The Top 9 Starting Pitchers of the Modern Era 

He’s #1 for forcing mlb to lower the mound.

Gibson # 1

Gibson had the best pitching season of the modern era. It was ridiculous. 22-9, 1.12 ERA, 304.2 IP

I feel like some people don't put him on there bc he purposely threw at guys heads to get ppl out. Not pitch inside but tell them they're going for the head and doing it

He doesn't get talked about much, and that's unfortunate... But as great as he was, I don't see him in the top nine

Problem with him is the same with Seaver, they crossed eras.

Spahn missed several prime years to WW2 then came back to win 20 or more games 13 times (several times for mediocre Boston Braves teams) including 23 at age 42. Started 665 games and completed 382 of them. Now we see guys going 11-10 winning big awards and they have a complete game once every two years. Spahn wasn't under-rated then and he shouldn't be now by today's stat nerds and those punks defending trash like Bauer.

Peak Pedro Vs Peak Clemons… we got a game there!

Hard to argue bro. Pedro is the reason a lot of pitchers are playing today and with a lil swag to pitching too

For 1-3 year periods I have randy too. When he was 97-99 with the control in Arizona that's just hard to even hit physics wise.

Also pedro had his postseason moments... 3 of the best of all time it's just in 2 of those years they lost to the Yankees in the lcs

Good comment. Maybe a little extra nostalgia but fair points. As someone who wasn't alive for several, I would say the red Sox comeback in 04 and 98 hr race were in the conversation of biggest baseball stories of your lifetime. But not arguing your claims. Thanks for the extra info on seaver

@@kenw2225 Agree about '04 Sox and '98 HR chase, and I would add the 2016 Cubs to the list. But the NY media blow everything up to an extra level of hype -- witness "the shot heard round the world," Bobby Thompson's HR, also (just barely) in my lifetime. The Met's '69 Series win didn't have the impact on baseball that the Jets' Super Bowl win did, bringing the AFL to parity with the NFL, but it was one of the biggest upsets in Series history against a truly great Orioles team, and the three-year arc from total ineptitude to WS winners was even more dramatic than the ascent of the Sox and Cubs from decades of losing. The Mets were a national joke -- "come see my amazin Mets," said Casey Stengel ironically. Then Seaver joined the club.

Seaver was "The Franchise"

69 had New York over Baltimore in baseball and football.

I feel that Ryan is getting a renewed sense of appreciation lately. No matter what his k's are undeniable to anyone

Top 10 all time is hating??? 🤣🤣🤣

What I don't understand is why people think pointing out that Ryan wasn't the best pitcher ever is in any way "hate." Nobody will ever equal his K and no hitter records. EVER. Nobody will ever approach his walk record either. I don't hate Nolan Ryan. I watched him every chance I could get. I still have my ticket stub from his 298th win (1990 in Detroit). He wouldn't be in my top 9 though. Maybe not my top 20 (though he'd be close) He was never the best pitcher in his league in any season. On any given night, of course, he stood a chance of being the best pitcher in the world. Did so 7 times. Twice after his 40th birthday. If anything, he learned to be a better pitcher after he lost a couple MPH on his fastball; which says all you need to know about his competitive nature. Not only was he not the best pitcher in his league, he wasn't even always the best pitcher on his team (Frank Tanana on the Angels and Mike Scott on the Astros were frequently more reliable run stoppers than Ryan). But that's not hate - that's just facts. If you think the potential of a no-hitter and knowing the other team is going to be intimidated as hell every time they step in the box, you'll rank him higher than I do. If you think walking 4.7 batters per 9 is absolutely unforgivable, you'll rank him lower than I do. There have been over 20,000 pitchers in MLB history. To say 20 of them were better pitchers than Ryan isn't hate. It's massive respect for the Express.

Calling 7th all time is not hate ​@@VinceWhitacre

​@@MrRJC1991uhhh I'm not the one talking about "Ryan hate." I'm the one saying knocking him down a few pegs is NOT hate.

Satchel Paige isn't on the list because this list because it is only the 'modern' era. The fact Paige did well in the MLB well into his 40s tell us he would have absolutely dominated baseball. Segregation robbed us of seeing Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson play atbthe highest level.

In September 1965, he threw 3 innings for the Athletics against the Red Sox. He faced Yastrzemski among others. Seems to be modern to me.. ..I was alive at least, so maybe antique modern?

Oh that is funny. 😂😂

Sometimes, saving money can be a Pyrrhic victory.

Palmer was a great pitcher but also had a much better defense behind him than Seaver and pitched on better teams overall. Also he wasn’t a real strikeout pitcher and gave up a decent amount of walks for a guy who wasn’t a strikeout pitcher. It’s a matter of opinion obviously (and not being in the top 9 doesn’t mean you’re not great) but that’s why. Lots of discussion here. www.reddit.com/r/baseball/comments/17h8qvx/why_does_tom_seaver_have_so_much_more_war_than/#

@@PitchingNinjaVideos I'm just trying to figure out the rationale is all. Obviously both are all time greats and I wouldn't take away from either of them. Trying to find a top 9 is ridiculously difficult and I dunno how I'd even go about it. These top 9 do feel right, though I'd probably swap Ryan out for Carlton. I feel like either or can be there. I'd definitely have Ryan at 10 though.

Unless you look at his stats

Because of that, there were many Koufax fans, that weren't even baseball fans.

I have no problem at all with Steve Carlton being on someone's Top 9 list, as I mentioned in the video. Certainly one of the best pitchers of all time.

By all measures Tom Seaver was better than Steve Carlton. For starters, just check their head to head records. Seaver 12-3 against Carlton.

I truly wish Carlton had retired after 1984. Playing until 1989 added a 16-36 record to his resume and upped his ERA badly.

I like Carlton, too, but c'mon. He was not better than Seaver.

I agree, I feel like the problem with Kershaw is that he would never change his approach in the postseason, everyone knew he was going to be throwing first pitch strikes so they just ambushed him hoping to get lucky and it worked, also a lot of times he’d be doing great but was left in too long. I’m not sure some of the other pitchers on this list would fare as good against today’s competition.

It’s not just one playoff game, it’s his postseason career as a whole. The numbers aren’t great, but he still deserves to be on here for his dominance in the regular season in his Era.

@@thekingofpingas Kershaw 12-12; Maddox 11-14; Ryan 2-2! The competition is just a little bit better! Oh Koufax 0.95 World Series ERA!

@@SonicCollectionsPS2Noisesz are you including in Kershaws ERA game 5 vs Houston? Take away those runs and see where his ERA is? Post season stats are crazy - two innings changed everything! He had many quality starts in "must win" games! Take away 7 earned runs against a team who knew every pitch!!

@@SonicCollectionsPS2Noisesz understand! Where are the good, clutch performances? We know he has 12 playoff losses.

Was there in Atlanta for Big Units perfect game .Awesome Spectacular Memories

But the lust is for😢 starters.

LOL an easier environment. People saying that are insane. He pitched in a time of horrible open racism and no doubt under death threats from the repugnant amongst us. He also pitched to batters who didn't strike out 100 times in 200 AB's. No clue what morons means by easier environment.

Yes, especially Marichal.

If you're looking at Felix, Johan Santana has a better resume. Santana is not that different from Koufax as a comp, other than postseason stats, just because the Twins stunk during his career. Johan fell off the HOF ballot after one year, so I don't think he deserves to be in the top 9.

I was wondering the same.

Unfortunately he admitted and almost flaunted he doctored the ball, and that’s the first thing many think of him and his legacy.

As someone from the DR, yes Pedro was better but remember, Koufax was playing sick with a degenerative problem, he retired at 30, and even with that he was a beast, just for that Koufax is better. When injuries started to attack Pedro we al notice he's declination.

Too far back. He'd definitely be on a list of all time great pitchers, if we included other eras

Satchel, despite being around post-integration, doesnt have a ton of footage confirming his dominance and the league where he set the most records was considered a barnstormer league for much of its existence. Walter Johnson, Cy Young, Christy Mathewson, and Addie Joss have similar significance as legends but definitely arent "modern era".

Carlton was great. Easy to say that but who would you drop?

Kershaw is way better than Scherzer

He just missed lol

Spahn actually led the league in K's 4 times. Add in 92.4 WAR with 3 4+ WAR seasons in his 40's and there is a pretty compelling argument to be made for him.

@@jamesspanglet6702 good hitter, too.

K-rate and spin-rate are on the tier of wins, theyre cool numbers but there are a ton of other factors that make a pitcher effective

@@VinceWhitacre .287 OBP is solid for a pitcher. Check out his 195 batting stats.

And you could even have a band named “Nolan Ryan!”

That's why a Top 9 Closers of all time would really be a Top 8. There's no argument that Mariano wasn't the greatest.

too bad they didn't put him in the rotation.

You didn't really argue against any of their opinions other than to wave off stats.