1/22/2025

​​Best on the mound in the 90’s?


Just a couple days ago, we reviewed hitting performance in the 90’s. Certainly, there are so many names that baseball fans won’t forget. Now, let’s take a look at the pitching performance in the 90’s.

 

Again, I decided to check on the great Fangraphs website.

 

Quality Starts (1990~1999)

Player

QS

Greg Maddux

247

Tom Glavine

218

Kevin Brown

213

Roger Clemens

206

Randy Johnson

200

 

Firstly, let’s take a look at an interesting stat. Greg Maddux is a phenomenal pitcher. He made more than 700 starts in his career and is a member of the 300-win club. From 1990 to 1999, he made 331 starts and 247 of those starts were quality starts. At the same time, Tom Glavine had been a teammate of Maddux for 10 seasons. He’s another 300-win club member. Tom Glavine made 327 starts in the 90’s and 218 of those starts were quality starts. Moreover, Kevin Brown earned 200+ wins in his career. From 1990 to 1999, he made 300+ starts and had more than 200 quality starts. Furthermore, Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson each had 200+ quality starts in the 90’s.

 

Strikeouts (1990~1999)

Player

SO

Randy Johnson

2538

Roger Clemens

2101

David Cone

1928

John Smoltz

1893

Chuck Finley

1784

Greg Maddux

1764

 

Secondly, let’s look at the strikeout leaders. Randy Johnson threw 4000+ strikeouts in his career. Without doubt, he can punch out batters. Johnson struck out 2538 batters from 1990 to 1999. Additionally, Roger Clemens threw 2000+ strikeouts in the 90’s as well. Additionally, David Cone is a 5-time World Series champion. He threw 2668 strikeouts in his career. In the 90’s, he struck out 1928 batters. Moreover, John Smoltz earned 200+ wins and collected 100+ saves in his great career. From 1990 to 1999, Smoltz punched out more than 1800 batters. Also, Chuck Finley and Greg Maddux each threw 1700+ strikeouts during the same period.

 

Saves (1990~1999)

Player

SV

John Wetteland

295

Dennis Eckersley

293

Randy Myers

291

Jeff Montgomery

285

Rick Aguilera

282

John Franco

268

 

In addition, let’s look at the saves leader. John Wetteland recorded 300+ saves in his career and in the 90’s, he collected 295 saves. Furthermore, Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley had 390 saves in his career. The last time he pitched in the majors was in 1998. From 1990 to 1998, he collected 293 saves. Also, Randy Myers collected 290+ saves from 1990 to 1998 as well.

 

Earned Run Average

(1990~1999, min IP: 1,000)

Player

ERA

Greg Maddux

2.54

Jose Rijo

2.74

Pedro Martinez

2.83

Roger Clemens

3.02

Randy Johnson

3.14

 

Now, let’s look at the ERA leaders. Greg Maddux tossed 2000+ innings and owned an ERA of 2.54 from 1990 to 1999. Jose Rijo tossed 1111 innings from 1990 to 1995, posting a 2.74 ERA. Furthermore, Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez made his MLB debut in 1992. From 1992 to 1999, he tossed 1359.1 innings and owned an ERA below 3.

 

Batting Average Against

(1990~1999, min IP: 1,000)

Player

BAA

Randy Johnson

.207

Pedro Martinez

.209

David Cone

.221

Roger Clemens

.224

Curt Schilling

.229

John Smoltz

.229

Greg Maddux

.230

 

Finally, let’s take a look at which pitchers didn’t let batters hit well. From 1990 to 1999, opponents’ batting average against Randy Johnson was only .207. Moreover, it’s tough to hit against Pedro Martinez, who had a .209 BAA from 1992 to 1999. Furthermore, 4 other pitchers each had a BAA below .230 in the 90’s.

 

Looking back at the pitching stats in the 90’s, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz are on the leaderboard. With seeing this, it’s certain that the Braves had great arms in that decade. And 3 of them were inducted to the Hall of Fame. Additionally, we see that Hall of Famers Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez were dominant on the mound in the 90’s. And David Cone did pitch very well in the 90’s.

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