The current MLB earned run average leaders are the Mets’ Jacob deGrom in the National League at 1.77 and the Rays’ Blake Snell in the American League at 1.90.
TRIVIA TEASER
When was the last season MLB saw the earned run leaders in both the National and American League at under 2.00?
That would be 1972 with the Red Sox’ Luis Tiant (1.91) and Phillies’ Steve Carlton (1.97).
Just to illustrate how much the game has changed, there have been a total of 249 instances in which a qualifying hurler (one inning pitched for each game his team played) has recorded a season earned run average of under 2.00 – and 204 of those occurred before 1920. Here’s look at the number of qualifying earned run averages under-2.00 in each time period.
Pre-1900 … 46
1900-1919 … 158
1920-29 … 2
1930-39 … 1
1940-49 … 5
1950 – 59 … 1
1960-69 … 14
1970-79 … 8
1980-89 … 3
1990-99 … 5
2000-2009 … 2
2010 – 2017 …. 4
The leader in total qualifying seasons with an earned run average under 2.00 is the Senators’ Walter Johnson with ten over a 21-season career (1907-1927). His qualifying under 2.00 seasons were: 1908 – 1.65; 1910 – 1.36; 1911 – 1.90; 1912 – 1.39; 1913 – 1.14; 1914 – 1.72; 1915 – 1.55; 1916 – 1.90; 1918 – 1.27; 1919 – 1.49. Johnson finished his career with 417 wins (279 losses) and a 2.17 earned run average.
The post-1919 leader in seasons with a qualifying ERA under 2.00 is the Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax with three: 1963 – 1.88; 1964 – 1.74; 1966 – 1.73. Koufax retired at 165-87, 2.76 (over 12 seasons … 1955-66).
Tim Keefe of the National League 1880 Troy Trojans – a team that went 41-42 – recorded the major league’s lowest-ever qualifying ERA at 0.86 – giving up just ten earned runs in 12 starts (all complete games, 105 innings pitched). Despite the league’s stingiest ERA, Keefe went 6-6 on the season. (The league ERA that season was 2.37 – and three of the eight teams has ERAs under 2.00.) Keefe pitched 14 MLB seasons (1880-93), going 342-225, 2.63.
The lowest post-1899 ERA goes to the Red Sox’ Dutch Leonard at 0.96 in 1914, when he went 19-5, 0.96, while pitching 224 innings. Leonard was 139-114, 2.76 for his 11-season MLB career (1913-21; 1924-25). Side note: The lowest post-1919 qualifying ERA … and fourth-lowest all time … belongs to Bob Gibson, who went 22-9, 1.12 in 1968. The next lowest post-1919 season ERA was Dwight Gooden’s 1.53 for the Mets in 1985 – when the 20-year-old went 24-4.
Primary Resource: Baseball-Reference.com
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