Determining the greatest pitcher to ever do it is an infinitely complex question, and one I am not yet educated enough to fully answer. However, the complexity of determining the greatest pitcher to ever do it for one single season only approaches infinity, and so that is what we shall embark upon today.
This is going to be a sort of “learn as you go” type of exercise, so we’ll get into things rather quickly, but a few methodological notes. First: There is, essentially, no way to adequately compare pitchers across eras due to differences in available data. For instance, when comparing 1995 Greg Maddux and 2019 Gerrit Cole, I simply don’t have access to the mountains of Statcast data for Maddux like I do for Cole. Because of that limitation, I have tried my best to ignore Statcast stuff like contact quality and average whiff distance on middle-in curveballs rather than vibe-guess what Bob Gibson’s barrel rate would have been. I did, however, rely on stuff like Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) and other ERA estimators far more than I did traditional, old-school stats like standard ERA or wins and losses.
There is no universally accepted way to rank pitchers across eras
Also, you’ll notice this list tilts fairly modern, since I will admit I am not super-duper sure how to responsibly account for pre-intigration seasons, the dead-ball era, the roughly 50 years when pitchers were used like human slingshots and threw eight billion innings and 70 complete games per year. You’ll notice that legends of the game like Satchel Paige, Cy Young and Walter Johnson are completely absent from this list, even though many say one of them is the greatest pitcher ever — and 1918 Walter Johnson at least has an argument for the award. To be fair and balanced, pitchers who were basically playing a different sport have just been left out.
Now, a few honorable mentions: It is worth mentioning that 2020 Shane Bieber was on pace for one of the great pitcher seasons of all-time if said season had not been shortened to 60 games because of the COVID-19 pandemic — he technically pitched a full season with a 1.63 ERA and an unfathomable 14.20 K/9, but it can’t be counted the same. 2026 Jacob Misiorowski is currently throwing down what will certainly be among the greatest (if not the single greatest) pitcher season ever if he continues on this pace, currently posting a 1.45 ERA with a 1.67 FIP and absurd Statcast data (which we can’t count, remember the rules, but trust me they’re sick). 2021 Corbin Burnes snuck by my initial off-the-dome list of best 2020s seasons, but he was crazy good, recording the second highest FIP since 1945 behind … well, we’re going to get to him later. Steve Carlton in 1972 was the last cut for the list thanks to one of the highest WAR campaigns ever, with perhaps the most unhittable slider in the history of sliders.
Finally, one silly honorable mention just because I couldn’t believe this number: 2014 Phil Hughes holds the all-time single-season record for strikeout/walk ratio, somehow striking out 11.63 batters for every walk he issued in a full season. He was not an All-Star, he did not have an especially great season or strike out an ungodly number of hitters — he simply walked only 16 guys in over 200 innings pitched, an absurd number.
Tier 3: The two best seasons of the 21st century
5. Jacob deGrom, 2018
One stat to note: DeGrom has the best career K/BB ratio (5.37) of any pitcher in MLB history
Why he isn’t higher: DeGrom himself topped this later … in half a season
2021 Jacob deGrom was religion, and would have been hands-down the greatest pitching season of all-time had he completed it; in 92 innings pitched, deGrom had an unfathomable 1.08 ERA, among myriad other scorching statistics. Alas, we cannot count it, so we go to another elite campaign, and easily his best complete one: 2018.
In his age-30 season, deGrom had every skill to pay every bill for the New York Mets, from a 1.70 ERA (better than any number from Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer, by the way) to 1.98 FIP to 9.4 WAR to a … 10-9 win-loss record. Yeesh. Run support and relief pitching are a hell of a thing.
Still, the powers that be were intelligent enough to give deGrom the Cy Young Award nonetheless, the closest a starter has ever come to winning the trophy with a losing record. How he also did not win National League MVP is beyond me, with Christian Yelich receiving 99 percent of the first place votes. Absolutely love whoever it was that gave deGrom his lone vote, though.
Some will quibble with deGrom being given such pride of place given his injury-ridden career and the fact that his 2021 season was literally better, but I think history is likely to forget the brilliance of prime deGrom if we do not persistently mention it in public. There are lots of great one-off seasons, but deGrom was not a one-off: He was insane in 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 before injuries derailed his career until 2025. He and Clayton Kershaw are the same age and had similarly dominant peaks, and yet Kershaw will retire the far better player because he made it to the Majors six entire years ahead of deGrom. In fitting fashion, he also is our No. 4 season.
4. Clayton Kershaw, 2014
One stat to note: In 2014, Kershaw led all MLB in WAR, wins, winning percentage, ERA, complete games, FIP, WHIP and K/9
Why he isn’t higher: This season is incredible but lacks the eye-popping trump card
Kershaw is probably the best pitcher of his generation and certainly among the greatest to ever do it. And following the same logic as deGrom, 2015 is emblematic of a much more robust stretch of dominance that marked him as Sandy Koufax’s true heir for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
From 2011 to 2015, Kershaw was essentially unstoppable, posting some of the most impressive statistical achievements you could conjure up: three out of five Cy Young awards and routinely leading the league in strikeouts, ERA and everything else that casual baseball fans love to gawk at. Meanwhile, he was always an advanced analytics darling, and it is a national tragedy that Statcast did not come onto the scene until 2015, an admittedly ridiculous year but the end of Kershaw’s peak. What I would not give to see just one season earlier. And while you could almost pick any of those years, 2014 saw Kershaw really alpha dog the Majors, winning both the Cy Young and MVP and leading the league in everything. It’s the closest thing this century to a pitcher version 2024-25 Aaron Judge, who just led both leagues in everything anyone could possibly think of.
He’s an era-defining player, and the only thing Kershaw lacks in 2014 was that singular, irrefutable number that burns through time and reminds us that “this was the guy.” This was, indeed, one of the absolute all-time guys, but it was not the guy.
Tier 2: Two iconic seasons, but not the king
3. Bob Gibson, 1968
One stat to note: Gibson’s 1.12 ERA in 1968 is still the modern record
Why he isn’t higher: Possible 1960s merchant allegations
Let’s just get this out of the way: For those unaware, there was arguably a “second dead-ball era” in MLB between 1964 and 1968. The strike zone was considered far larger than it had ever been or would be in the future, and several ballparks installed sky-high mounds that had pitchers like Koufax and Gibson smoking hitters from orbit. This led to several rule changes in 1969, which conveniently coincided with a dip in Gibson’s production. However, some reject that the era even existed, and as for Gibson’s production … well, let’s just check it out.
In 1968, dubbed later the “Year of the Pitcher,” Gibson unironically put up 11.2 WAR and a 1.12 ERA and won the MVP, Cy Young and one of his nine Gold Gloves. He was also the reigning World Series MVP. In 1969, after these rule changes, Gibson’s WAR fell to a scandalous 10.4 (that’s sarcasm, that is a top-30 season since 1945), and in 1970 all the way down to a downright-awful (again, sarcasm) 8.9. Oh, and he won the 1970 Cy Young. So, ya know, a dip in production.
Maybe Gibson dominated the Year of the Pitcher, but he simply dominated it to such an extent that the season is going on the damn list and there’s nothing you can do about it. His career was such that his greatest could not be denied; Gibson was an all-time force on the mound and was perhaps the single most feared pitcher in baseball history. He was also a trailblazer for black pitchers in MLB and an imagination-capturing icon; his 1968 season slices through history.
2. Dwight Gooden 1985
One stat to note: Had 33 quality starts in 35 games
Why he isn’t higher: Look at the guy at No. 1
“Dwight Gooden 1985” is baseball trivia, a piece of lore, of myth, of endless possibility and tragedy. His 13.3 total bWAR is the highest of any pitcher in the live ball era, and his 1.53 ERA stands alone save for Gibson. Gooden won the pitching Triple Crown; he was 20 years old.
My decision to put Gooden at No. 2 is controversial for two reasons. First, it flies in the face of my aforementioned preference to place the best seasons amid a stretch of dominance above all else. Gooden in 1985 was unstoppable, but it was also his first and last truly elite season. He struggled with drug use throughout his career, and while he played for many more years, nothing ever came close to 1985. Second, there is major disagreement between Baseball Reference WAR (bWAR) and FanGraphs WAR (fWAR), since bWAR has him way up as the best single season pitcher ever while fWAR has him 27th. That is because fWAR is FIP-based, while bWAR relies more on ERA and actual results. And Gooden’s FIP, while crazy good, does not measure up with even Kershaw or deGrom. There is an excellent argument that Gooden should be off the list entirely and 1972 Steve Carlton should be on it.
FIP squad, you will have your revenge at No. 1. But here’s where I’m planting the flag on Gooden: Baseball is ultimately about results, and I just don’t think we have the information to know how impactful pre-Statcast players were over these results we often quibble with. Gooden allowed fewer runs than any pitcher of the modern age using the modern strike zone (sorry Bob), and his 1985 campaign is up there with the greats.
Tier 1: The Guy
Pedro Martinez, 1999 or 2000 (take your pick, either one would be the best)
One (two) stat(s) to note: Martinez’ 1.39 FIP is the highest of any season in the live ball era by .24 runs in a 1999 season that saw the highest league-wide batting average since World War II
Why no one else comes close: He has two seasons that are better than anyone else’s one season
1999-2000 Pedro Martinez literally does not make sense. 1999 and 2000 are, simply, the best offensive seasons in MLB history across the board; batting average, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, whatever you want. It was the peak of the steroid era; hitters were doing whatever they wanted. Pitchers could do nothing to stop juiced super soldiers with extra biceps and laser eyes. That is, except Pedro.
Across two seasons for the Boston Red Sox, Martinez managed the best FIP ever while no other pitcher could manage much of anything. In 1999 and 2000, Martinez achieved a 2.07 and 1.74 ERA — the next closest in that span? Randy Johnson in 2000 with a 2.48. Pedro was basically half a run better than anyone else. When I was making this list, I drove myself crazy about every honorable mention, every hair split between two and five. I did not for one second think anyone else was going to be No. 1.
We’ll conclude with a final, glorious Pedro story from 2004, outside of his perfect seasons but within the one where Boston broke their curse and won the World Series. There wasn’t a lot of interleague play back then, but the Red Sox did play the San Francisco Giants in 2004, and Pedro happened to be pitching on June 19. He had a completely whatever game: six hits, four earned runs, two walks, the Red Sox lost. But he did face Barry Bonds, who in 2004 walked 232 times and struck out only 41 times. Bonds had a .609 on-base percentage that year, a figure so good it should be illegal (it probably was). Pitchers had given up on getting him out … expect Pedro. Three at-bats; pop-out, fly-out, strikeout swinging.
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