LEFTHANDED BASEBALL

The Best Lefthanded Batters and Lefthanded Pitchers in Baseball

Tom Glavine Randy Johnson

Other Great Lefthanded Pitchers

Prior to 1930 1930 to 1960 1960 to 1990 Since 1990

Tom Glavine and Randy Johnson were a step above the rest in their era,

but there were many other lefthanded pitchers among the best players of their time.

Jamie Moyer pitched 25 years (1986-2012) with 8 different teams. Moyer won 269 games (35th all time) with 683 starts (16th all time) 4074 innings pitched (40th all time), with his best years coming after he turned 40 years old. He continued to pitch in the majors until he was 49 years old.

David Wells pitched 21 years (1987-2007) with 9 different teams. Wells won 239 games (57th all-time) and lost 157, with 2201 strikeouts over 3439 innings and 489 starts. He had a 10 win, 5 loss record with a 3.17 ERA in postseason play.

Cliff Lee pitched 13 years (2002-2014), 8 years with Cleveland, 5 with Philadelphia and 1 each with Texas and Seattle. Lee won the AL Cy Young Award with Cleveland in 2008, with 22 win and only 3 losses. Overall he had 143 wins and 91 losses with a 3.52 earned run average. The later part of his career was plagued with injuries.

Johan Santana pitched 12 years (2000-2012) 8 with Minnesota and 4 with the Mets. He won the AL Cy young Award in 2004 with 20 wins and only 6 losses, and again in 2006 with 19 wins and 6 losses. He struck-out over 200 batters in 5 straight years, and retired with 139 wins, 78 losses and a 3.20 earned run average (37th all time)

Barry Zito pitched 15 years (2000-2015), 8 years with Oakland and 7 years with San Francisco. Zito won the AL Cy Young Award in 2002 with 23 wins and only 5 losses and a 2.75 ERA. He started over 30 games 9 out of the next 10 years, but never came close to that 2002 level, and he finished with 165 wins, 143 losses and a 4.04 ERA.

Andy Pettitte pitched 18 years (1995-2013), 15 with the Yankees and 3 with the Houston Astros. He won 256 games (42nd all-time) with 153 losses for a .626 winning percentage, had 2448 strikeouts (38th all-time) over 3316 innings and 521 starts (also 38th all-time). He also won 19 more games with only 11 losses in postseason play.

Mark Buerhle pitched 16 seasons, mostly in the American League with the Chicago White Sox and the Toronto Blue Jays. He is pitched in 518 games with 214 wins and 160 losses, with a 3.81 Earned Run Average, 3472 innings, 1870 strikeouts and 734 walks. He is a 5 time AL All Star and has won a World Championship with the White Sox.

CC Sabathia pitched 17 years (from 2001-2019), starting with Cleveland, then a year with Milwaukee, before 11 years with the Yankees. He finished with 251 wins and 161 losses for a .609 winning percentage, and had a 3.74 Earned Run Average, and 3093 strikeouts in 560 starts and 3577 innings. He is a 6 time All Star, with an AL Cy Young Award and a World Series Championship.

All Time Best Lefthanded Pitchers

Starting Pitchers - Played Mostly Since 1990

​​​​​​​​​​LEFTHANDED BASEBALL

​All Time Best Lefthanded Pitchers

LEFTHANDED BASEBALL

All Time Best Lefthanded Pitchers