Best and Worst Pitchers for the Jays All-Time

Tuesday, March 26 2024 @ 11:56 AM EDT

Contributed by: John Northey

Well, time to finally get into the pitchers side of this. Wonder if any of these records (good or bad) will be broken in 2024?

This time I made sure to get all split seasons where guys played partial years for the Jays. Pitchers have different challenges than hitters for lists like this.  Luckily FanGraphs is nice enough to split every pitcher into relief and starting - so I have stats for just starts and just relief for every Jay pitcher season ever.   833 relief player seasons - ranging from 89 games for Mark Eichhorn in 1987 to 1 relief game that happened 93 times, twice without getting an out (Steve Luebber 1979 and Brad Mills 2011).  Eichhorn in 1986 set a Jays record that I doubt will ever be broken - 157 IP in relief (it was a sight that year).

Starting Pitching
WhatBestWorstNotes
WhoYearBestWhoYearWorst
Wins Roy Halladay 2003 22 132 players   0 Luis Andujar 1997 0-6 had the most losses without a win
Losses 64 players   0 Jerry Garvin, Phil Huffman 1977, 1979 18 Tom Filer 1985 7-0 had the most wins without a loss
Starts Jim Clancy 1982 40 55 players   1 Jackson Todd 1979 went 7 IP in his 1 start
Innings Dave Stieb 1982 288.1 Anthony Banda 2022 0.1 250 IP reached 14 times, Halladay '03 the last. 225 last reached 2011 Ricky Romero.
K/9 Robbie Ray 2021 11.54 Mike Flanagan 1989 2.46 Kevin Gausman '22 the only other Jay to crack 11. Phil Huffman the only other with sub 3 (1979).
BB/9 Ross Stripling 2022 1.02 Al Leiter 1995 5.31 Halladay 2003 is 2nd (1.08), 3 times over 5 ever - twice by Al Leiter, once Ricky Romero.
At 50IP you get Josh Towers 2003 0.85 BB/9 and Jeff Byrd 1977 7.01 BB/9
HR/9 Roy Halladay 2001 0.26 Paul Quantrill 1996 2.12 Only 1 Jays pitcher had a HR/9 lower than 0.5 since 2003 - Marcus Stroman in 2014
BABIP Marco Estrada 2015 .220 Joey Hamilton 2001 .370 Kevin Gausman's 2022 363 is #2 for worst, 4 lowest are 2 Stieb and 2 Estrada seasons. 50 IP gets us Halladay 2000 370 avg.
LOB% Robbie Ray 2021 90.1% Cory Lidle 2003 59.8% Might explain why the Jays were willing to basically trade Ray for Gausman. Halladay 2000 was 49.4% (!)
GB% Marcus Stroman 2018 62.1% Marco Estrada 2018 24.0% 3 of the top 4 (all 60%+) were Stroman with a Halladay season mixed in, Estrada the only one sub 30%
ERA Roger Clemens 1997 2.05 Chris Carpenter 2000 6.55 Just 4 times sub 2.50 - Clemens, Manoah, Halladay, Stieb. At 50 IP you get Halladay 2000 11.13 as a starter only.
HR/FB Marcus Stroman 2014 0.06 Esmil Rogers 2013 0.18 Not seeing any consistency in leaders - seems far more variable than I thought it would.
vFB Dustin McGowan 2007 95.46 R.A. Dickey 2015 82.12 Dickey has the 4 slowest years for FB, then 3 years of Buehrle, all sub 85 mph no one else sub 87
FIP Roger Clemens 1997 2.25 Chris Carpenter 2000 5.89 Roy Halladay 2001 tied to 2 decimals with Clemens. 50 IP gets Price '15 2.22 and Marty Janzen 1996 7.17
fWAR Roger Clemens 1997 10.7 Yusei Kikuchi 2022 -0.75 Halladay's 7.03 is the highest non-Clemens score, Clemens '98 was 8.21
Age Jeff Byrd 1977 20 Phil Niekro 1987 48 Next oldest is R.A. Dickey at 41 - Don't see Niekro's record being broken anytime soon, he also has it for Atlanta & Cleveland


Reliever Tables
WhatBestWorstNotes
WhoYearBestWhoYearWorst
Saves Duane Ward 1993 45 583 players
0 No other Jay reached 40, but 19 other seasons of 30+, 1991 the only time 2 reached 20+ at the same time
Holds Erik Swanson 2023 29 424 players
0 3 times 2 guys same year 20+ holds - 1998, 2007, 2023, first to 20 was Ward '92, Scott Downs did it 3 times
Blown Saves Duane Ward 1989 12 503 players
0 Jordan Romano's 6 in 2022 was the highest in the 2020's
Sv/Hld/BlSv Chances Duane Ward 1993 51 338 players
0 Trent Thornton 2021 most G without a Sv/Hld/BlSv at 34
Save % 8 Players, Ken Giles (14-0) best 2018 100% Joey McLaughlin, Scott Cassidy 1983, 2002 50% 10 or more chances
K/9 Steve Delabar 2012 14.11 Mark Bomback 1981 2.18 Twice over 14 (Ken Giles '19), 5 times under 3 (last Xavier Hernandez 1989)
BB/9 Aaron Loup 2012 0.59 Paul Menhart 1995 8.72 Loup the only sub 1, Pedro Borbon 2000 also over 8 (with 12 holds, 0 blown saves)
HR/9 7 with 0

Jason Grilli 2017 3.92 Brock Stewart 2019 the other over 3 HR/9, Victor Cruz 1978 at 47 1/3 IP the most IP without a HR given up
BABIP Trevor Richards 2021 .132 Sergio Santos 2014 .426 9 sub 200 (highest IP is 39 for Ken Robinson '95), 2 over 400 (other is Dave Lemanczyk '78)
LOB% 3 players
100% Don Gordon 1986 48% Bowden Francis 2023 most recent perfect score, and with most IP at 36 1/3
FIP David Wells 1987 1.70 Brock Stewart 2019 8.38 Just 6 seasons sub 2 (6 different players), just 1 over 8, highest 50+ IP is Joe Biagini 2018 5.41
fWAR Mark Eichhorn 1986 4.94 Brian Tallet 2010 -1.16 3 sub -1 seasons (Frascatore & McLaughlin), best in the 2000's is Osuna '17 at 2.95
vFA Jordan Hicks 2023 99.04 Shawn Camp 2009 81.39 Just 4 others in the 97's - Pearson, Romano, Merryweather, Sanchez, 2 others sub 85 (Camp '10, Carlson '08)
GB% Brandon League 2006 73% Tyler Clippard 2018 19% 10 of 202 were 60%+, just the 1 under 25%. League has 2 of the 3 highest (Sanchez '15 the other)
Wins Mark Eichhorn 1986 14 422 players
0 Tom Henke 0-6 (but led the league in saves) 1987
Losses Tom Buskey, Duane Ward 1979, 1989 10 409 players
0 Lamp 11-0 in '85 most wins without a loss
IP Mark Eichhorn 1986 157 Steve Luebber, Brad Mills 1979, 2011 0 Mills faced 3 batters, all scored; Steve Luebber faced 3 batters, 1 scored
Age Elvis Luciano 2019 19 Darren Oliver, LaTroy Hawkins 2013, 2015 42 3 20 year olds (Osuna, Castro, Cruz), 8 40+.

Notes:
A few surprises - how few holds happened pre-1990 (of course, often the pen just stunk back then so it kinda makes sense), Hicks really did throw damn hard.  McLaughlin's '83 shows you why us older Jay fans never feel safe with bullpens. Buehrle was proof you can win in the modern era without a 90+ FB, but it is hard.  Dickey did it with a knuckleball. Lamp's 11-0 was the most wins without a loss since 1938 (Ray Brown in the Negro Leagues), and only passed twice (Tom Zachary Yankees 1929 - both starters, while only Matt Herges in 2000 has reached an 11-0 record in relief with the Dodgers in 2000). 13 other pitchers lost 7 or more without a win as a reliever, mostly closers ala Henke who saved lots (most was 38 for John Franco in 1998 while going 0-8)

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