100 Greatest Pitchers of All-Time

ALL-TIME TOP 100 LISTS

Baseball's All-Time Greatest Pitchers Ranked From 1 to 100

RANKNAMEFROMTOCAREERLONG PEAKSHORT PEAKPRIME
1Walter Johnson19071927164.983.140.061.3
2Greg Maddux19862008106.755.527.443.8
3Randy Johnson19882009101.163.330.143.8
4Tom Seaver19671986110.156.728.840.9
5Lefty Grove19251941106.166.530.846.0
6Pedro Martinez1992200984.059.130.442.8
7Bob Gibson1959197589.455.930.542.5
8Phil Niekro1964198796.253.626.740.1
9Bob Feller1936195663.951.429.139.3
10Pete Alexander19111930120.267.233.646.2
11Warren Spahn1942196599.949.726.234.0
12Bert Blyleven1970199295.050.725.035.0
13Steve Carlton1965198890.551.629.231.8
14Roger Clemens19842007139.665.731.941.4
15Gaylord Perry1962198390.453.227.537.0
16Cy Young18901911168.079.738.956.6
17Robin Roberts1948196686.053.027.142.6
18Christy Mathewson19001916104.063.430.245.2
19Curt Schilling1988200779.649.825.436.3
20Fergie Jenkins1965198384.450.125.336.5
21Justin Verlander2005202277.750.624.131.0
22Clayton Kershaw2008202275.947.723.136.3
23Mike Mussina1991200883.044.521.928.2
24Max Scherzer2008202271.746.222.034.9
25Zack Greinke2004202276.445.225.226.8
26Roy Halladay1998201364.351.325.334.0
27Satchel Paige1927196546.327.014.635.0
28Nolan Ryan1966199381.843.421.827.5
29Juan Marichal1960197563.049.827.237.1
30Jim Palmer1965198468.947.022.630.7
31David Cone1986200362.443.721.030.7
32Tom Glavine1987200880.836.618.625.2
33Carl Hubbell1928194368.445.625.637.3
34Sandy Koufax1955196649.048.729.140.8
35Hal Newhouser1939195563.350.528.740.9
36Bret Saberhagen1984200159.043.125.030.5
37Dave Stieb1979199856.744.722.635.9
38Johan Santana2000201251.644.223.335.6
39Luis Tiant1964198266.544.722.828.2
40Don Drysdale1956196967.242.121.029.9
41CC Sabathia2001201962.538.819.530.4
42Jim Bunning1955197159.647.924.831.7
43Ed Walsh1904191766.059.932.448.1
44John Smoltz1988200969.137.318.624.0
45Joe Williams190519326.66.66.646.0
46Dennis Eckersley1975199862.438.319.927.7
47Ted Lyons1923194671.538.618.623.8
48Wilbur Wood1961197850.347.229.939.1
49Eddie Plank1901191791.548.222.833.3
50Frank Tanana1973199357.638.423.230.7
51Stan Coveleski1916192860.352.926.540.3
52Wes Ferrell1927194161.246.223.330.2
53Kevin Appier1989200454.743.323.332.3
54Don Sutton1966198867.034.518.322.6
55Dwight Gooden1984200053.036.122.129.2
56Rick Reuschel1972199169.743.021.431.1
57Orel Hershiser1983200056.337.320.628.7
58Mark Buehrle2000201559.335.717.323.5
59Willie Foster1923193747.135.021.035.2
60Felix Hernandez2005201950.238.619.527.6
61Dizzy Dean1930194745.640.722.134.6
62Tim Hudson1999201558.237.520.127.1
63Ron Guidry1975198848.138.021.428.7
64Frank Viola1982199647.241.322.228.9
65Mickey Lolich1963197948.338.621.630.3
66Chuck Finley1986200258.139.722.025.9
67Cliff Lee2002201443.540.022.830.1
68Cole Hamels2006202059.336.618.527.7
69Dazzy Vance1915193560.151.228.336.6
70Jacob deGrom2014202243.838.122.129.1
71Early Wynn1939196361.135.019.323.9
72Roy Oswalt2001201350.138.019.625.5
73Bullet Rogan1918193861.535.718.730.7
74Vida Blue1969198645.438.722.521.0
75Rube Waddell1897191058.351.229.443.6
76Tommy John1963198962.034.416.620.9
77Mark Langston1984199950.341.722.426.9
78Martín Dihigo1923194522.722.714.026.5
79Whitey Ford1950196756.933.317.123.7
80Dick Redding191119322.92.92.936.0
81Billy Pierce1945196453.238.620.326.4
82Brad Radke1995200645.436.418.727.0
83Adam Wainwright2005202246.833.818.825.6
84Kenny Rogers1989200850.735.218.319.7
85Mordecai Brown1903191658.340.824.035.7
86Sam McDowell1961197541.942.023.026.7
87Joe McGinnity1899190857.951.930.043.6
88Jimmy Key1984199849.136.918.722.0
89Jerry Koosman1967198553.937.919.418.4
90Curt Davis1934194638.630.718.730.2
91Kevin Brown1986200568.046.323.836.7
92Mariano Rivera1995201356.228.713.518.4
93Red Ruffing1924194768.733.818.223.5
94Bucky Walters1934195053.337.521.225.5
95Red Faber1914193365.041.526.732.4
96Larry Jackson1955196852.135.118.524.1
97David Wells1987200753.630.814.119.8
98Don Newcombe1949196038.628.414.921.2
99Vic Willis1898191063.751.527.734.7
100Fernando Valenzuela1980199742.133.216.524.0
EXPLANATION OF TABLE DATA
CAREER = Career Wins Above Replacement (WAR).
We use bWAR.
LONG PEAK = WAR in best seven seasons.
SHORT PEAK = WAR in best three seasons.
PRIME = WAR in best five consecutive seasons.

How Do We Rank The Players?

That's a Great Question. In short, it isn't Simple.

We have gone to great lengths to make our All-Time Baseball Player Rankings as thorough as possible. We believe our rankings are the most comprehensive, fair, and accurate.

Players are evaluated on five criteria as the foundation of our rankings: 

  • Career Value
  • Long Peak
  • Short Peak
  • Career Prime Value
  • Contribution to Championship Teams

We use Wins Above Replacement (WAR) as a basis for these calculations. However, we also adjust for era, integration and level of competition, and missed playing time due to factors beyond the control of the player.

Generally, a player’s Career Value is worth about 50-60% of the ranking score we assign him. That leaves half or just under half from his long peak (seven best seasons), short peak (three best seasons), and prime (five best consecutive seasons). The contribution to championship teams (player performance in seasons where his team wins the pennant) is a small factor in most cases.

Because we adjust for timeline and era, our rankings have fewer players from before 1941 than many other baseball player lists.

We feel it’s important to acknowledge that baseball is harder to play today than it was 25 years ago, and 50 years ago, and so on. It doesn’t make sense, in our opinion, for most of the great baseball players to have played prior to World War II, when MLB was segregated.