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
| What | Best | Worst | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who | Year | Best | Who | Year | Worst | ||
| 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
| What | Best | Worst | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who | Year | Best | Who | Year | Worst | ||
| 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:
- Ratio stats are 20+ IP (374 player seasons out of 833, just 172 have 50+ IP) for relievers, 100 IP+ for starters (193 out of 501 - just 119 have 162 IP+, 285 had 50+ IP). I'd rather be too inclusive here than too restrictive (often you see a 50 IP relief/162 start for tables like these).
- Save % I'm using (Saves + Holds)/(Saves + Holds + Blown Saves)
- vFA (velocity fastball - only 2007 and up)
- GB% for 2002 up, the rest are 1977-now.
- LOB% = (H+BB+HBP-R)/(H+BB+HBP-(1.4*HR)) (via FanGraphs - to estimate runners stranded by a pitcher)
- Bold indicates guy who is still here holding the record (good or bad).
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)
