2013 Milestone Musings – Pitchers’ Edition

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A follow-up to the Batters’ edition post from last week, here are the pitchers who have reached significant career milestones this season.

Some you will know, but there will be some surprises too. More after the jump.

Andy Pettitte

Lots of milestones for Andy in his second season out of retirement. Pettitte passed 500 starts (Jun 3), 250 wins (Jun 8) and 150 losses (Jul 24), the first two tops among active hurlers and the third second only to Derek Lowe. Pettitte also passed 1000 walks (Jun 3) and should reach 60 WAR by the end of the season. Over 50 of that WAR has come in pinstripes, ranking Pettitte third among all Yankees, behind only Mariano Rivera and Whitey Ford.

Among active pitchers with 200+ starts, Pettitte ranks 4th  in % of starts won, trailing only Justin Verlander, Roy Halladay and CC Sabathia. Among all expansion era pitchers, those four all currently place in the top 15 for that metric.

Rk Player Split From To G GS GStot % W
1 Sandy Koufax in Wins 1961 1966 129 128 211 60.7 129
2 Justin Verlander in Wins 2006 2013 136 136 259 52.5 136
3 Bob Gibson in Wins 1961 1975 245 241 461 52.3 245
4 Juan Marichal in Wins 1961 1974 237 232 444 52.3 237
5 Jim Maloney in Wins 1961 1969 132 128 245 52.2 132
6 Ron Guidry in Wins 1977 1988 170 167 322 51.9 170
7 Roy Halladay in Wins 1998 2013 202 199 387 51.4 202
8 Pedro Martinez in Wins 1993 2009 219 208 408 51.0 219
9 Jim Palmer in Wins 1965 1983 268 262 518 50.6 268
10 Mike Mussina in Wins 1991 2008 270 270 536 50.4 270
11 Whitey Ford in Wins 1961 1967 103 101 201 50.2 103
12 Roger Clemens in Wins 1984 2007 354 354 707 50.1 354
13 Randy Johnson in Wins 1988 2009 303 301 603 49.9 303
14 CC Sabathia in Wins 2001 2013 204 204 412 49.5 204
15 Andy Pettitte in Wins 1995 2013 255 254 516 49.2 255
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/5/2013.

Among those same expansion-era pitchers, Pettitte is currently one of only nine with 100 more wins than losses.

Rk Player W L W-L% From To Age G GS CG SHO IP BB SO ERA ERA+
1 Greg Maddux 355 227 .610 1986 2008 20-42 744 740 109 35 5008.1 999 3371 3.16 132
2 Roger Clemens 354 184 .658 1984 2007 21-44 709 707 118 46 4916.2 1580 4672 3.12 143
3 Tom Seaver 311 205 .603 1967 1986 22-41 656 647 231 61 4783.0 1390 3640 2.86 127
4 Tom Glavine 305 203 .600 1987 2008 21-42 682 682 56 25 4413.1 1500 2607 3.54 118
5 Randy Johnson 303 166 .646 1988 2009 24-45 618 603 100 37 4135.1 1497 4875 3.29 135
6 Mike Mussina 270 153 .638 1991 2008 22-39 537 536 57 23 3562.2 785 2813 3.68 123
7 Jim Palmer 268 152 .638 1965 1984 19-38 558 521 211 53 3948.0 1311 2212 2.86 125
8 Andy Pettitte 255 151 .628 1995 2013 23-41 526 516 25 4 3281.0 1022 2421 3.86 116
9 Pedro Martinez 219 100 .687 1992 2009 20-37 476 409 46 17 2827.1 760 3154 2.93 154
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/5/2013.

Mariano Rivera

So, why exactly is Mariano retiring? Talk about going out in style – Rivera’s season has been anything but a ceremonial tour (notwithstanding 6 blown saves, his most since 2003). Rivera passed 1200 IP in relief (Jul 2), 15th all-time, and a nifty 5000 batters faced  (Jul 25). Every save, of course, is a new record, the next one numbering 650.

Look for Rivera to reach 60 games finished by the end of the year. That will make his seventh such season, tying him with Rob Nen (whose seasons were consecutive) for most all-time. Rivera’s 14 seasons finishing 50+ games is tops on that list.

Here’s that list of all-time leaders in IP in relief. Note especially the WHIP and SO/BB columns.

Rk Player Split From To G IP ERA GF SV BB SO WHIP SO/9 SO/BB BAbip
1 Hoyt Wilhelm as Reliever 1952 1972 1017 1871.1 2.49 650 223 661 1362 1.120 6.6 2.06 .247
2 Lindy McDaniel as Reliever 1955 1975 913 1694.2 3.14 577 174 486 1165 1.225 6.2 2.40 .286
3 Rich Gossage as Reliever 1972 1994 965 1556.2 2.77 681 310 628 1340 1.197 7.7 2.13 .270
4 Rollie Fingers as Reliever 1968 1985 907 1505.2 2.73 709 341 429 1183 1.132 7.1 2.76 .275
5 Gene Garber as Reliever 1969 1988 922 1452.2 3.30 609 218 424 913 1.258 5.7 2.15 .287
6 Kent Tekulve as Reliever 1974 1989 1050 1436.2 2.85 638 184 491 779 1.250 4.9 1.59 .272
7 Sparky Lyle as Reliever 1967 1982 899 1390.1 2.88 634 238 481 873 1.275 5.7 1.82 .284
8 Tug McGraw as Reliever 1965 1984 785 1301.1 2.86 541 180 494 974 1.228 6.7 1.97 .275
9 Don McMahon as Reliever 1957 1974 872 1297.0 2.94 505 151 576 992 1.246 6.9 1.72 .256
10 Jesse Orosco as Reliever 1979 2003 1248 1277.0 3.12 501 144 568 1169 1.255 8.2 2.06 .269
11 Mike Marshall as Reliever 1967 1981 700 1259.1 2.96 549 188 461 813 1.274 5.8 1.76 .284
12 Lee Smith as Reliever 1980 1997 1017 1252.1 2.98 803 478 474 1225 1.253 8.8 2.58 .299
13 Tom Burgmeier as Reliever 1968 1984 742 1248.2 3.19 370 102 381 579 1.277 4.2 1.52 .277
14 John Franco as Reliever 1984 2005 1119 1245.2 2.89 774 424 495 975 1.333 7.0 1.97 .297
15 Mariano Rivera as Reliever 1995 2013 1096 1222.0 2.05 945 649 266 1128 0.975 8.3 4.24 .262
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/5/2013.

Barry Zito, Bartolo Colon

Zito passed the 400 start (May 3) and 2500 IP (Jun 5) thresholds in 2013. Less noteworthy is his 86 ERA+ as a Giant, the lowest mark among active pitchers since 2007  (min. 1000 IP).

Like Zito, Colon also passed 400 starts (Aug 29) and 2500 IP (Jul 3), plus 2500 hits allowed (Jun 28) including 300 home runs (May 9). Colon joins Pettitte, Mark Buehrle and Derek Lowe as active pitchers with 2500+ IP and more hits allowed than IP. More importantly, Colon passed 40 WAR and is on pace for a 4 WAR season, something only these 17 pitchers have accomplished aged 40 or older.

Rk Yrs From To Age
1 Roger Clemens 3 2003 2005 40-42 Ind. Seasons
2 Nolan Ryan 3 1987 1991 40-44 Ind. Seasons
3 Warren Spahn 3 1961 1963 40-42 Ind. Seasons
4 Randy Johnson 2 2004 2005 40-41 Ind. Seasons
5 Dennis Martinez 2 1994 1995 40-41 Ind. Seasons
6 Phil Niekro 2 1979 1984 40-45 Ind. Seasons
7 Jack Quinn 2 1924 1927 40-43 Ind. Seasons
8 Cy Young 2 1907 1908 40-41 Ind. Seasons
9 John Smoltz 1 2007 2007 40-40 Ind. Seasons
10 Curt Schilling 1 2007 2007 40-40 Ind. Seasons
11 Kenny Rogers 1 2005 2005 40-40 Ind. Seasons
12 David Wells 1 2003 2003 40-40 Ind. Seasons
13 Jamie Moyer 1 2003 2003 40-40 Ind. Seasons
14 Tom Seaver 1 1985 1985 40-40 Ind. Seasons
15 Johnny Niggeling 1 1944 1944 40-40 Ind. Seasons
16 Ted Lyons 1 1942 1942 41-41 Ind. Seasons
17 Pete Alexander 1 1927 1927 40-40 Ind. Seasons
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/5/2013.

A.J. Burnett, Ryan Dempster

This season, both these pitchers will reach the 10,000 batters faced and 2000 strikeout milestones. Dempster got the Strikeout mark first  (Jun 9) and the Batters Faced shortly after  (Jun 14). Burnett notched his milestone K early (Apr 17) and will face his 10,000th batter late (about 4 starts away). Both also passed a 1000 milestone, Dempster for walks (Apr 15) and Burnett for earned runs allowed (Jun 3).

With his next start, Dempster will join this group, with 350 starts and 200 relief appearances.

Rk Player G GS GR From To Age CG SHO GF W L W-L% SV IP BB SO ERA ERA+
1 Dennis Eckersley 1071 361 710 1975 1998 20-43 100 20 577 197 171 .535 390 3285.2 738 2401 3.50 116
2 Jim Kaat 898 625 273 1959 1983 20-44 180 31 102 283 237 .544 18 4530.1 1083 2461 3.45 108
3 Charlie Hough 858 440 418 1970 1994 22-46 107 13 240 216 216 .500 61 3801.1 1665 2362 3.75 106
4 Kenny Rogers 762 474 288 1989 2008 24-43 36 9 133 219 156 .584 28 3302.2 1175 1968 4.27 107
5 Jack Quinn 756 443 313 1909 1933 25-49 243 28 217 247 218 .531 57 3920.1 860 1329 3.29 114
6 John Smoltz 723 481 242 1988 2009 21-42 53 16 204 213 155 .579 154 3473.0 1010 3084 3.33 125
7 Danny Darwin 716 371 345 1978 1998 22-42 53 9 171 171 182 .484 32 3016.2 874 1942 3.84 106
8 Joe Niekro 702 500 202 1967 1988 22-43 107 29 93 221 204 .520 16 3584.1 1262 1747 3.59 98
9 Derek Lowe 681 377 304 1997 2013 24-40 10 4 168 176 157 .529 86 2671.1 794 1722 4.03 109
10 Waite Hoyt 674 425 249 1918 1938 18-38 226 26 171 237 182 .566 52 3762.1 1003 1206 3.59 112
11 Dutch Leonard 640 375 265 1933 1953 24-44 192 30 171 191 181 .513 44 3218.1 737 1170 3.25 119
12 Lew Burdette 626 373 253 1950 1967 23-40 158 33 128 203 144 .585 31 3067.1 628 1074 3.66 99
13 John Candelaria 600 356 244 1975 1993 21-39 54 13 82 177 122 .592 29 2525.2 592 1673 3.33 114
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 9/5/2013.

CC Sabathia

While this season has surely been a struggle for CC, he has passed a number of noteworthy milestones including 400 starts (Jun 28), 200 wins (Jul 3), 1000 earned runs allowed (Apr 1) and 2500 hits allowed (Jul 14), including 250 home runs (Jul 21). Despite his troubles, Sabathia remains on pace to break the record he shares with Carl Hubbell of starting a career with 12 straight seasons of 10+ wins and a winning record. His current 83 ERA+, though, means that, absent a sudden turnabout in form, CC will not match Tom Seaver, Eddie Plank and Kid Nichols with 13 seasons to start a career of 180+ IP and ERA+ of 100 or better.

Mark Buehrle

Buehrle reached 400 starts (Apr 20) and is about 3 games away from 12,000 batters faced. The next hit he allows will be number 3000. Barring injury, this will be Buehrle’s 13th straight season with 30 starts and 200 IP, joining Tom Seaver, Christy Mathewson and Cy Young as the only pitchers with such a streak in the first 14 seasons of a career.

Other notable milestones:

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Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago

Through the end of the 2012 season Pettitte has the most seasons in a career without a losing record, 17. That’s a record. His worst year was 2008 when he was 14-14. This year he has a good shot at making it 18 seasons. In second place are Deacon Phillippe and Urban Shocker with 13.

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Doug
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Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  Richard Chester

I guess you mean longest career without ever having a losing season, rather than most seasons without a losing record. These are the pitchers with most seasons without a losing record. Longest streak looks like Pete Alexander’s 19 years. Rk Yrs From To Age 1 Roger Clemens 22 1984 2007 21-44 Ind. Seasons 2 Greg Maddux 19 1988 2007 22-41 Ind. Seasons 3 Randy Johnson 19 1988 2009 24-45 Ind. Seasons 4 Pete Alexander 19 1911 1929 24-42 Ind. Seasons 5 Andy Pettitte 18 1995 2013 23-41 Ind. Seasons 6 Nolan Ryan 18 1969 1993 22-46 Ind. Seasons 7 Phil… Read more »

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Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

@2:
Thanks for correcting my awkwardly worded statement. I also should have said that Phillippe and Shocker are tied for first among retired pitchers and would slip to second or third if either Pettitte, and/or Hudson per post 3, finished his career with never having a losing season.

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bstar
bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  Richard Chester

RC, Tim Hudson has a streak of 15 consecutive non-losing seasons going, so he would be tied for third with Tom Seaver, with Alexander first and Pettitte second (as far as non-losing streaks go).

If you focus on consecutive winning seasons to start a career, it’s Alexander with 19 and Hudson with 15.

If you want just consecutive winning seasons (not necessarily to start a career), Pedro Martinez had 15 straight also to tie Hudson for second.

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