The best pitchers of all time

The MLB is a pitching league, and there is a reason why they get paid more every year. The skill of being able to throw a baseball at 100+mph over and over again (hence the name "pitcher") is not something any person can do. But some guys are better than others.

Here, we break down the best starting pitchers in MLB history based on statistics, longevity, injuries, awards, and more. A pitcher's job is to keep their team in the game (hence the term "closer")

Who are the best pitchers in MLB history?

It's hard to choose among so many good ones, but here is a list of the top 10 with their statistics.

1) Cy Young

2) Walter Johnson

3) Tom Seaver

4) Lefty Grove

5) Roger Clemens

6) Greg Maddux

7) John Smoltz

8) Pedro Martinez

9) Randy Johnson

10) Steve Carlton

Why is it so hard to be a pitcher?

Every year pitchers get better contracts, but they also have to be better. To stand out from the crowd, they need to have the fastest speed, the best skills, be smart, and have the stamina to dominate and win a game. But some guys are better than others.

Some people may wonder why it's so hard to be a pitcher, but it takes years of practice to master throwing that fast. A pitcher's job is to keep their team in the game (hence the term "closer"), and here we rank which ones were most successful at that task.

Injury prevention and longevity

When picking the best pitchers in MLB history, we had to take into consideration injury prevention and longevity. The fundamental task of the pitcher is to dominate and control the game. If they get injured, it doesn't matter how good they are at throwing a baseball 100+ mph; if they can't throw it, then they can't be on the field.

In order to rank who was best at this task, we looked at the number of games started over their career and their career ERA (Earned Run Average).

The players with the most games started over their career with a low ERA were ranked higher, which shows that they were more successful at staying healthy and pitching for a longer time span.

The best pitchers of the modern era

There are some pitchers who have been in the MLB for more than one hundred years. However, we're going to focus on the modern era of pitchers. These guys have all played during this century and had enough success to be ranked among the best pitchers of this generation.

1: Roger Clemens: 4th All-time wins with 354 and 2nd in strikeouts with 4,672. He's also 2nd All-time in Cy Young Awards with 7, just behind Walter Johnson's 8.

2: Greg Maddux: 3rd All-time in Wins with 355, 1st All-times in Complete Games with 355, 3rd All-time in Shutouts with 75, 5th All-time in Innings Pitched with 4356.0 innings pitched, 1st All-time in Batters Faced with 10206 faced, 2nd All-time in Strikeouts with 3818 strikeouts. He's also 1st All-time for Pitching Wins Above Replacement (PWAR) at 151.6

3: Randy Johnson: 6th all-time for Wins (354), 14th all-time for Innings Pitched (4192), 10th all-time for Strikeouts (3708)

4: Tom Seaver: 3rd all-time for Wins (324), 7th all-time for Earned Run Average (ERA) at 2.86, 8th all-time for Strikeouts.

Conclusion

If you are a pitcher or have one on your team, you have to care about how to protect them. Pitchers are more vulnerable to injury than any other position in baseball. In addition, arm fatigue is a real threat to pitchers, so it is key to be aware of how you can keep their arms in shape.

It can be hard to find the right balance between pitching too much and not pitching enough, so it's important to take note of the signs of fatigue. It's also important to remember that pitchers are people too, and they deserve some time to recover. If your team is lucky enough to have one, you want to make sure they're protected and in good shape.