Article: The Five Best Starting Pitchers in Brewers History

[clancyphile]

Over their half-century existence, the Milwaukee Brewers have been known primarily as an offensive-first ball club. But the franchise has had some outstanding pitchers over the years. Let's look at the five best.

Pitching has long been a keystone for teams that win the World Series. In 1988, Kirk Gibson’s pinch-hit home run may get the attention for the Dodgers, but Orel Hershiser’s dominance on the mound made him World Series MVP. Curt Schilling had iconic playoff performances, whether teaming with Randy Johnson in Game 7 of the 2001 World Series to bring home the win or in the “bloody sock” game for Boston.

So, which starting pitchers have been the best for the Crew of all time?

5. Mike Caldwell
102-80, 3.74 ERA in 1604.2 IP over eight seasons

Mike Caldwell is under the radar, but he still holds the team’s single-season record for wins (22), which nobody is likely to match given the trends of modern baseball. He held down a rotation spot for eight seasons after being acquired for two minor-league players. He had a top-15 MVP finish and was runner-up in the 1978 Cy Young voting.

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4. Teddy Higuera
94-64, 3.61 ERA in 1380 IP over nine seasons

Teddy Higuera’s dominance from 1985-1988 was incredible. He posted the last 20-win season by a Brewers pitcher, had two top-10 Cy Young finishes, an All-Star Game appearance, and a top-15 MVP finish. Injuries took their toll from 1989 on, but when Higuera was good, he was incredibly good.

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3. Ben Sheets
86-83, 3.72 ERA in 1428 IP over eight seasons

Sheets posted perhaps his most dominant season in 2004, setting a single-season mark for strikeouts. After that season, injuries derailed his career, marring the Brewers’ magical 2008 run to the Wild Card spot. Still, he made four All-Star Game appearances and has a top-10 Cy Young finish.

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2. Brandon Woodruff
41-25, 3.18 ERA in 613.1 IP over six seasons

While his NLCS home run off Clayton Kershaw may be the indelible memory Brewers fans have, and Woodruff’s counting numbers may not seem to compare to pitchers of yesteryear, here’s a bit of trivia: He is currently the Brewers’ all-time leader in ERA and adjusted ERA+, and is second place in many other rate stats, like strikeouts per nine innings, WHIP, and FIP. Not bad for an 11th-round draft pick. He has two All-Star Game appearances and a top-5 Cy Young finish.

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1. Corbin Burnes
35-19, 3.21 ERA in 515.2 IP over five seasons

The leader in virtually every rate stat, Corbin Burnes more than holds his own, 2019 season aside. He’s had three top-10 Cy Young finishes, two All-star Game appearances, and a top-15 MVP finish. He’s managed to overshadow Woodruff, which is no small feat. Despite the drama over a potential exit, Brewers fans can always feel confident that they will be celebrating a win when Burnes is on the mound.

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Honorable Mentions
Yovani Gallardo was the team’s all-time leader in strikeouts. Moose Haas was a solid pitcher in the 1970s and early 1980s. Jim Slaton worked out of the rotation and bullpen for 12 years. Cal Eldred was a workhorse after a magical 1992 rookie season. Bill Wegman was a solid, if not overpowering, pitcher for 11 years. Chris Bosio was a solid #2 behind Teddy Higuera in the late 1980s.

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[Ron Robinsons Beard]

I think an argument could be made for reversing Sheets and Woodruff, but otherwise it's hard to find much fault here. Probably an oversight, but Pete Vuckovich deserves at least an honorable mention, if not that #5 spot. 

[wiguy94]

After putting Burnitz ahead of Yelich in RF, I am confused with your logic of Woodruff and Burnes over Sheets and Higuera. 

Yelich like Woodruff and Burnes has much better numbers than Burnitz like Sheets and Higuera, but you chose the longevity of Burnitz and are doing the opposite for the SP. 

[Brock Beauchamp]

I'd probably have to go with Sheets over Woodruff, maybe even Burnes. Sheets had the single season of dominance that Burnes had but also combined that with a longer track record of very good pitching than Woody has, at least so far.

[MrTPlush]

I am glad Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes came along. Ben Sheets was arguably the most overrated player in Brewers history because he was the only guy in decades that was an All Star level starter. Sheets is honestly really similar to Gallardo. Both had flashes of being aces, but neither was very consistent. Sheets was able to put it together in a few full seasons...but like Gallardo, he made a lot of great seasons very middling due to stretches of awful pitching. 2/4 of the All-Star appearances only happened because he was amazing in the first half before turning in turd performances in the 2nd half. Which is exactly what Gallardo did in his lone AS season.

I mean come on, he has a career losing record.

Burnes is easily #1 here, in my opinion...regardless of his shorter track record. Brandon Woodruff also gets the nod over Sheets. Woodruff has 4 season that are basically on par or better than anything Sheets ever did. One of those was COVID shortened, but since he has pitched just as well since then, I wouldn't dock him over it like he got lucky. #3-#5 seems about right. 

Food for thought: If this had just been pitchers in general, would anyone have placed Hader in the Top 5? I would have definitely slotted him #5 and would have been tempted to even put him at #4...but the short dominance of Higuera as a starter gets preference. 

[RobDeer 45]

No Jeff Suppan? 

On a serious note, I thought Yo would be in the top 5 but I can see why he didn't make the cut.  I too would have Sheets #2.  I loved that guy and most importantly he was hilarious.  Not sure how to make a stat for that but it should be factored in.  Maybe there should be a list for top 5 fan favorites.

[wiguy94]

5 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Woodruff has 4 season that are basically on par or better than anything Sheets ever did. 

This is seriously underrated Sheets 2004 which is the 2nd best season in Brewers history behind Burnes 2021 season (could even have a valid argument Sheets 2004 was better because he pitched significantly more innings than Burnes 2021)

[Brock Beauchamp]

17 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

I am glad Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes came along. Ben Sheets was arguably the most overrated player in Brewers history because he was the only guy in decades that was an All Star level starter.

I don't think that's really fair. Sheets is second in Brewers history in bWAR and I'm pretty sure he's way ahead in fWAR.

The caveat being that historically, the "best" career Brewers starters list is pretty woof.

[MrTPlush]

4 minutes ago, wiguy94 said:

This is seriously underrated Sheets 2004 which is the 2nd best season in Brewers history behind Burnes 2021 season (could even have a valid argument Sheets 2004 was better because he pitched significantly more innings than Burnes 2021)

Brandon Woodruffs 2021 isn't far behind either of those two seasons from ERA+ standards. His 2020 and 2022 seasons are also very above average. 

Ben Sheets has some longevity advantages and also his stats benefit a bit from the time he played. Back then you threw your top pitchers into the fire and let them start from the get-go...you also got to pitch 240 innings. Woodruff came up during a time where we liked to putz around with guys in the bullpen and obviously guys don't get to pitch as much. So it is a bit hard to compare them side by side in a lot of ways. 

Every single year Woodruff has been a starter, he has an ERA+ of at least 123 and an average of 140. Despite 2x as many opportunities, Sheets only had an ERA+ over 120 three times. Ben Sheets had career 115 ERA+. To me, Woodruff simply is more dominant and impressively consistent in doing that. 

 

[wiguy94]

21 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Brandon Woodruffs 2021 isn't far behind either of those two seasons from ERA+ standards. His 2020 and 2022 seasons are also very above average. 

Ben Sheets has some longevity advantages and also his stats benefit a bit from the time he played. Back then you threw your top pitchers into the fire and let them start from the get-go...you also got to pitch 240 innings. Woodruff came up during a time where we liked to putz around with guys in the bullpen and obviously guys don't get to pitch as much. So it is a bit hard to compare them side by side in a lot of ways. 

Every single year Woodruff has been a starter, he has an ERA+ of at least 123 and an average of 140. Despite 2x as many opportunities, Sheets only had an ERA+ over 120 three times. Ben Sheets had career 115 ERA+. To me, Woodruff simply is more dominant and impressively consistent in doing that. 

 

I never argued Sheets over Woodruff careers. I'm saying Woodruff doesn't have any season that touches Sheets 2004 because you said Woodruff has 4 seasons at least as good or better than anything Sheets did. 

[MrTPlush]

1 minute ago, wiguy94 said:

I never argued Sheets over Woodruff careers. I'm saying Woodruff doesn't have any season that touches Sheets 2004 because you said Woodruff has 4 seasons at least as good or better than anything Sheets did. 

Well his 2021 does...so there you are.

If you want to argue he had more innings that in turn gave him more strikeouts...feel free to do so. But then you are comparing them on something that isn't comparable to the baseball times they played in. 

[wiguy94]

6 minutes ago, MrTPlush said:

Well his 2021 does...so there you are.

If you want to argue he had more innings that in turn gave him more strikeouts...feel free to do so. But then you are comparing them on something that isn't comparable to the baseball times they played in. 

No his 2021 isn't as good as Sheets 2004.

2004 Sheets - 237 IP, 62 ERA-, 59 FIP-, 7.0 RA9-WAR, 8.0 fWAR respective ranks in MLB that year 4th, 4th, 2nd, 4th, 2nd

2021 Woodruff - 179 IP, 61 ERA-, 69 FIP-, 6.3 RA9-WAR, 4.7 fWAR respective ranks in MLB that year 20th, 4th, 6th, 5th, 9th

[damuelle]

Higuera’s still the top of the heap for me.

Are the BRef WAR figures not a good indicator of relative pitcher value? To me, Teddy’s got everybody beat in the aggregate and per year metrics:

- Higuera - 31.4 WAR in his 6 main seasons
- Sheets - 25.6 over 8 years
- Caldwell - 17.3 over 8 seasons
- Haas - 15.6 over 9 core years
- Gallardo - 15.5 over 8 years
- Woodruff - 13.6 over 4 core years
- Burnes - 11.7 over 3 core years
 

[sveumrules]

01 Sheets
1428 IP | 87 ERA- | 81 FIP- | 26.7 rWAR | 31.9 fWAR

02 Higuera
1380 IP | 86 ERA- | 85 FIP- | 27.4 rWAR | 26.7 fWAR

03 Burnes
515 IP | 76 ERA- | 68 FIP- | 12.8 rWAR | 14.3 fWAR

04 Woody
613 IP | 75 ERA- | 74 FIP- | 16.3 rWAR | 14.6 fWAR

05 Sabathia
130 IP | 39 ERA- | 56 FIP- | 5.9 rWAR | 4.7 fWAR

[sveumrules]

01 Sheets
1428 IP | 87 ERA- | 81 FIP- | 26.7 rWAR | 31.9 fWAR

02 Higuera
1380 IP | 86 ERA- | 85 FIP- | 27.4 rWAR | 26.7 fWAR

03 Burnes
515 IP | 76 ERA- | 68 FIP- | 12.8 rWAR | 14.3 fWAR

04 Woody
613 IP | 75 ERA- | 74 FIP- | 16.3 rWAR | 14.6 fWAR

05 Sabathia
130 IP | 39 ERA- | 56 FIP- | 5.9 rWAR | 4.7 fWAR

[sveumrules]

4 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

I am glad Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes came along. Ben Sheets was arguably the most overrated player in Brewers history because he was the only guy in decades that was an All Star level starter. Sheets is honestly really similar to Gallardo. Both had flashes of being aces, but neither was very consistent.

The only Brewers in history with a higher WAR than Sheets are Yount, Molitor, Braun, Lucroy, Cooper and Higuera.

Unless someone is calling him a Top 5 Brewer he isn't really being overrated.

Similar to Gallardo? Sheets is essentially Higuera across the board with a superior FIP...

1428 IP | 87 ERA- | 81 FIP- | 26.7 rWAR | 31.9 fWAR
1380 IP | 86 ERA- | 85 FIP- | 27.4 rWAR | 26.7 fWAR

Yovani is a pretty clear tier below for me...

1289 IP | 93 ERA- | 91 FIP- | 17.1 rWAR | 17.5 fWAR

Gallardo's best year by rWAR was 3.8, Sheets had two seasons far superior to that at 7.0 and 5.4. Yo's best by fWAR was 3.7 with Sheets topping that three times (8.0, 4.8, 4.0) and matching it three more times (3.8, 3.8, 3.7).

[sveumrules]

4 hours ago, MrTPlush said:

I am glad Brandon Woodruff and Corbin Burnes came along. Ben Sheets was arguably the most overrated player in Brewers history because he was the only guy in decades that was an All Star level starter. Sheets is honestly really similar to Gallardo. Both had flashes of being aces, but neither was very consistent.

The only Brewers in history with a higher WAR than Sheets are Yount, Molitor, Braun, Lucroy, Cooper and Higuera.

Unless someone is calling him a Top 5 Brewer he isn't really being overrated.

Similar to Gallardo? Sheets is essentially Higuera across the board with a superior FIP...

1428 IP | 87 ERA- | 81 FIP- | 26.7 rWAR | 31.9 fWAR
1380 IP | 86 ERA- | 85 FIP- | 27.4 rWAR | 26.7 fWAR

Yovani is a pretty clear tier below for me...

1289 IP | 93 ERA- | 91 FIP- | 17.1 rWAR | 17.5 fWAR

Gallardo's best year by rWAR was 3.8, Sheets had two seasons far superior to that at 7.0 and 5.4. Yo's best by fWAR was 3.7 with Sheets topping that three times (8.0, 4.8, 4.0) and matching it three more times (3.8, 3.8, 3.7).

[Brewcrew82]

Shame that we won’t see Corbin and Woody over as many innings as Sheets and Higuera. Granted, pitchers aren’t going as many innings these days and Corbin and Woody started off in the bullpen…But either would be safe bets to surpass Sheets and Higuera for total impact.

[Brewcrew82]

Shame that we won’t see Corbin and Woody over as many innings as Sheets and Higuera. Granted, pitchers aren’t going as many innings these days and Corbin and Woody started off in the bullpen…But either would be safe bets to surpass Sheets and Higuera for total impact.

[MrTPlush]

3 hours ago, sveumrules said:

 

Yovani is a pretty clear tier below for me...

1289 IP | 93 ERA- | 91 FIP- | 17.1 rWAR | 17.5 fWAR

Gallardo's best year by rWAR was 3.8, Sheets had two seasons far superior to that at 7.0 and 5.4. Yo's best by fWAR was 3.7 with Sheets topping that three times (8.0, 4.8, 4.0) and matching it three more times (3.8, 3.8, 3.7).

My reference to Gallardo had absolutely nothing to do with which was better or not. It was purely the fact both would give you stretches of dominance just to blow it with stretches of being garbage.

Sheets put it together a few years…but most of his career was much like Gallardo, average to a bit above average. 

[MrTPlush]

3 hours ago, sveumrules said:

 

Yovani is a pretty clear tier below for me...

1289 IP | 93 ERA- | 91 FIP- | 17.1 rWAR | 17.5 fWAR

Gallardo's best year by rWAR was 3.8, Sheets had two seasons far superior to that at 7.0 and 5.4. Yo's best by fWAR was 3.7 with Sheets topping that three times (8.0, 4.8, 4.0) and matching it three more times (3.8, 3.8, 3.7).

My reference to Gallardo had absolutely nothing to do with which was better or not. It was purely the fact both would give you stretches of dominance just to blow it with stretches of being garbage.

Sheets put it together a few years…but most of his career was much like Gallardo, average to a bit above average.