The 50 most underrated pitchers in history

Phil Niekro in 1987
Icon SMI

We've reached our final list for this exercise, and this one is the most underrated pitchers. We use the same metric (warts and all) as with the previous posts.

This photo to the left has been the basis of many baseball cards that used drawings of players. See, for example, this 2008 Upper Deck Goudey card.











Here's the list:

Rank  Player               Elo Rank  bWAR      eWAR   Difference
1     Roger Clemens        11        128.4     90.0    38.4   
2     Cy Young             2         146.0    112.3    33.8   
3     John Clarkson        41        82.1      55.3    26.8  
4     Tony Mullane         88        65.1      42.3    22.8   
5     Rick Reuschel        81        66.3      43.7    22.6   
6     Phil Niekro          20        96.8      75.3    21.5   
7     Tim Keefe            29        82.5      61.9    20.6    
8     Charlie Buffinton    111       56.1      36.1    20.0      
9     Gus Weyhing          234       46.3      26.6    19.7   
10    Gaylord Perry        21        96.3      77.4    18.9    
11    Ted Breitenstein     393       39.1      20.4    18.7   
12    Jim McCormick        70        64.7      46.8    18.0      
13    Kid Nichols          14       102.3      85.0    17.3   
14    Ed Morris            214       43.9      26.6    17.3    
15    Bert Blyleven        19        90.1      73.6    16.5    
16    Pud Galvin           51        70.5      54.1    16.5    
17    Fergie Jenkins       25        81.3      66.0    15.3    
18    Larry Jackson        130       55.6      40.3    15.3    
19    Robin Roberts        34        80.9      66.1    14.8    
20    Red Faber            93        55.2      40.5    14.7    
21    Silver King          141       53.8      39.3    14.6    
22    Bill Hutchinson      290       36.9      22.4    14.6    
23    Tommy Bridges        124       50.7      36.2    14.5    
24    Bob Rush             365       36.1      22.5    13.6    
25    Jerry Koosman        64        58.8      45.5    13.3    
26    Jack Stivetts        184       42.5      29.4    13.1    
27    Tom Candiotti        243       41.0      28.2    12.8    
28    Sadie McMahon        239       40.5      27.8    12.7    
29    Kevin Appier         104       50.4      37.8    12.6    
30    Murry Dickson        203       38.9      26.6    12.3    
31    Jack Powell          156       44.5      32.6    11.9    
32    Danny Darwin         306       37.1      25.7    11.5    
33    Frank Dwyer          303       37.9      26.7    11.3   
34    Vic Willis           69        57.2      46.1    11.1    
35    Larry French         197       40.0      29.0    11.0  
36    Denny Galehouse      627       23.9      13.1    10.8    
37    Pete Alexander       6         104.9     94.3    10.7     
38    Bob Friend           147       48.9      38.3    10.6     
39    Will White           244       37.8      27.5    10.3     
40    Red Ehret            657       23.2      12.9    10.3     
41    Amos Rusie           62        60.6      50.3    10.3     
42    Jim Barr             377       30.5      20.4    10.2     
43    Jim Whitney          271       35.9      26.2    9.7      
44    Ned Garver           272       35.8      26.1    9.7      
45    Bob Buhl             424       30.0      20.3    9.7      
46    Bobo Newsom          162       45.9      36.2    9.7      
47    Eddie Rommel         175       42.1      32.5    9.7      
48    Andy Pettitte        96        49.9      40.4    9.5      
49    Jon Matlack          182       38.7      29.3    9.5      
50    Waite Hoyt           100       47.0      37.7    9.3      
51    Brad Radke           173       41.4      32.1    9.3      
52    Mike Mussina         35        74.8      65.7    9.1      
53    Jack Quinn           118       49.7      40.9    8.8      
54    Larry Dierker        171       38.1      29.3    8.8      
55    Chuck Finley         77        55.0      46.3    8.7      
56    Kevin Brown          43        64.8      56.4    8.4      
57    Kevin Gross          513       26.4      18.1    8.3      
58    David Wells          85        50.7      42.5    8.2      
59    Dick Drago           553       21.3      13.2    8.1      
60    Denny Lemaster       583       22.3      14.2    8.1      

Some quick thoughts:

• Clemens is just like Barry Bonds. He's rated lower by fans because he's unliked, and that causes him to be "underrated".
• Cy Young is up there because he's got such a high WAR. The only way he wouldn't be "underrated" would be if he were #1 on the EloRater, but the Big Train's got that spot right now.
• Rick Reuschel, a guy often cited as being underrated, makes an appearance near the top.
• Other guys we hear about a lot who appear here include Phil Niekro, Bert Blyleven, Jerry Koosman, Tom Candiotti, Kevin Appier, Danny Darwin, Pete Alexander, Brad Radke, Larry Dierker, Kevin Brown, and Chuck Finley. Mr. Chinley also has an excellent Spoonerism.
• It appears that Mike Mussina and Andy Pettitte suffer from an anti-Yankee bias. Whereas some Yankee greats who are universally loved (Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig) made the "overrated" list, these recent guys are probably marked down by fans who dislike the Yankees.