10 Left Handed Baseball Pitchers
Left handed baseball pitchers include Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson, and Clayton Kershaw.
The top ten left-handed baseball pitchers of all time are listed below:
10. Madison Bumgarner
Madison Bumgarner is a free-agent left-handed pitcher who previously played for San Francisco Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks.
He debuted in MLB with Giants in 2009 and was considered the best battery with Buster Posey, who also started as him. He became the champion of the World Series three times and appeared four times in the All-Star game from 2013 to 2016.
Bumgarner had a win-loss record of 134-124, 3.47 ERA with 2070 strikeouts in his overall career. He also has the most strikeouts in Giants history by a left-handed player.
Madison has also made a record by pitching 0.25 ERA in the World Series and two grand slams made by a pitcher in a single season. In 2023, he had 0-3 win-loss, ten strikeouts, and a 10.26 ERA and got released by the team on April 26.
9. Tom Glavine
Thomas Michael Glavine used to pitch for Atlanta Braves and New York Mets in his entire MLB career. He debuted in 1987 for the Braves and got inducted into the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 2014.
He used to play hockey and baseball during high school and got drafted by Los Angeles Kings, an NHL team, and the Atlanta Braves. Tom chose to play baseball and was drafted into the Braves team to make his debut after high school.
After having a record of a 33-43 win-loss for four years, he won 20 games in 2991 and had a 2.55 ERA. He won his first NL Cy Young Award in that same year and again seven years later in 1998.
In the '90s, Glavine had 164 victories, which earned the highest number of wins as a pitcher in the NL after his teammate Greg Maddux, who had won 176. He had appeared in All-Star games ten times and won Silver Slugger Award four times.
8. Carl Hubbell
Carl Hubbell, a.k.a. The Meal Ticket, is the New York Giants player who debuted in 1982 and retired in 1943 for the same team. He is famous for screwball pitching in the game.
He had a win-loss record of 253-154 with a 2.98 ERA and 1677 strikeouts during his fifteen years of MLB career. Born in 1903, he got first signed by the Detroit Tigers in the MiLB but couldn't impress the manager and transferred to Toronto Maple Leafs.
Carl was signed for the Giants when its manager saw his game and was impressed with his screwball-throwing method. He appeared in the All-Star games nine times and became the WS champion in 1933.
He pitched his first and only no-hitter on May 8. 1929 and became the Hall of Famer in 1947 on his third ballot.
7. Whitey Ford
Whitey Ford played for 16 years in MLB for New York Yankees, starting his career in 1950. The Yankees signed him as an amateur free agent in 1947.
Whitey appeared in MLB All-Star games ten times and became World Series champion six times in his entire career. He won Cy Young Award and became World Series MVP in the same year in 1961.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the class of 1974 in his second year of eligibility. Ford had a win-loss record of 236-106 with a 2.75 ERA and 1956 strikeouts throughout his professional career.
6. Lefty Grove
Robert Moses Grove got his nickname 'Lefty Grove' because of his left-handed pitching style in the MLB games. He won 300 games with just 141 losses throughout his 17 years of MLB career.
Lefty had an earned run average of 3.06 with 2266 strikeouts while playing for Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox. He retired in 1941 from playing for the Red Sox and got inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1947 on his third ballot.
Grove appeared six times in the All-Star games and became two times World Series champion in 1929 and 1930.
5. Steve Carlton
Steve Carlton played as a left-handed player starting his MLB journey with St. Louis Cardinals in 1965 and ending for the Minnesota Twins in 1988. He played for six teams in his entire career in the major league.
He became the second for most strikeouts ever made and second in most lifetime wins by any left-handed pitcher. He is also the first to win four Cy Young Awards in his career.
With a win-loss record of 329-244, Steve had an earned run average of 3.22 with a huge number of strikeouts, 4,136, in his 23 years of MLB career. He is two World Series champion with one time Gold Glove winner.
4. Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn was a player for San Francisco Giants before he retired from MLB in 1965. He started his journey in 1942 for Boston Braves and played for 21 years.
He appeared in the All-Star games 17 times, became the World Series Champion in 1957, and in the same year won the Cy Young Award while playing for the Braves. He played for three teams in his career and got inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973 with 82.89% vote in his first year of eligibility.
Warren signed for the Braves after graduating from high school, and he debuted in MiLB against the Batavia Clippers and took the loss. He has made the record for a 363-245 win-loss with a 3.09 ERA and 2583 strikeouts in his entire baseball career.
3. Clayton Kershaw
Clayton Kershaw is a starting pitcher for Los Angeles Dodgers and is running in the 16th year of his MLB career. He started in 2008 for the Dodgers and is still on the same team.
He has recorded the lowest 2.48 ERA and 1.00 WHIP among the pitch starters after the 1920 period. He was added to the active roster in 2008 after the Dodgers bought Clayton's minor league contract.
Kershaw is three times Cy Young Award winner for the national league and became the World Series champion in 2020. He has appeared nine times in the All-Star games and won the Gold Glove Award for outstanding fielding.
Clayton also pitched a no-hitter in 2014 and has recorded 201-88 win-loss with a 2.48 ERA and 2,840 strikeouts in his entire MLB career.
2. Randy Johnson
Randy Johnson, a.k.a. The Big Unit, is a baseball player who played in MLB for 22 years playing for six teams. When he entered the MLB, he was considered one of the tallest baseball players in history.
He has also made a record for a left-handed pitcher who had won against all the teams in MLB and pitched no-hitters in both AL and NL leagues. He had a pitching style unique to others with the fastball-slider combination.
In 2015 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with a 97.3% vote on his first ballot. He pitched his first perfect game in 2004, was the World Series champion in 2001, and became the MVP.
Randy has appeared ten times in MLB All-Star games and has won Cy Young Award five times. He debuted in MLB in 1988 for the Montreal Expos and retired for San Francisco Giants in 2009.
1. Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax debuted in MLB for the Brooklyn Dodgers and stayed on the team till his retirement in 1966 as the Los Angeles Dodgers. He just played in the league for 11 seasons and has been considered among the greatest pitchers.
Sandy has appeared in All-Star games seven times and has the World Series championship four times in his short career. He got three Cy Young Awards and became MVP of the World Series two times.
Koufax pitched a perfect game in 1965 and had four no-hitters in his MLB journey. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in the class of 1972 on his first ballot with 86.87% votes.
He has a win-loss record of 165-87 with a 2.76 earned run average and 2,396 strikeouts. He threw an overhand curveball and increased his velocity while throwing the ball.
