Top 10 Left-Handed Pitchers in Baseball History

The greatest southpaw pitchers!

10) Tommy John

Two hundred eighty-eight victories, there are currently only 22 pitchers in the Hall of Fame with more. He ranks high on many pitching lists and even has a surgery named after him. Tommy John should be in the baseball hall of fame.

1977 NLCS Gm4: Dodgers advance to World Series

9) Tom Glavine

He has over 300 career wins. A 5-time twenty-game winner, he has a career ERA of 3.54, with 25 shutouts and 2,607 strikeouts. Tom won 2 Cy Young Awards, finished 2nd twice and 3rd, twice.

95 WS Gm6: Glavine tosses eight scoreless in clincher

8) Carl Hubbell

Hubbell had a career record of 253-154, with an ERA of 2.98. He was a 20-game winner five times and threw 35 shutouts. He was the National League MVP in1933 and 1936 and was on 9 All-star teams. He also led the league in wins on three occasions. He had the best WHIP in the league six times.

Carl Hubbell’s 5 Consecutive Strikeouts 1934 MLB All Star Game

7) Eddie Plank

In his career spanning 17 seasons, Eddie Plank was 326-194, with an ERA of 2.35. He was twenty game-winner eight times. Eddie pitched 69 shutouts which ranks him 5th all-time. #1 for southpaws. He won 2 World Series games and has a 1.32 ERA.

SouthPaw~ The Forgotten Story of Eddie Plank-Trailer

6) Whitey Ford

Ford was a 20 game-winner twice, winning 16 or more on ten occasions. He finished his career with a record of 236-106 and an ERA of 2.75. He won the American League Cy Young Award in 1961 with a 25-4 record. Whitey threw 45 career shutouts and was on ten all-star teams. He led the American League in wins 3 times. Ford won 10 World Series games with a 2.71 ERA.

Whitey Ford – Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies

5) Steve Carlton

Carlton had a career record of 329-244 and an ERA of 3.22. Steve is 4th on the career strikeout list with 4,136, trailing only Nolan Ryan, Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens. Carlton was a twenty-game-winner 6 times and won 4 Cy Young Awards. He led the National League in strikeouts five times and pitched 55 shutouts. Steve won 6 post-season games and was on 10 All-star teams.

Steve Carlton Strikeout Montage

4) Lefty Grove

Lefty Grove won 300 and lost 141 games in 17 years. He was a thirty-game-winner once and won twenty seven other times. He finished his career with a lifetime ERA of 3.06. Grove led the American League in wins 4 times and ERA 9 times and won the Triple Crown in pitching three times. He also led the league in strikeouts seven times. Lefty was the American League MVP in 1931 and had the lowest WHIP in the league 5 times. Grove won 4 World Series games with a 1.75 ERA. and was on 6 All-star teams. Check out the best baseball betting sites.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Lefty Grove Pitching Mechanics

3) Warren Spahn

He won more games (363) than any other lefty in history. His ERA was good but not great, 3.09. The man won twenty games an astounding 13 times. You read that right. 13.

He led the league in wins eight times, in ERA 3 times and in strikeouts four times (although he is not considered a “strikeout” pitcher).

Warren’s WHIP was the lowest in the National League 4 times.

Spahn won the Cy Young Award once and was runner-up three times.

He won 4 World Series games with an ERA of 3.05 and was on 17 All-star teams.

Warren Spahn’s 300th Win – clip 1090

2) Randy Johnson

He has a lifetime ERA of 3.26. He has thrown 36 shutouts which is almost unheard of in this era. He is the strikeout king of lefties and is second on the all-time strikeout list, behind Nolan Ryan with 4,789. He is a 3-time twenty-game-winner and has won 5 Cy Young Awards, 4 in the National League and 1 in the American League. He also was runner-up in the Cy Young voting three times. Johnson led the league in strikeouts nine times. He is 3-0 in the World Series with a 1.04 ERA. He also was on 10 All-star teams.

Randy Johnson Highlights

1) Sandy Koufax

He had a career record of 165-87 with an ERA of 2.76 and was the best in the National League in his last 5 years.

Sandy led the National League in strikeouts four times and for a long time, had the most strikeouts in one season at 382 (broken by Nolan Ryan).

Koufax won 3 Cy Young Awards and 1 MVP award. He pitched 40 shutouts, 11 of them in one year. He won 4 World Series games with a sizzling ERA of 0.95 and appeared on 7 All-star teams. He pitched four no-hitters and a perfect game.

Sandy Koufax Highlights