PSP: Dave Stieb, the “Other” Greatest Blue Jays Pitcher

When it comes to great pitchers for the Toronto Blue Jays, everyone, especially Phillies fans, will immediately and rightfully say Roy Halladay. How can you not? He’s probably the best pitcher from his era. The only knock on Doc is that his career played out during the transition from the old days of rubber armed pitchers to the more modern specialists with velocity to spare. Because of this, he does not own most of the career pitching records for his long time employer. Instead, those belong to Dave Stieb. Now just who in the hell is that?

Monday, June 8 at 7:07p – Cristopher Sanchez v Patrick Corbin (L)
Tuesday, June 9 at 7:07p – Zack Wheeler v TBA
Wednesday, June 10 at 7:07p – Jesus Luzardo v TBA
Rogers Centre (SkyDome) – Toronto, ON

I was shocked to find that Stieb is the Blue Jays all-time leader in the following categories:

Pitching WAR – 56.9
Starting Pitcher ERA – 3.42 (tied with Jimmy Key, Doc is 3.43)
Wins – 175
Starts – 408
Innings – 2873
Strikeouts – 1658
Complete Games – 103
Shutouts – 30
HRs allowed as a starter – .702 per game
All-Star Games – 7

Plus, as you would expect, all the stats you don’t want to be the leader in like HRs allowed, hits given up, walks issued, and hit batters. He was more than just the longest tenured Blue Jays pitcher though, Stieb could throw.

The 5 Best Roy Halladay Seasons

From 1982 to 1985, Stieb was legitimately one of the best pitchers in baseball. He led the AL in WAR 3 times over that stretch and innings pitched twice while sporting ERAs in the low 3s and mid 2s. He should have won the Cy Young in 1982 but finished 4th despite a far better season than winner Pete Vockovich and runner up Jim Palmer. In 1983, he didn’t even receive a vote despite a better ERA and WAR than everyone who did. That was when wins and losses mattered though and LaMarr Hoyt of the White Sox went 24-10 compared to Stieb’s 17-12. In 1984, relievers Willie Hernandez and Dan Quiesenberry finished first and second. Stieb received 1 vote despite narrowly missing an ERA title at 2.83 (2.79 for Mike Boddicker) and an AL leading 7.9 WAR in 267 innings. Finally in 1985, his 6.8 WAR, AL leading 2.48 ERA, and 265 innings were only good enough for 2 votes. He was legitimately one of the best AL pitchers of the 1980s.

It wasn’t just the stats though. Did you know Stieb is still the only pitcher in Blue Jays history to throw a no-hitter? Roy came close a few times (including his 2nd ever start) but Stieb actually finished the deed on September 2, 1990 against Cleveland. Before this, he regularly flirted with Toronto destiny with 4 near no hitters between 1985 and 1990. Two of those came in back-to-back starts in 1988 when he came within 1 strike in both games (one was on the worst bounce you’ve ever seen). The following year, he took a perfect game through 26 outs.

One of the cool parts of learning about Dave Stieb is that he is essentially everything you need to know about the first generation of Blue Jays. He was drafted out of Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1978, just the second draft in team history. He didn’t need too much seasoning in the minors and was called up to the Show as a 21-year-old in 1979, just the 3rd season of Toronto baseball. He was the ace of the first Blue Jays playoff team in 1985. He pitched three times, including 8 shutout innings in a Game 1 win but unfortunately gave up 6 runs in a Game 7 loss. That team had won 99 games (still a franchise record), but the Royals would be the ones going to the World Series. By 1992, Stieb was hurting and was released before the end of the season. Despite not being on the team for the playoffs, the Blue Jays would still give him a ring for their first World Series. He would retire the following year.

Toronto Blue Jays Since October 23, 1993

His story comes with a nice final chapter too. After 5 years out of the game, Stieb joined the Blue Jays as a spring training instructor. Not unlike the Disney movie The Rookie, Stieb realized that all his old pains were gone so he asked his manager if he could pitch. The Blue Jays gave him a shot, they liked what they saw, and sent Stieb to the minors. At 40 years old, he crushed minor league hitters with a sub 3 ERA in 12 starts. The Blue Jays called him up for one last go around where he made 19 appearances before calling it a career for good.

Stieb is not in the Hall of Fame and is really hurt by the terrible voting trends for major awards in the 1980s. A single 4th place Cy result obviously wasn’t going to cut it and Stieb was a one and done. You have to wonder how he would be viewed had he maybe had a few runner up votes or even a win between 1982 and 1985. Considering he looks much better through modern analytic eyes, it’s possible the Veteran’s Committee still votes him in one day as one of the top pitchers of the 1980s.

Stats: Baseball Reference