Phillies best individual pitching seasons from the last 50 years
2 – Steve Carlton (1980)
During the 1980 World Championship season, the rock at the top of the rotation was the big left-hander. Carlton started a league-high 38 games, completed 13 with a league-best 304 innings pitched. Carlton also led the league with 286 strikeouts and posted a slim 2.34 ERA. He also went 3-0 in the postseason, including 2-0 in the World Series, posting a playoff ERA of 2.30.
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1 – Steve Carlton (1972)
In one of the best individual season pitching performances for any team, Carlton’s 1972 season was more remarkable considering the team won just 59 games. In his first year with the Phillies, Carlton won his first Cy Young Award. He won 27, started 41, completed 30, threw 346 1/3 innings, struck out 310 and posted a 1.97 ERA. All of those numbers led the league.
Phillies fans were up in arms when they traded Rick Wise for Carlton, but that changed quickly with Carlton’s 1972 season.
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Arguably the greatest pitcher in franchise history and one of the top left-handers of all time, Carlton won 329 games and struck out 4136 in his career.