All Blue Jays team, pitchers

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The most effective pitcher is Blue Jays history isn't on this list. Roger Clemens toiled for the Jays for two seasons, coming away with a record of 41-13 with an ERA of 2.13. His total WAR was 21.1 for those two seasons. The reason he isn't on this list is he was only on the Jays for two seasons. I generally want at least three seasons with a team before I put a player on one of these lists. In the interests of honesty, Clemens is one of my least favorite players, but that's not why he isn't on this list. For the time he was in Toronto, he was clearly the best pitcher in team history. As for the players that did qualify, here we go.

Starting pitcher: Roy Halladay Roger Clemens aside, Roy Halladay was pretty good in his own right. Hallady spent 12 seasons with the Jays and rung up a record of 148-76 with an ERA of 3.43. Roy was a seven time all star and won the AL Cy Young award in 2003 when he went 22-7. His WAR for that season was 8.1. That was on the heels of a 2002 when Roy's WAR was 7.4. Halladay was a workhorse, three times leading the AL in innings pitched. Halladay led the AL in complete games five times. Halladay was both effective and durable while in Toronto and gets the call as the ace of the staff.

Starting pitcher: Dave Steib Steib is kind of like Roy Halladay lite. Dave spent 15 seasons pitching for the Jays and won in double digits 10 of those seasons. His ERA of 3.42 is almost dead even with that of Halladay. Steib was a workhorse, nine times pitching 200+ innings and twice leading the AL in that category. Stieb was also a seven time all star. From 1982-84, Stieb led AL pitchers in WAR. Those totals were 7.7-7.0-7.9. His won-lost record with the Jays was 176-137. During his prime, Dave was one of the best starters in baseball.

Staring pitcher: Jimmy Keys Keys' time with the Jays overlapped somewhat with the time of Dave Stieb. Keys was the left handed component of an excellent right-left starting duo for Toronto. Keys ERA for his nine seasons with the Blue Jays was \ identical to that of Stieb at 3.42. Key wasn't big strikeout guy, averaging only 5.0 per nine innings. Still, his WHIP was a very good 1.196. Jimmy's won-lost record was 116-81 with the Jays. Key's best season with the Jays was 1987, when he went 17-8 with a league leading ERA of 2.76. Key was a three time all star with the Jays and slots nicely as their third starter.

Starting pitcher: Pat Hentgen While Pat's ERA for his 10 seasons with the Jays was a fairly pedestrian 4.28, that doesn't tell the whole story. Hentgen 107-85 and had a lot of goodies to go with it. Pat was a three time all star and won the AL Cy Young award in in 1996 when he went 20-10 with an ERA 3.22. Ironically, Hentgen wasn't an all star during his Cy Young season. His WAR for that campaign was 8.5 Twice Pat led the AL in innings pitched. Hentgen was an anchor for the Jays staff from the mid to late 90s.

Starting pitcher: David Wells Wells had two stints with the Jays. The first was fair, but the other two year run was outstanding when he came to wins, but so-so in terms of ERA. In 1999, Wells went 17-10 with an ERA of 4.82. He followed that up with a 20-8 season with an ERA of 4.11. Those 20 wins led the AL. That's pretty much David Wells in a nutshell. Wells' WHIP of 1.275 doesn't jump out at you, and his strikeout rate of 6.1 was okay, but mostly, he won games. His overall record with the Blue Jays was 84-55 with an ERA of 4.07 That was good enough to beat out guys like Jim Clancy and Juan Guzman as well as current starters, Marcus Stroman and Marco Estrada.

Relief pitcher: Tom Henke Henke is the Blue Jays all time saves leader and an easy choice as the top reliever out of their pen. Henke amassed 217 saves in eight seasons in Toronto to go with his won-loss record of 29-29.. Tom led the AL in saves with 34 in 1987. His WHIP for his tenure in Toronto was an impressive 1.025. Henke was a big strike out guy, averaging 10.2 per nine innings as a Jay. The hard throwing right-hander was a two time all star.

Relief pitcher: Roberto Osuna Osuna has only three years under his belt and has a record of only 8-13. His save total is a healthy 95 for those three seasons. What really stands out about Osuna is some of his peripheral stats. His strikeouts per nine innings stands at 10.4 and his WHIP is a very impressive 0.905. Osuana was an AL all star in 2017. Osuna passes other guys like Casey Janssen, B. J. Ryan and Billy Koch to snag a spot in this Jays bullpen.

Relief pitcher: Duane Ward Ward is second on the Blue Jays all time saves list with 121in nine seasons. Ward's best season was 1993 when he led the AL in saves with 45. Like the other guys listed in the Jays bullpen, Ward piled up a lot of strikeouts, averaging 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings while with the Jays. In addition to closing, Ward filled other roles in the Jays pen. Ward was a workhorse, pitching 100+ innings in relief in five seasons while with the Jays. He rounds out my selections for the Blue Jays pen.

So there it is, my selections for the Blue Jays pitching staff. Do you agree? Disagree? Let me know.

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