- Andy Pettitte has made the most postseason starts.
- Three active pitchers are in the top eight.
- Fourteen pitchers have made 20 or more playoff starts.
The list of pitchers with the most starts in the playoffs is littered with Hall of Famers and Cy Young winners. Durability and high skill levels are required to break into the top 20 in this category.
Luck is a factor, too. Pitchers need to be on teams which consistently make the postseason and manage to go on deep runs. Even if a pitcher is the MLB betting favourite for the Cy Young, it doesn’t guarantee they will make the playoffs, let alone make multiple starts in October.
Most Starts by MLB Pitcher in the Playoffs
| Rank | Player Name | Team(s) | Postseason Starts |
| 1 | Andy Pettitte | New York Yankees, Houston Astros | 44 |
| 2 | Justin Verlander | Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros | 37 |
| 3 | Tom Glavine | Atlanta Braves, New York Mets | 35 |
| 4 | Roger Clemens | Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Houston Astros | 34 |
| 5 | Clayton Kershaw | Los Angeles Dodgers | 32 |
| 6 | Greg Maddux | Chicago Cubs, Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers | 30 |
| 7 | John Smoltz | Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals | 27 |
| 8 | Max Scherzer | Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, Texas Rangers | 25 |
| T-9 | John Lackey | Los Angeles Angels, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs | 23 |
| T-9 | CC Sabathia | Cleveland, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees | 23 |
| T-11 | Jon Lester | Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics, Chicago Cubs | 22 |
| T-11 | Whitey Ford | New York Yankees | 22 |
| T-13 | Zack Greinke | Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros | 21 |
| T-13 | Mike Mussina | Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees | 21 |
| T-15 | Curt Schilling | Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox | 19 |
| T-15 | Catfish Hunter | Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees | 19 |
| T-17 | Gerrit Cole | PIttsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, New York Yankees | 18 |
| T-17 | Chris Carpenter | St. Louis Cardinals | 18 |
| T-17 | David Cone | New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees | 18 |
| T-17 | Orel Hershiser | Los Angeles Dodgers, Cleveland, New York Mets | 18 |
| T-17 | Dave Stewart | Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays | 18 |
Who Has the Most Starts at Pitcher in MLB Playoff History?
Andy Pettitte has made the most starts by a pitcher in MLB playoff history with 44.
Pettitte benefited from being part of a string of New York Yankees teams among the baseball betting favourites for the World Series. He appeared in the World Series eight times, winning five rings.
Despite being primarily associated with the dynastic Yankees, Pettitte made five postseason starts for the Houston Astros in 2005. Houston lost in the World Series to the Chicago White Sox.
John Smoltz is the only player on this list with multiple postseason saves. Predominantly a reliever from 2001 to 2004, Smoltz had 158 career saves overall, four of which were in the playoffs. He also has the third-most playoff strikeouts with 199 in 209 innings.
Smoltz is joined on this list by longtime teammates Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.
Forming a Big Three for the Atlanta Braves from 1993 to 2002, the trio combined for seven Cy Young awards and won nine out of 10 division titles. Glavine won World Series MVP when the Braves defeated Cleveland in the 1995 Fall Classic.
Justin Verlander is making his 36th career #Postseason start – second only to Andy Pettitte (44).
This will be JV’s 14th Game 1 start – most all-time. pic.twitter.com/Qa3NwLkcCI
— MLB (@MLB) October 16, 2023
Justin Verlander (244) holds the record for the most postseason strikeouts ahead of Clayton Kershaw (213). Despite five ERA titles and three Cy Young awards, Kershaw has the highest ERA of any pitcher featured on the list above.
He’s one of the greatest pitchers the sport has ever seen, but Kershaw’s postseason performances often saw online sports betting markets lengthen the Los Angeles Dodgers World Series odds.
Curt Schilling’s 2.23 is the lowest ERA of the players with 18 or more postseason starts. Christy Mathewson, who made just 11 playoff starts, holds the record with four postseason shutouts. Whitey Ford is the only pitcher on this list with more than two playoff shutouts.
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