5 most legendary Phillies starting pitchers of all time

4. Jim Bunning, Phillies 1964-67, 70-71

Being the first Phillies pitcher to throw a perfect game would immediately cement you as a franchise legend, but Jim Bunning was so much more than that.

After spending the first nine seasons of his career as a Detroit Tiger, Bunning joined the Phillies as a 32-year-old in 1964. Over two stints totaling six years, Bunning compiled a 2.93 ERA over 226 games, including 208 starts, 12 games finished, and four saves. He threw 65 complete games and 23 shutouts.

In 1966 and 1967, he led MLB by starting 40+ games each season. In ’67, he also led all pitchers by throwing 302 1/3 innings; the year before, he’d pitched a career-high 314 innings and somehow not led the NL or MLB.

On the franchise pitching leaderboards, his 31.3 WAR and 1,197 strikeouts are both seventh, his 1.111 WHIP and 23 shutouts are both fourth, to name a few of the many categories in which he’s top-10. His 2.80 FIP is eighth all-time in Phillies history, but better than two of the three pitchers ranked higher than him on this list.

3. Robin Roberts, Phillies 1948-1961

An absolute workhorse, Robin Roberts carried the Phillies pitching staff for a long time, through some serious muck. For example, in his rookie season in 1948, the Phillies had three different managers.

Over 529 games and 3,739 1/3 innings in a Phillies uniform, Roberts compiled a 3.46 ERA. Between 1950-55, he led MLB in starts, from 1952-56, he led in complete games, and from 1951-55, he led in innings pitched. He also led in wins, then a relevant stat, each season between 1952-55.

Among Phillies pitchers, Roberts is the all-time leader with 69.8 WAR, 529 games played, 3,739 1/3 innings pitched, 15,294 batters faced, and 272 complete games.

Roberts was the all-time wins (234) and strikeouts (1,871) leader until Steve Carlton bested him by tacking on seven more dubs.

TIE: Grover Cleveland Alexander and Steve Carlton

The top spot is really a toss-up between Steve Carlton and Grover Cleveland Alexander because it’s so difficult to compare two starting pitchers from such vastly different eras of the game. Alexander has Carlton beat in categories that have long since become impossible to repeat, while Carlton excelled in areas that weren’t as relevant in Old Pete’s day.

Alexander is the OG Phillies starting pitcher. Between 1911-1917, he posted a 2.12 ERA over a whopping 329 games, averaging 47 pitching appearances a year.

Here’s the breakdown of those 329 games: 277 starts, 47 games finished, 219 complete games, 61 shutouts, 15 saves, 2,492 innings pitched.

With the Phillies, Alexander led MLB in wins five times, led the NL and/or MLB in ERA three seasons in a row, and led either the league or the entire game in strikeouts five times. The workhorse also led in innings pitched in six of his seven seasons and pitched 300+ innings in all of them. Do you see why it’s impossible to compare the two?

Carlton is a four-time Cy Young award-winner, an accolade that did not exist when Alexander pitched. Joining the Phillies in 1972, he compiled a 3.09 ERA over 15 years, including 499 games, all starts. He amassed an impressive 185 complete games and 39 shutouts, but still not as many as Alexander. Different times, after all.

On the Phillies’ all-time leaderboards, Carlton has Alexander beat in WAR, wins, games played, innings pitched, strikeouts, starts, batters faced, and WPA. Alexander has Carlton beat in ERA, ERA+, win-loss %, WHIP, H/9, complete games, shutouts, and is the all-time FIP leader.

But one stat, adjusted pitching wins, shows just how valuable these two were, as Alexander and Carlton are tied for the all-time top spot, with 27.7 apiece. No one else even comes close.