Accolades: 9 All-Star appearances, 1 World Series ring, Baseball Hall of Fame. Movies 8m Here is AJ Cassavell's ranking of the Top 5 relievers in Padres history: 1. Copyright 2000-2023 Sports Reference LLC. For anyone who cares, heres a more detailed breakdown of the votes each pitcher received for each ranking. But his rookie year really came in 09 for Pirates at age 27. Voters have three years of his eligibility left to get it right. Until the late 50s over half the teams were based on the East Coast. He led the NL in fewest H/9 and was second in WHIP, shutouts, and winning percentage. Pitchers who, for one reason or another, never got the votes or attention needed to make it in. I will be presenting the results here of the survey over the next week or so, going position by position. In the '40s he pitched with young pitchers Hal Newhowser, Virgil Trucks and Dizzy Trout. Pete Alexander followed. He had one shutout. His ERA of 1.97 in 55 gave him an ERA less than half that of the league (ERA+ 201). Robinson went on to win the triple crown in '66 and the MVP award for the American League. By adubbdubb Plays - /5 - RATE QUIZ MORE INFO Classic Best Score? Many of their careers and cases are compelling. But there are pitchers whose careers have fallen through the cracks. The 41 voters who ranked Schilling first ranked Clemens eighth-worst among the field, ahead of only Wes Ferrell and Rick Reuschel, with an average ranking for Clemens of 7.00. Warnekes career was cut short because he left to defend our country. Wagner is sixth on the all-time list with 422 saves (a number that could have been much higher if he didnt retire after arguably his best year). He was perhaps the best lefty in NL history to that date, however, not winning quite as many games as Eppa Rixey. If you cross over 10 by this metric, you are a serious candidate for the Hall of Fame. He pitched at the height of the live ball era on and against some of the greatest offensive teams ever gathered. Recently retired stars sure to get a serious look once theyre eligible -- such as Ichiro Suzuki, Joe Mauer and Adrin Beltr -- are noted in the honorable mentions below. Being a relief pitcher often means you take an unconventional route. What if Lon Warnekes and Tommy Bridges careers had not been interrupted by WWII? As a teen he went to watch Sandy Koufax pitch and later learned how to throw a curve ball with a hold similar to Koufax. Reggie Jackson struck out the most times. His momentum with BBWAA voters stalled out, and he didn't fare any better with the Today's Game Era Committee in late 2022, meaning that it's hard to see Bonds reaching Cooperstown anytime soon. His ERA is outstanding, his K/BB ratio is excellent, and he has enough wins and shutouts. Even though others have won Cy Young awards (and even regular season MVPs), Rivera was as close as youll find to a perfect closer, and he did this all with just the legendary cutter. But by '35, after being sold to the Phillies and because of his great arm, the manager and coaches pushed him to pitch. From 1918-1924 he won 19 or more games six times. All of his indicators are strong, especially his strikeouts, shutouts, and big game performances. He was the second great Latin pitcher, following Juan Marichal. He continued to dominate major league hitters for the next five years. JAWS (Jaffe WAR Score Pierce accomplishments, although very worthy, were overlooked because of the change of era. Tommy was pitching in October for six consecutive seasons, posting a 6-3 mark with a 2.65 ERA over 88 innings. Will White played the majority of his career in Cincinnati for the Reds of the National League and Red Stockings of the American Association. If thats the case, Kimbrel probably wont move down these rankings at all but he also wont move any higher. I looked at some pitchers with shorter careers as well, and included some whose careers I thought made the greatest statements. We present them here for purely educational purposes. Bruce Sutter Career Stats (1976 - 1988) - Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta G IP W SV ERA FIP WHIP K/9 BB/9 FG War BR WAR 661 1,042 68 300 2.83 2.94 1.14 7.4 2.7 19.2 24.0 To start, there are only eight primary relievers in Cooperstown; Rivera, Dennis Eckersley, Hoyt Wilhelm, Goose Gossage, Rollie Fingers, Bruce Sutter, Lee Smith, and Trevor Hoffman. Wilbur Cooper and Babe Adams have likewise been missed. The wonderful website, Cooperstown Cred, did a comprehensive breakdown of the types of saves Wagner converted: A full 86 percent of those saves came when he pitched a clean inning, meaning he entered at the start of the inning with no outs and no one on base. He represented the Tigers in three World Series against the Cardinals, Cubs and Reds in 34, 35 and 40. Clemens, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer are the only three-time winners who dont have a plaque. He was just hoping to save his career. He was a 20 game winner in 11 and 13 but he didnt get to pitch in the World Series again until 25 at the age of 43. a position average JAWS is computed.For some positions, the By '59, Pappas was a mainstay of the Orioles staff. Relief LHP: Billy Wagner Among all Live Ball Era pitchers with at least 750 innings, Wagner is the very best in strikeouts per nine innings (11.9) and WHIP (0.998) while also ranking behind only Mariano Rivera in ERA+ (187) and owning the sixth-highest save total in history (422). King Kelly, McCormick, and others were known to go out and celebrate after games. Part of this is probably due to the distraction of the war years. He broke in going 123 with an exceptional 1.11 ERA on a staff that included Vic Willis at the end of his career. There were new lows for ERA in a season. Billy Pierce was slight of build at 5 10 and a whopping 160 lbs. He had ample zip on his fastball. Sanders projects well, with a 3.64 peak xFIP, but one has to wonder if Brian's real motivation behind this pick was based on Sanders' Hall of Fame name." Certainly he can be given credit for his time in the service, as he would have easily made 200 wins without giving up the season and a half to the war, plus the recovery time. Cooper was slender and had a remarkable smooth and graceful delivery. He has been overlooked by the veterans committee. The players who dominated, not just for a season or two, but for years. Important note: For this exercise, we only considered players who have been retired for at least five years, the waiting time required before one can appear on a BBWAA ballot. Literally, its very difficult to make an argument for any other pitcher. where he outlines who should and shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame based on his JAWS metric used here. Pitchers were regularly winning 24-27 games. In 34 he out-dueled Dizzy Dean to win 3-1. Use without license or authorization is expressly prohibited. Francisco Rodrguez debuted on the ballot in 23, getting 10.8%. Wagner had three of them, and they came in three consecutive years (1997, 1998, and 1999). If you put Gossage in a traditional one inning relief pitcher role, those blown saves assuredly go way down. Many thanks to him. Babe Adams was a great pitcher who was overlooked by the veterans committee. The latest in the sports world, emailed daily. 9 David Cone 4.3 Curiously enough, Eckersley didnt win the Cy Young award in his best year but then won the award along with the league MVP two seasons later in 1992 when he went 7-1 with a 1.91 ERA and 51 saves, then the second-best single-season total of all-time. The knock on Gossage is his high blown save total his 112 are the most in baseball history. "With pick #132, @Brian59044 selects the first real relief pitcher of the draft, Phoenix Sanders. This is a truly dominant statistic for this era. As Jaffe noted for FanGraphs in 2019, Whitaker belongs to a select group of players (and is the only second baseman besides Jackie Robinson) who finished their careers at least 200 batting runs, 50 fielding runs and 25 baserunning runs above average. A player's JAWS is their Against Detroit, he pitched a five hitter to win Game Two, and a complete game shutout to win Game Five. Relief Pitcher - Don McMahon (22.4 WAR) McMahon may be the best reliever most modern baseball fans have never heard mentioned. Were there a clear consensus, someone would be closer to 1 here. When he retired, no one had surpassed his 601 saves; now, only Mariano Rivera has done so. 9 Charlie Buffinton 3.7 This was not a pitcher on his last legs! He then came back in game six to beat his often faced foe, pitching a three hit gem against none other than Whitey Ford. They all pitched in New York. 2009 was his last on the HOF ballot. Hoffman never won a Cy Young but finished second twice. He was the fastest relief pitcher ever reach 200 career saves, he was the first closer ever to rack up at least 25 saves in each of his first five seasons, and hes the all-time leader in saves for two different franchises Boston and Philadelphia. Rivera trails only Trevor Hoffman in all-time saves and has perhaps the most dominant one-pitch arsenal this side of Phil Niekro. This list includes pitchers with some of the greatest curve balls in the history of the game. 6 Tim Hudson 3.8 Babe went on to pitch the rest of his career for Pittsburgh. But Trevor Hoffman may have the most unique path, going from a failed minor league shortstop to one of the all-time great closers. Its no wonder the Cubs won the NL pennant four times behind these twoin 1906-1908, and 1910. 9) Will White (1877-1886) (229-166; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 120; 36 SHO; 3,542 IP/ 3,440 H/ H/9 8.7; 1041 K/ 496 BB; 2.10 ratio; 1.111 WHIP). He pitched with six different teams, but most significantly with the Cleveland Blues and Chicago White Stockings. Eck didnt become a reliever until his age-32 season but still appeared in enough games to retire first on the games all-time list (1,070). the official stats partner of the NBA, NHL and MLB. He is among the top ten pitchers of the live ball era1921-1945. 11) Lon Warneke (1930-1945) (192-121; 3.18 ERA; ERA+ 119; 30 SHO; 2782 IP/ 2726 H/ H/9 8.8; 1140 K/ 739 BB/ 1.54 ratio; 1.245 WHIP). Every Sports Reference Social Media Account, Site Last Updated: Wednesday, March 1, 1:07PM. Im struck by the parity between Kevin Brown and Jim Kaat. Total Zone Rating and initial framework for Wins above Replacement calculations provided by Sean Smith. Lolich had a splendid career with the Detroit Tigers from 6375. He racked up 126 saves in his 40s. The committee missed his team mate, Mordecai Brown, until after his death in 1948. Answer (1 of 5): I honestly think that some manager should try it. It is a significant total. 2B: Lou WhitakerJeff Kent famously hit the most homers of any second baseman, thus making his exclusion from the Hall somewhat strange. His last year of allowing fewer hits than innings pitched was 81. Despite being the top pitcher in the league at least three times, Walters has been overlooked for the HOF. Its hard not to wonder whether Santana would be making a steady year-by-year improvement in the voting totals now if he had rightfully taken home the 2005 AL Cy Young Award that went to Bartolo Colon instead. He easily lost enough time to give him credit for not having 200 wins. But he might not be on this list much longer. 15) Ed Reulbach (1905-1917) (182-106; 2.28 ERA; ERA+ 123; 40 SHO; 2,632 IP/ 2,117 H/ 7.2 H/9; 1,137 K/ 892 BB/ 1.27 ratio; 1.143 WHIP). He led the league in shutouts in '36 and games started in '37. His K/BB ratio of 2.01 is historically strong. Its commonplace in todays game for a manager to turn to the bullpen as early as the sixth inning. When Bruce Sutter began experimenting with the split-fingered fastball, he wasn't looking for a path to Cooperstown. The voting body has become skewed in their view of starting pitching in recent decades. His ban from the game doesn't seem like it will ever be lifted. Not retired by 2017. One of the top relievers of the decade, Lyle was acquired from the Red Sox in March 1972 and recorded a 2.41 ERA (148 ERA+) in New York, tallying 141 saves and finishing 348 games. Then again, you typically dont get to 112 blown saves without being a great closer. He had winning streaks of 14 and 17 games, and at one point held the NL record consecutive scoreless inning streak with 44. In fact, from 1905 through 1909 his H/9 never reached 7.0. He featured a low three-quarters delivery that made it hard for left-handed batters to pick up the ball. Oct 14, 2022, 04:09 PM EDT. Several players careers have been overlooked instead of championed. The process of selection and voting for the HOF has been uneven at best. The Blue Stockings folded after one year, and he then signed with Cincinnati. Our reasoning for presenting offensive logos. This gives us a cut off of 2500 innings to use on the short end, while looking for candidates to make our list of best pitchers not in the HOF. And his .187 batting average allowed is the lowest of any retired relief pitcher. "What if" and "would have become prevalent bylines for the pitchers on this list. Tom Brady lost three Super Bowls. Most Unique Players by Age by Similarity Scores, Most Games without a World Series Appearance, Most Games without a Postseason Appearance, Highest Career and Single-Season Salaries, Scores from any date in Major League history, Minor, Foreign, College, & Black Baseball, Frequently Asked Questions about MLB and Baseball, Subscribe to Stathead Baseball: Get your first month FREE. 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