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The Art of Pitching and MLB Pitching Leaders
Professional baseball has changed with the times. There is no longer an emphasis on the importance of starting pitchers, with starters often only going five or six innings. However, a team with questionable pitching will likely fall short when the playoffs begin.
Having dominant pitchers is still essential, but the emphasis on having relief pitchers who can shut down opposing betters is a huge deal. None of the top 30 starting pitchers in earned run average during the 2024 regular season played for either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees – the two teams to meet in the World Series.
Shohei Ohtani, who rose to prominence as he did double duty as a star pitcher and hitter, is the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball. Starting pitchers Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies, Jacob deGrom of the Texas Rangers, Blake Snell of the Dodgers, Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees, and Corbin Burnes of the Arizona Diamondbacks are all making at least $35 million per season. When looking at the MLB betting odds, those pitchers will take the mound for top World Series contenders during the 2025 MLB season.
Let’s look at the art of pitching and the MLB pitching leaders.
MLB Pitching Leaders Overview
Show Me The Money
It was an active offseason, with some of the free agents drawing the highest MLB salaries being pitchers.
Blake Snell, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, spent the 2024 season with the San Francisco Giants. After the first year, his two-year, $62 million contract with the Giants included an opt-out clause. That opened the door for Snell to sign with the Dodgers for an average of $36.4 million per season.
After a season with the Baltimore Orioles, Corbi Burnes signed with Arizona for $35 million per season.
Who Are the MLB Pitching Leaders?
A quick look at the MLB pitching leaders shows that Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal tied for the MLB lead with 18 wins during the regular season. Sale led all qualified pitchers with an ERA of 2.38, while Skubal topped the majors with 228 strikeouts.
In his first season with the Atlanta Braves, Sale won the pitching triple crown by leading the National League in wins, ERA, and strikeouts. Skubal of the Detroit Tigers did the same in the American League. Both of them won the Cy Young Awards.
Another MLB leader was Ryan Helsley of the St. Louis Cardinals, who had 49 saves.
Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates has the shortest odds to win the NL Cy Young, followed by Sale, Zack Wheeler, and Blake Snell. In the American League, Skubal is the Cy Young favorite in the American League. Garrett Crochet, traded from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, is the No. 2 favorite.
Mastering Different Pitch Types
The Impact of Slider Pitches on MLB Batters
Even pitchers who can make the radar gun hit triple digits regularly can see their pitches sent over the walls in MLB stadiums. One-pitch hurlers might work for relievers, but starters need more than one pitch to call upon.
One of those is the slider pitch. Combining a fastball with a slider can be a deal-breaker.
A lefty pitcher with a dominant slider can be unhittable at times. The list of pitchers with the best sliders in MLB history is usually headed by the 6-foot-10 Randy Johnson and the legendary Steve Carlton, a pair of left-handed hurlers considered among the best starting pitchers in MLB history.
Bob Gibson, who is in the running to be the best right-handed starting pitcher of all time, is another Hall of Famers with a Hall of Fame slider. John Smoltz of the Atlanta Braves is another pitcher with a slider that made life miserable for opposing batters.
The Legacy of MLB’s Top Strikeout Artists
Recognizing the MLB Strikeout Leaders Through History
Any list of the most unbreakable Major League Baseball records should include Nolan Ryan’s career record of 5714 strikeouts in 5386 pitchers. His closest challenge is Randy Johnson at 4875, followed by Roger Clemens at 4672. No other pitcher has more than 4500 career strikeouts when looking at the list of all-time strikeout leaders.
The rest of the top 10 include Hall of Famers Steve Carlton, Burt Blyleven, Tom Seaver, Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Walter Johnson, and Justin Verlander.
Verlander’s total of 3416 strikeouts is the most among active pitchers, followed by his former teammate Max Scherzer at 3407. Clayton Kershaw needs 32 strikeouts to become the 20th player in MLB history with 3000 career strikeouts.
Next on the list of active strikeout leaders is Chris Sale at 2414, followed by Gerrit Cole at 2251.
Strategy and Management of MLB Pitch Counts
How Pitch Count Affects Performance and Strategy
There might not be a more considerable change in Major League Baseball than the reliance on the pitch count.
Pitchers tossing complete games used to be the rule, not the exception. However, in 2024, the 2024 MLB leaders in complete games were Max Fried, Kevin Gausman, and Cristopher Sanchez, with a grand total of two.
If the pitch count approaches 100, pitchers are removed from games while working on a no-hitter. This used to cause an uproar, but now it seems like standard operating procedure.
The days of a pitcher throwing 150 pitches are ancient history. Players coming off serious injuries might be limited to 60-70 pitches.
The Science of Pitching Mechanics
How Elite Mechanics Influence Pitching Performance
Watching Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine pitch for the Atlanta Braves in the 1990s was a thing of beauty, seeing the effortless way they threw the ball. Before long, Major League Baseball was dominated by hard-throwing pitchers who looked like they put everything into every pitch.
What followed was the three most dreaded words to baseball fans – Tommy John Surgery.
Tommy John was amid a remarkable season with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1974, with a 13-3 record, when he injured his elbow while throwing a fastball. After throwing one more pitch, he was removed from the game.
He would not pitch again. After undergoing a surgery that would carry his name, he missed the 1975 season, and by 1977, he had his first 20-win season.
Nowadays, star pitchers will return from Tommy John Surgery in a year, which was not the case in the 1970s. Even those with solid pitching mechanics can suffer serious injuries because today’s MLB pitchers rely on velocity.
What’s Next For MLB Pitchers?
The Art of Pitching and its Role in MLB History
Purists might not like that starting pitchers rarely average more than six innings per start. However, that is not about to change.
Teams used to rely on four-man starting rotations, but now some teams are suggesting that they might use six-man rotations. Welcome to modern-day professional baseball.
Who Are The Top MLB Pitchers Right Now?
It is hard to compete with reigning Cy Young Award winners Chris Sale and Tarik Skubal, but Paul Skenes of the Pittsburgh Pirates might have the best stuff among active pitchers.
