Apr 22, 2020
The best and worst pitchers in Blue Jays history
Most of the best arms ever employed by the Blue Jays in the past 43 years are of the homegrown variety, showing exactly why trades are impossible to correctly evaluate in the moment, Scott Mitchell writes in the eighth of his nine-part series that looks at the best and worst in the franchise's history.
TORONTO — From the outfield to the infield, we now arrive on the mound with a look at the best arms in Blue Jays history.
While a number of the greats on both of the aforementioned position player lists arrived in Toronto via trade, the majority of the best pitchers the club has employed are of the homegrown variety.
On the opposite side of the coin, the top two candidates for worst pitcher in franchise history were once seen as important pieces to two separate rebuilds, only to show exactly why trades are impossible to correctly evaluate in the moment.
After sifting through the 432 arms to ever record an out in a Jays uniform, here are the best and worst pitchers in club history.
The Best and Worst of the Blue Jays on TSN.ca:
Mon, April 6 – The five best and worst signings
Wed, April 8 – The five best and worst outfielders
Fri, April 10 – The five best and worst games
Mon, April 13 – The five best and worst trades
Wed, April 15 – The five best and worst infielders
Fri, April 17 – The five best and worst seasons
Mon, April 20 – The five best and worst draft picks
Wed, April 22 – The five best and worst pitchers
Fri, April 24 – The five best and worst moments
The Best Pitchers
5. (Tie) Tom Henke (1985-92)/Roger Clemens (1997-98)
We’ll call this a low-volume tie.
While the next four names you’ll read on this list have tenure and a ton of innings on their respective resumes, Tom Henke and Roger Clemens were dominant in short stints.
In Henke’s case, it was one-inning stints in the ninth, while Clemens had a commanding mound presence in a Blue Jays uniform during a two-year stint.
Picked off the scrap heap from the Texas Rangers in January of 1985 as a free agent compensation pick, Henke is still the franchise’s all-time saves leader with 217 and maintains the best ERA in club history at 2.48.
Clemens’ time in Toronto was short but it was a thing of beauty when he took the mound every fifth day, putting together an elite two-year run that stands alone in Blue Jays history.
The 18.9 fWAR The Rocket totalled over just two seasons in 1997 and ’98 puts him eighth in team history, just ahead of Henke’s 16.2 fWAR in the ninth spot.
Henke threw 563 frames as a Blue Jay, while Clemens tossed 498.2.
Every other pitcher ahead of them in spots 1-7 on the WAR list needed at least twice as many innings, and in most cases triple the innings count, to provide the same amount of value.
4. Pat Hentgen (1991-99, 2004)
Drafted and developed by the Blue Jays, Hentgen’s signature moment is his Cy Young season of 1996.
Over a two-year period, Hentgen was an absolute workhorse, leading the majors in innings with 265.2 in ’96 and then again in ’97 with 264.
Hentgen’s 3.22 ERA and 20 wins in ’96 helped him edge Andy Pettitte in the Cy Young race — Hentgen got 16 first-place votes but Pettitte had 11 and lost by just six points — and his 6.0 fWAR that season was by far a career best.
Hentgen, who has maintained a presence within the organization since, is one of five pitchers to win 100-plus games as a Blue Jay, finishing with 107 victories and 1,636 total innings.
The Detroit native was also a regular at the Midsummer Classic, representing the Jays in ’93, ’94 and ’97.
3. Jimmy Key (1984-92)
A command and control lefty who rarely walked anyone during his prime, Key was quietly excellent for nine seasons in Toronto, evidenced by the analytical side — his 28.1 fWAR is third in club history among pitchers — as well as his more traditional 116 wins, which sits fourth just behind Jim Clancy’s 128.
Even though he wasn’t dominant, Key’s greatest attribute was the rotation consistency he brought for nearly a decade and his 3.42 career ERA is actually tied with Dave Stieb for the best in Jays history among starters, behind relievers Henke (2.48) and Duane Ward (3.18).
An excellent return on investment from the third round of the 1982 draft, Key provided the Jays with a parting gift before signing with the New York Yankees in the winter of 1992, throwing 7.2 innings of one-run ball in a victory in Game 4 of the World Series.
2. Dave Stieb (1979-92, 1998)
We know all about Stieb’s ability to go deep into ballgames, flirting with no-hitters on several occasions before he finally finished one off in 1990, highlighted in our best games in franchise history.
But Stieb was also one of the best pitchers in baseball for nearly a decade, finishing in the top seven in Cy Young voting four times and being named to seven all-star games.
I also outlined why he was second-best draft pick in Blue Jays history, so it’s no shock that the righty is near the top of this list.
1. Roy Halladay (1998-2009)
Halladay was the best draft pick in franchise history, and he’s also the choice for the best all-time Jays pitcher.
Even though Baseball Reference’s WAR total gives Stieb a 56.9 to 48.4 edge over Halladay, FanGraph’s numbers believe the opposite, giving Doc 48.6 fWAR to Stieb’s 43.6.
In addition to being the pitcher actually in Cooperstown rather than being the one fighting for another look, Halladay also has that 2003 American League Cy Young and four additional top-five finishes to hang his hat on.
The lack of team success may have muted his overall fanfare league-wide, but Halladay’s peak was as good as it gets.
The Worst Pitchers
5. (Tie) John Frascatore (1999-01)/John Willis (1977-81)
These guys both put together a capable season or two out of the bullpen during their careers, so they don’t look like they should be on this list.
But while the career ERAs in the mid-4.00s don’t look terrible, the advanced metrics tell a different story, one of Frascatore and Willis providing matching franchise-worst -1.0 fWAR totals in their careers.
Neither pitcher got many punch-outs, with both registering sub-4.6 K/9 rates, while Frascatore’s 2000 season out of the Jays’ bullpen saw him walk more batters (33) than he struck out (30).
4. Luke Prokopec (2002)
Acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers along with Chad Ricketts in exchange for two pretty useful players in Paul Quantrill and Cesar Izturis, Prokopec was terrible in his lone season in Toronto in 2002, registering an unsightly 6.78 ERA across 71.2 innings.
The Australian-born righty made 22 appearances and allowed 19 home runs.
The 6.78 ERA is sixth-worst for any pitcher that has thrown at least 50 innings in a Blue Jays uniform.
3. Brad Mills (2009-11, 2014)
The worst ERA ever for a Jays pitcher who’s thrown at least 50 innings?
That belongs to Mills, who somehow authored a 10.08 mark across 52.2 innings, outdistancing Giovanni Carrara’s 8.20 mess in 1995 and 1996.
Amazingly, Mills was able to see big-league time in parts of four seasons in Toronto, even getting a second go-round in 2014, before allowing 13 earned runs over 4.1 innings that sealed his fate.
Mills’ BB/9 of 5.98 and HR/9 of 2.22 are also among the worst in club history.
2. Kyle Drabek (2010-14)
Once we set the threshold to a minimum of 150 frames in a Jays uniform, we start to see why a couple of blockbuster trades a decade apart didn’t exactly work out for the Blue Jays.
Drabek was the main attraction in the Halladay deal, but his -0.3 fWAR over 172.1 innings in Toronto is tied for third-worst in franchise history with the pitcher who lands at No. 1.
Only 12 pitchers in Jays history have thrown at least 150 innings and registered an ERA over 5.00. Drabek is one of them at 5.27.
But the stat that pushes Drabek onto this list is the epic lack of control he possessed, walking 5.8 batters per nine innings, the worst mark in Jays history at 150-plus frames.
In parts of five seasons, Drabek walked 111 batters and struck out just 118.
1. Robert Person (1997-99)
There are 130 pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings for the Blue Jays.
Out of all those names across 43 seasons, Robert Person, the key piece that came over from the New York Mets in a trade that landed on my list of worst deals in franchise history, is the only pitcher to register an ERA above 6.00.
And at 6.18, the next worst, Justin Miller’s 5.89 ERA, isn’t really even close.
Frustratingly for Jays fans, the year after Person and the club parted ways, the right-hander went on to post a 3.4 fWAR campaign and a career-best 3.63 ERA for the Phillies.