The Pirates historically have been mostly known as an offense-first franchise, as pitching has always been the forgotten aspect of the team, but Pittsburgh has had had some incredible pitchers suit up for their team. Lets look at the all time starting pitching rotation for the Pirates.
Wilbur Cooper might not be a name a lot of younger Pirates’ fans know about. He was the ace pitcher for the Pirates from 1912 until 1924. So not exactly a modern pitcher, but he was absolutely dominant and his numbers during his peak years are basically video game-like. He was a great pitcher in an era where pitching dominated. He might not be a Hall of Famer, but he is a well deserved member of the Pirates’ all time team.
216-178/2.89 ERA/3.17 FIP/1.226 WHIP/49.0 WAR
Bob Friend is a name a lot of people should be familiar with. He was a star on a lot of the really bad Pirates’ teams of the early 1950s, but he stuck around and eventually was part of the turnaround that culminated in the Pirates’ World Series win of 1960. He was an incredibly durable pitcher, throwing over 220 innings in 11 consecutive seasons. He was a consistent workhorse for many seasons.
197-230/3.58 ERA/3.35 FIP/1.292 WHIP/47.9 WAR
Similar to his teammate Bob Friend, Vern Law was a star on a lot of really bad baseball teams in the 1950s, but he toughed it out and his success continued as the team got better. He is best known for winning the 1960 Cy Young Award when he went 20-9 with a 3.09 ERA/3.33 FIP in over 270 innings. He was also very good in the World Series, going 2-0 with a 3.44 ERA against a very good Yankees lineup.
162-147/3.77 ERA/3.70 FIP/1.284 WHIP/26.2 WAR
Babe Adams holds the distinction of being the second-most well known Babe in baseball during the 1920s and while he doesn’t really compare to the great Babe Ruth, he was a very good pitcher for some pitching-heavy Pirates teams during the 1910s and into the 1920s. He was also one of only two players on both the 1909 and 1925 World Series Pirate teams (the other being Honus Wagner).
194-140/2.76 ERA/2.72 FIP/1.092 FIP/49.5 WAR
John Candelaria was a pitching star on the Lumber Company teams, so his contributions might be a bit overshadowed by how ridiculously talented those offenses were, but he was a very good pitcher for the Pirates. He was a pretty good regular season pitcher, but truly shined in the playoffs with his career 2.88 postseason ERA. He was a pivotal member of the 1979 World Series champion Pirates team.
177-122/3.33 ERA/3.41 FIP/1.184 FIP/40.1 WAR.
There are two sides to any pitching rotation, the starters and of course the bullpen. The Pirates have had a ton of quality relief pitchers in their history. Let’s see who would be in the all time bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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