The most important position in baseball that determines if a team wins or loses is the pitcher. This article will take a look at the greatest pitchers of all time and make a starting rotation.
Ace Greg Maddux
The greatest control pitcher of all time, Maddux may possess the most excellent fastball-changeup combination of all time. From 1992-1995 Maddux won four consecutive Cy Youngs leading the league in innings pitched all four years.
An inning-eater that also dominates is the reason Maddux is the ace of this rotation. He also led the league in ERA four times and wins three times. Maddux is also the greatest defensive pitcher of all time, winning 18 gold gloves.
2nd Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson possessed the most electrifying fastball and slider combination of all time. Standing 6-foot-10-inches tall and being a lefty was terrifying for opposing hitters.
Johnson also won four consecutive Cy Youngs from 1999 to 2002 and added another in 1995. He led the league in strikeouts nine times and ERA four times. Johnson added a sinker later in his career, adding a third strikeout pitch making him impossible to hit against.
3rd Pedro Martinez
If Maddux doesn’t have the best fastball-changeup combination of all time, then it is definitely Pedro Martinez. Martinez has even more velocity on his fastball than Maddux and a circle change that breaks more than most lefty’s curveballs.
Martinez almost had four consecutive Cy Youngs winning in 1997, finishing second in 1998, and winning again in 1999 and 2000. Although he didn’t win four straight like Maddux and Johnson, Martinez might have the argument for having the most dominating prime of any pitcher of all time.
4th Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax’s career was cut short but just as dominant as Martinez’s prime. Koufax might possess the greatest curveball of all time, with a 12-6 curve that would fall off the face of the earth right before the batter.
Koufax also won three Cy Youngs in four years, like Martinez, finishing third the year he didn’t win. Koufax added five ERA titles, won the pitcher triple crown three times, and four World Series titles.
5th Nolan Ryan
The only pitcher in this all-time rotation that doesn’t have a Cy Young, but Nolan Ryan is perfect for the fifth spot. Ryan is an inning-eater who can save a bullpen at the end of a series while still throwing 100 miles per hour.
The all-time leader in strikeouts and home runs given up per nine innings, Ryan’s combination of swing-and-miss stuff didn’t affect his ability to keep the ball in the yard. Ryan had seven no-hitters and 12 one-hitters, both the most of all time.
