15 Best Starting Pitchers in MLB History, Ranked

The best pitchers in MLB history combine an all-time great peak with longevity. Individual awards weren’t a necessity when choosing the players for these rankings, but the majority inevitably claimed plenty of hardware.

15 Best Pitchers in MLB History, Ranked

Who Are the Greatest Major League Baseball Pitchers Ever?

1. Cy Young

The all-time leader in WAR, wins, and innings pitched, Cy Young holds some of MLB’s most unbreakable records. The award for the best pitcher in each league also carries his name, which reflects his impact on the sport across his Hall of Fame career. 

2.  Roger Clemens

The career leader in fWAR and sporting a 143 ERA+, Roger Clemens was consistently priced among the Cy Young favourites in the MLB sports betting markets. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards (the most in MLB history), with an 18-year gap between his first and last. 

3. Walter Johnson 

Walter Johnson won two MVPs, three Triple Crowns, and led the majors in ERA on four occasions. His 110 shutouts are a record that will never be broken. 

4. Randy Johnson

Winner of five Cy Young Awards, including four in a row, Randy Johnson was utterly dominant for a decade. He was named an All-Star on 10 occasions and led the majors in strikeouts in eight seasons. 

5. Clayton Kershaw

Clayton Kershaw is the greatest pitcher in the 21st century. Fifth all-time in ERA+ and with 77.2 fWAR to his name, the Los Angeles Dodgers southpaw had a run of winning three Cy Young Awards in four seasons and claimed the Triple Crown in 2015. 

6. Justin Verlander

With three Cy Young Awards and an MVP, Justin Verlander’s peak was almost as dominant as Kershaw’s. His longevity is equally admirable, particularly how he returned to elite standards after declining in Detroit and returning from Tommy John surgery to win the Cy Young in his age-39 season. 

7. Pedro Martinez

Pedro Martinez has a 154 career ERA+, which ranks sixth all-time. He won three Cy Young Awards and had four other top-four finishes during a peak which featured some of the greatest pitching seasons in big-league history. His changeup was unhittable, contributing to a career mark of 10 strikeouts per nine innings. 

8. Greg Maddux

Only trailing Young and Randy Johnson in fWAR, I was tempted to put Greg Maddux in the top five. His low strikeout totals and a 132 ERA+ meant I opted for eighth, which might seem a bit harsh for a pitcher with four consecutive Cy Young Awards. 

9. Tom Seaver

Ten pitchers have more career fWAR than Tom Seaver, despite his 2.86 career ERA. Tom Terrific was a perennial Cy Young favourite in the baseball betting markets from 1969 until 1977. He led the NL in bWAR on three occasions during his time as a New York Met. 

10. Nolan Ryan

Longevity was Nolan Ryan’s superpower. He pitched in 27 big-league seasons with his electric stuff, taking him to the highest strikeout total in MLB history. Ryan, who holds the record with seven no-hitters, was also notoriously wild, and walked the most batters in big-league history. 

11. Jacob deGrom

Only three pitchers in MLB history have a better ERA+ than Jacob deGrom. At only 48.1 career bWAR, deGrom won’t match the volume of the other pitchers on this list, but his peak years were spectacular at a time when offence was booming. 

Between 2018 and 2021, he had a 205 ERA+. 

12. Max Scherzer

Max Scherzer is one of seven pitchers to have won the Cy Young in both leagues. Only four pitchers have won the award more times than Scherzer, who has a career ERA+ of 132 and had eight top-five Cy Young finishes between 2013 and 2021. 

13. Bob Gibson

A two-time Cy Young winner with remarkable durability, Bob Gibson averaged almost 270 innings per regular season between 1962 and 1972. On top of that, Gibson is one of the greatest World Series pitchers in MLB history with two World Series MVPs and a career 1.89 ERA in the Fall Classic. 

14. Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson won two Triple Crowns and claimed the ERA title on five occasions. He has a better ERA+ than Scherzer, Randy Johnson, and Maddux. It’s always hard to compare players from Mathewson’s era with modern-day greats – the comparative lack of competition during his career kept him outside the top 10.

15. Lefty Grove

Thirteenth in fWAR and ninth in ERA+ among starting pitchers, Lefty Grove could have ranked in the top 10. He won nine ERA titles and led the league in strikeouts in his first seven big-league seasons.