The Era of Aces

The other day I saw a tweet that interested me. In the tweet, it displayed the top five pitchers from this past season: Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg, Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, and in the image it asked the question, was there a better year of pitchers? 

With the closing of another decade of baseball stars and moments, what really helped define this era of baseball were the starting pitchers dominated the game unlike any other time period, in nearly 100 years. Other generations have had their fair share of great starters, but never before had we seen a collection like this. So I started to wonder, is this the greatest collection of pitching talent we had ever seen. 

As opposed to doing a deep historical and statistical dive into every single decade or era of baseball history, I thought it would be best to at least figure out if this is the best era pitching I have seen in my lifetime. Because growing up, I did get the chance to some great pitchers. Pedro, Maddux, Randy Johnson, Roger Clemens and more gave me great childhood memories. But were my childhood idols better than what we have just witnessed this past decade? 

Only one way to find out that...

1995-2005

1. Pedro Martinez
2. Greg Maddux
3. Roger Clemens
4. Randy Johnson
5. Tom Glavine
6. Curt Schilling
7. John Smoltz
8. Mike Mussina
9. Kevin Brown
10. Johan Santana

What makes this grouping so unique, in particular when you compare it to the group from the last ten years, is how diverse the pitchers are from this era. Diverse not only in nationality, but in pitching style, and yet all of them found sustained success in the most difficult time for pitchers in baseball history. With the likes of McGwire, Sosa, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez tormenting pitchers with all kinds of amphennizesze in their bodies, you have righties and lefties in this group that could baffle hitters throwing 98+ or just barely above 90. 

What is also pretty unique in comparison is how many from this list were battery mates. Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz made up one many considered to be the greatest rotation in baseball history. Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling were the first to take down the evil empire that was headed by Roger Clemens and Mike Mussina (all apologies to the Andy Pettitte fanatics out there). Then when Schilling was done in Arizona he headed to Boston to team up with Pedro Martinez to take down the Yankees yet again. Pedro would end up leaving for the Mets, and Tom Glavine joined him, but that combo, both pitchers in the tail end of their careers, were not aces anymore. But their legacies were already solidified. 

This list has produced five Hall of Famers, while another two, Clemens and Schilling have the numbers, but not the votes to get in. Each one, aside from Mike Mussina, Kevin Brown and Curt Schilling (who finished 2nd in Cy Young voting 3 times) has won a Cy Young award, four have won multiple, and Clemens has won the award more than any other pitcher in baseball history. This era of starters redefined the term ‘Ace’ and each dawned the title. 

And while this is known as the ‘Steroid Era’ (plus or minus a couple of years) where slugging was the theme, these ten pitchers may just be, the best pitchers of an era. 

Average Season (Career) 

	Wins	ERA	Ks	WHIP	Cy Young
Pedro Martinez	17	2.93	242	1.054	3 (1997, 1999, 2000)
Greg Maddux	16	3.16	154	1.143	4 (1992, 1993, 1994,1995)
Roger Clemens	17	3.12	224	1.173	7 (1986,1987, 1991, 2001, 2004)
Randy Johnson	17	3.29	271	1.171	5 (1995, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004(
Tom Glavine	15	3.54	130	1.314	2 (1991, 1998)
Curt Schilling	15	3.46	211	1.137	0
John Smoltz	12	3.33	174	1.176	1 (1996)
Mike Mussina	17	3.68	178	1.192	0
Kevin Brown	15	3.28	169	1.222	0
Johan Santana	15	3.20	210	1.132	2 (2004, 2006)

2009-2019

1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Justin Verlander
3. Max Scherzer
4. Madison Bumgarner
5. Jacob DeGrom
6. Chris Sale 
7. Zack Greinke 
8. Corey Kluber
9. Felix Hernandez 
10. Stephen Strasburg 

This past decade saw a Renaissance of hurlers that rewrote the history books. In this past decade alone, there were over 40 no-hitters, batters were striking out at record rates, and batting averages have been so low many wondered if we were in the midst of another dead-ball era. Then, almost out of no where, the ball started exited ballparks faster than ever before, and before we knew it, the dead-ball era ended for the exploding-ball era. But despite the launch-angle revival, pitching has still dominated the game, thanks to the these ten starters. 

Unlike the ‘Steroid Era’ all of these pitchers, at one point or another, were known for their power. Power arms and power pitches. With all that power came high strikeout numbers, but also, low WHIPs as each of these starters were able to harness their velocity and/or break on their pitches to locate them in the zone, when needed. So it has been no wonder why players today are striking out at incredible rates. 99 mph is impressive, but its even more impressive when pitchers are painting the corners with it.

Kershaw’s slider, curveball, and high 90s fastball, Sale’s power slider, changeup, and even higher 90s fastball, and at the height of his career it seemed Zack Greinke had five elite pitches. Therefore its no wonder that every pitcher on this lists averages over 200 strikeouts a season (compared to the steroid list in which only 5 averaged over 200). But aside from the strikeouts, legacies were born. Madison Bumgarner became known as one of baseball histories greatest big game pitchers (as well as Stephen Strasburg), deGrom won back to back Cy Young’s despite not winning more than 11 games in either season, ‘King’ Felix Hernandez became one of the most beloved players in Seattle’s history despite so many losing seasons, and when he wasn’t winning Cy Young’s or leading the league in strikeouts, Justin Verlander found the time to marry Kate Upton…

…like I said, legends. 

	Wins	ERA	Strikeouts	WHIP	Cy Youngs
Clayton Kershaw	17	2.44	242	1.008	3 (2011, 2013, 2014)
Justin Verlander	17	3.33	226	1.135	2 (2011, 2019)
Max Scherzer	16	3.20	254	1.092	3 (2013, 2016, 2017)
Madison Bumgarner	14	3.13	212	1.111	0
Jacob deGrom	13	2.62	219	1.053	2 (2018, 2019)
Chris Sale	14	3.03	251	1.035	0
Zack Grienke	15	3.35	209	1.159	1 (2009)
Stephen Strasburg	15	3.17	241	1.086	0
Felix Hernandez	14	3.42	205	1.206	1 (2010)
Corey Kluber	16	3.16	242	1.086	2 (2014, 2017)

But which group is the best? Who would you rather have pitch for your team? Or in a big game? 

It’s an interesting debate that I will conduct over the next couple of blogs (might even throw in a few podcasts while I am at it).

So get discussing with your family, friends and colleagues. We only have 30 some odd days left until pitchers and catchers report, so we need something to occupy our time. 

The Patriots are out of the playoffs, so I am free.