All Padres team, pitchers

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The Padres have had a number of good pitchers during their history, but not really great ones (With the notable exception of one reliever). Some of those good pitchers have, however had some outstanding seasons. And here we go.

Starting pitcher: Jake Peavy Jake spent 8 seasons with the Padres and twice led the NL in ERA. He also led the league in strikeouts two times. Jake was a Cy Young Award winner in 2007 when he went 19-6, led the NL in ERA with an a mark of 2.54, strikeouts with 240 and WHIP with a mark of 1.061. That was one of those excellent seasons I was talking about. For his 8 seasons in San Diego, Jake finished at 92-68 with an ERA of 3.29 and a WAR of 24.7. He also averaged 9 strikeouts per 9 innings while a Padre. The combative Jake Peavy is the ace of this Padres staff.

Starting pitcher: Randy Jones After losing 22 games in 1974, Randy came back to win 20 games in 1975 and 22 in 1976. While Randy spent 8 seasons with the Padres, most of his WAR was accumulated in 1975 and 1976. His total WAR was 20.8, but for 1975 alone it was 7.5. He followed that up with a WAR of 4.9 in 1976. Randy was an all star in both 1975 and 76. In 1975 he finished second in the Cy Young Award voting. He then won the award in 1976. Randy also led the NL in complete games with 25 in 1976. Not surprisingly, he also led the NL in innings pitched with 315.1. His WHIP was also a league leading 1.027. After pitching all those innings in 1976, he pitched less than 150 innings the following season. Coincidence? Randy accomplished that while not striking out very many batters, striking out just 3.5 per 9 innings. Like Jake Peavy, Jones pitched 8 seasons for the Padres. His won-loss record was only 92-105, but he had a nice ERA of 3.30.

Starting pitcher: Andy Benes This big, hard throwing right hander was a consistent performer, compiling an ERA of between 3.03 and 3.86 in each of his first six seasons with the Padres. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners in year 7 of his stay in San Diego and had an ERA of 4.17 when he left. His total WAR was 20.7 while in San Diego. Andy had three seasons with a WAR of 3.7 or more, maxing out at 4.8 in 1993. Andy's final record with the Padres was 69-75 with an ERA of 3.57. Benes was an amazingly consistent, good starter for the Padres during his stay in San Diego.

Starting pitcher: Bruce Hurst After his time in Boston, Bruce signed as a free agent with the Padres before the 1989 season. Bruce continued a nice career with the Padres. His best season with the Pads was 1989, when Hurst went 15-11 with and ERA of 2.69 and led the NL in complete games with 10. Bruce ran off another good three seasons after that before injuries derailed his career. Bruce finished with a WAR of 15.3 while in San Diego. That was basically over four seasons. In 1990 Bruce led the NL in shutouts with four. Hurst finished his run in San Diego with an excellent record of 55-38 with an ERA of 3.27. Bruce's winning percentage is the second best in Padres history, behind only Gaylord Perry. Gaylord didn't make this list because he pitched only two seasons with the Padres, going 33-17. If Perry had pitched another season in San Diego, he would be near the top of this list.

Starting pitcher: Andy Ashby Though strictly speaking, Andy spent 8 seasons with the Padres, that last season was at the end of his career and he pitched only two innings. So basically, Andy pitched for the Padres for seven seasons, going 70-62 with an ERA of 3.59. That's pretty solid work. His best season was 1998 when he went 17-9 with an ERA of 3.34. He followed that up by going 14-10 with an ERA of 3.80 in 1999. Andy also led the NL in shutouts that season with three. Ashby was an all star in both 1998 and 99. He recorded a WAR of 13.4 with the Padres. His high in that category was 4.9 in 1995. Andy also posted his best ERA, at 2.94 to go with a 12-10 record that season. Andy rounds out the Padres rotation.

Relief pitcher: Trevor Hoffman When a pitcher is ranked second in MLB history in saves, he's probably going to make this team. That's the case with Trevor Hoffman. Hoffman had 601 saves during his career, 554 with the Padres. Trevor spent 18 seasons with the Pads, with his best season being 1998. That season Hoffman led the NL with 53 saves, while blowing only one save opportunity. His WHIP that season was a ridiculous 0.849. He also struck out 10.6 batters per 9 innings. For his 16 seasons with the Padres, Trevor struck out 9.7 hitters and had a WHIP of 1.043. The seven time all star is the closer in this Padres pen.

Relief pitcher: Heath Bell While the Padres have had a number of high profile relievers in the history of the franchise, Heath Bell is the second choice for the San Diego pen. Bell spent 5 seasons with the Padres and rang up 194 saves to go with an ERA of 2.53. Bell also struck 9.4 hitters per 9 innings. In 2009, Bell led the NL with 42 saves. Bell was an all star in the 2009-11 seasons. In 2009 and 2010, Bell won the Rolaids Relief Award. It's not generally a stat that weighs heavily for a relief pitcher, but Heath had a W-L record of 27-19.

Relief pitcher: Rollie Fingers Rollie gets the decision over Goose Gossage by an eyelash. Both pitched four seasons for the Padres. Fingers had 108 saves while Goose had 83. Fingers twice led the NL in saves while with the Padres. Rollie was more than just a one inning guy with the Padres, pitching 426.1 in his time in San Diego. Rollie makes this team, as well as the Brewers and A's teams. Way to go, Rollie.

So there are my Padres pitchers. Do you agree? Disagree? Did I miss anybody?

Let me know.

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