The Worst 10 Single Season Pitching Performances in Indians History

While we usually focus on the best of the best in Indians history, it’s impossible to deny that there were plenty of bad years between the few positive seasons and even more players and seasons worth forgetting about. Below are ten of the most forgettable seasons on the mound, although they were not all at the hands of forgettable pitchers. To limit our look at players who weren’t supposed to be terrible, we’ll only look at starting pitchers who threw at least 140 innings (with an emphasis on those who threw more) and relievers who threw at least 50. Yes, Carl Fischer had a bad time in 1937 when he walked one and allowed two hits and two runs in 0.2 innings for the year, but no one cares about that.

10. Lary Sorensen – 1982

Prior to the 1982 season, the Indians sent All-Star catcher Bo Diaz to Philadelphia in a three way deal for Sorenson. Whoops. While Diaz would play another eight seasons as one of the top catchers in the NL, Sorenson would architect one of the worst pitching seasons in Indians history.

For his first three starts in an Indians uniform, Sorenson would pitch 8.2 total innings and allow 13 earned runs (plus two unearned). It would get better, including a complete game shut out of the Twins on May 25th, but that would be followed by five straight allowing at least four earned runs and six of his next eight. Despite allowing eight runs in 3.1 innings on August 9th against KC, he wouldn’t leave the rotation until mid-September and even then, he returned to make two more spot starts. Rick Sutcliffe would have an incredible season that year and Len Barker would match his 1981 campaign (although in 1983 he would qualify for this list himself), but Sorenson would still make 30 starts and Rick Waits and John Denny 21 each, all with an ERA above 5.00 combining for a record of 18-39.

9. Jim Bagby Sr. – 1921

There is no argument that Bagby was one of the Indians greatest pitchers ever. He helped the Indians win their first World Series in 1920 even hitting a home run while tossing a one run, complete game win in game five. He had five consecutive seasons with an ERA under 3.00 including a 1.99 in 1917 and a 2.89 behind his team record 31 wins in 1920. He even created a second generation of pitcher as Jim Bagby, Jr. was an above average pitchers for a couple of seasons.

That all being said, his run of dominance ended abruptly in 1921. Never before or since has a pitcher fallen from such a peak so far as he posted a 4.70 ERA as the dead ball era was ending. After never allowing a H/9 above 10, it jumped above 11 and he struck out just 37 batters in 191.2 innings. He still completed half of his 26 starts and won 14 games, but the end was nigh as he posted an even worse 6.32 ERA the next season (in just 98.1 innings though), was released and signed by the Pirates for his final MLB season in 1923. Things look even worse in 1921 if you move past his first few starts as he posted a 5.74 ERA with a .328 average against after May 26th as he went from workhorse to the bullpen and a spot starter role.

8. Steve Hargan – 1971

You can argue that this season shouldn’t count as most of  Hargan’s innings came as a starter and didn’t hit the 140 mark, but most of his appearances came as a reliever, so we’ll make an exception. Hargan was an All-Star in 1967 and part of the most dominating rotation in modern Indians history (at least post 1955) from 1965 through 1970.

After a 2.90 ERA in 1970 with an 11-3 record and eight complete games, however, he fell to 1-13 in 1971 with a 6.19 ERA and the worst K/9, H/9 and HR/9 of  his career to that point. He started the season poorly, then missed most of May and June with injury. When he came back, the Indians would lose four of his next five starts and he would be moved to the bullpen for most of the rest of the season. Here, he pitched much better than in the rotation, posting a 0.78 ERA from August 27th through September 26th across 13 appearances, but he made one last start to end the season and the old woes came back as he allowed four runs in six innings for his 13th loss of the season. This is not to say he was a terrific reliever by any measure as when he started in the bullpen he allowed 13 runs on 15 hits in six innings across one specific four game span, striking out just three.

7. Rich Thompson – 1985

While many of the pitchers on this list were nearing the end of their careers, Thompson was just starting his short foray into the Majors in 1985. After a 3.35 ERA in over 100 innings (almost all in relief) in AAA in 1984, the Indians promoted the right hander in late April 1985. He didn’t allow an earned run over his first four appearances and just three over his first 12. That’s exactly the kind of performance a pitcher needs to start with to stay in the bullpen for 80 innings with an ERA above six.

While he hit some struggles in June in long relief, the real problems began in July. Two losses and two blown saves marked the month that saw him finish with a 9.31 ERA. Somehow, the rookie continued to get save opportunities and he went 1 for 2 in August before an appearance for the ages against Boston on August 29th. He came in for Ramon Romero, who had allowed six runs in 4.1 innings, but the Indians were only down by four. Thompson left four innings and 11 earned runs later, permanently boosting his ERA above 6.00 for the season. Taking out that appearance, his 5.898 ERA would make him a terrible pitcher (he would pitch just 20 more MLB games, all for Montreal in 1989 and 1990), but with that appearance, he had one of the worst seasons in Indians history.

6. Earl Whitehill – 1937

Whitehill was a decent pitcher in his early years for Detroit, then at least a serviceable starter, then a poor starter for Washington before the Indians made the tremendous mistake of trading Thornton Lee (who would be a great pitcher for the next decade) for Whitehill in 1937. Already 38 and with terrible numbers in his three previous seasons, he put together the worst run of his career in Cleveland.

The lefty didn’t start in the rotation, but joined for good after May 10th and proceeded to allow at least four runs in six straight starts. It wouldn’t get any better as he made 22 starts and regularly had similar outcomes, finishing with a 6.49 ERA. Not learning their lesson, he would start 23 more games in 1938 and finish with a 5.56 ERA.

5. Dewey Metivier – 1923

This isn’t fair, because relievers prior to the 1950’s were supposed to be the worst pitchers on the team, but this season was a certain kind of special. After complete games in each of his 1922 starts, Metivier was granted a starting spot to begin the 1923 season, but lost it after two appearances and seven runs in 7.2 innings. He would make a few more spot starts, including a 10 inning complete game where he lost, but allowed just one earned run.

In the bullpen, however, he had no such success. Seven times he allowed at least three runs in relief and he allowed at least one earned run in his final six appearances, spanning three months. He best (at being the worst) was on September 1st, when he came in for long relief of Dan Boone, who allowed three runs within the first two outs of the game. Metivier would finish the game because apparently he had to, pitching six innings and allowing 11 runs (10 earned) in the rain shortened affair. Not just one bad inning, Metivier allowed more than three runs three times in this game alone. He was slightly better in 1924, but would never pitch in the Major Leagues again after that season.

4. Willis Hudlin – 1936

Hudlin was a workhorse for the Tribe, throwing more than 2,500 innings over 15 seasons, so there were bound to be good times (1926-1929), average times (1933, 1935 and 1937) and some really, really, let’s never mention this again bad times. The worst of those was in 1936.

After being a mainstay of the rotation from 1927 through 1935, he was pushed back to the bullpen after making just two starts and allowing ten runs in six innings in 1936. In the bullpen from the end of April to the beginning of July, he “only” allowed a 5.79 ERA and .383 average against. That gave the Indians enough confidence to try him in the rotation again and he responded by allowing seven runs in five innings. All his decisions came in starts, including his last loss where he recorded just one out, but allowed four earned runs on six hits. Back in the bullpen, he allowed seven runs in one game to push his ERA above 10.00 and it took a complete game, three run effort in his final appearance of the season to make sure it didn’t stay there.

Just because this was the worst, doesn’t mean it was his last bad season. Hudlin would struggle to a 4.89 ERA in 127 innings in 1938 and a 4.91 in 143 innings in 1939 before finally being released mid-season in 1940.

3. Albie Lopez – 1997

Pitchers during the 1930’s and 1990’s had it tough as offenses raged all across the league, so they were judged on an easier scale, but no scale can forgive Mr. Lopez. He was bad as a starter in his rookie year (1993) with a 5.98 ERA and again in 1996 with a 6.39. Neither of those seasons qualified, however.

A move to the bullpen in mid-July 1997 made this one count. After allowing 13 runs in 8.2 innings in his final two starts of the year, Lopez  held a 6.87 ERA and initially, the move was good. He dropped that to just over 6.00 thanks to a 4.24 ERA over his next 12 games including a win and a hold with no losses or blown leads. He would add both (a blown save and a loss) in his next two appearances and give up 22 earned runs over his final 21.2 innings in 1997. A team that would ultimately win the AL pennant had a pitcher of this caliber pitching with leads in September and Lopez responded with three holds (which were gifted to him as he allowed at least a run in each appearance and three in one) and two losses.

Somehow, Lopez wasn’t terrible in 1998 and it was enough to trick teams into paying him each year through 2003.

2. Milt Shoffner & the 1930 Light a Fire Men

Wes Ferrell won 25 games with a 3.31 ERA in 1930. And thus ends the positive things about the pitching staff that season. While relievers weren’t generally a big deal this early in baseball, poor seasons in the rotation by Mel Harder, Willis Hudlin and Clint Brown made them necessary and the Indians sure had a flair for the extreme.

As stated, Shoffner was the worst with an 8.02 ERA and 2.13 WHIP, but don’t look past Jake Miller, who had previously been a fairly successful starter, but pitched in both functions in 1930 to a 7.15 ERA and 2.10 WHIP. Part time starter Roxie Lawson (who had another of the worst seasons ever in 1931) and former starter Joe Shaute also had extremely poor numbers without qualifying for our list.

Back to Shoffner specifically, he managed to strike out less than two batters per nine while walking five and allowing nearly 14 hits per nine. While he was placed in the rotation in July, his greatest moment came when he allowed ten runs over 3.1 innings as a reliever in June. As a starter, he allowed 30 earned runs (33 total) in his first five starts and 16 earned runs over his last three starts, spanning 8.1 innings. He was retained for 1931 and had a 7.24 ERA through 12 appearances before he was finally released.

1. Ken Schrom & the 1987 Excruciating Eight

If you’ve ever wondered what the worst season for an Indians starting rotation was in franchise history according to fWAR, it was 1987 and Schrom was the head of this monster. For the good side, he threw a complete game shut out in his fourth start of the season against Chicago. It would be his only scoreless outing of the year barring a July 31st relief appearance that saw him face only one batter. He made nine appearances when he allowed at least five earned runs and had eight starts where he didn’t record an out beyond the third inning.

“Why would a pitcher be allowed to make 29 starts if he had an ERA of 12.19 after three starts and never saw it drop below 4.78?” you ask because you were born too late to witness this disaster. Eight pitchers made at least 10 starts for the Indians in 1987, the best among them being arguably Greg Swindell, who held a 5.11 ERA in 102.1 innings, but didn’t nearly allow as many baserunners and struck out more than the rest of the starting staff. Each of the eight held an ERA above 4.75 (Tom Candiott had the best at 4.79 to go with his 18 losses) and each finished with a losing record. Only Schrom and Candiotti were able to pitch more than 125 innings as even two future Hall of Famers, Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton, were unable to stave off this disgusting show of throwing. Schrom didn’t pitch again in the Majors after this season.

Borderline: Lloyd Brown (1937), Clint Brown (1931), Mike Paxton (1979), Ubaldo Jimenez (2012) & Rick White (2004)