All time best seasons for Tigers pitchers

A couple of weeks ago, I listed the top seasons for Tigers rookie pitchers. Today, I'm presenting the all time top Tigers pitching seasons. Using the same criteria as I did for the rookies, I ranked the top 15 seasons ever in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Top 15 Tigers pitching seasons

Rank	Player	Year	IP	W	L	ERA	ERA+	RSAA	WS
1	Hal Newhouser	1946	293	26	9	1.94	188	60	33
2	Hal Newhouser	1945	312	25	9	1.81	195	59	38
3	Bobo Newsome	1940	264	21	5	2.83	167	60	26
4	Dizzy Trout	1944	352	27	14	2.12	168	57	42
5	Hal Newhouser	1944	292	29	9	2.22	161	47	35
6	Denny McLain	1968	336	31	6	1.96	154	42	33
7	Virgil Trucks	1949	275	19	11	2.81	148	52	27
8	Bobo Newsome	1939	246	17	10	3.37	145	50	23
9	Dizzy Trout	1946	276	17	13	2.35	155	44	27
10	Mark Fidrych	1976	250	19	9	2.34	158	38	27
11	Hank Aguirre	1962	216	16	8	2.21	184	54	22
12	Jim Bunning	1957	267	20	8	2.70	143	40	26
13	Tommy Bridges	1936	295	23	11	3.60	137	39	26
14	Justin Thompson	1997	223	15	11	3.02	151	40	21
15	John Hiller	1973	125	10	5	1.44	285	34	31

Notes:

Hal Newhouser (1946)

Newhouser's numbers may been slightly better in 1945 but he may have been aided by the dilution of talent created by players serving in World War II. Thus, I went with his 1946 season as the top year for a Tigers pitcher. Newhouser finished 2nd in the American League MVP voting. He led the league in ERA (1.94) wins (26) and strikeout rate (8.46 per 9 IP).

Hal Newhouser (1945)

Newhouser won the AL MVP award by finishing first in ERA (1.81), wins (25), innings (313), complete games (29), shutouts (8) and strikeouts (212). He also won two World Series games.

Bobo Newsome (1940)

Newsome finished 4th in the MVP voting. He was second in ERA (2.83) and wins (21). He won two games in the 1940 World Series before losing a 2-1 pitchers duel in game 7.

Dizzy Trout (1944)

A case could be made that Trout was helped by the diluted talent pool as 1944 was his best year. However, his strong season in 1946 season makes his '44 season look legitimate. Trout finished first in ERA (2.12), innings (352), complete games (33) and shutouts (7).

Hal Newhouser (1944)

Newhouser finished first in wins (29) and strikeouts (187) and second in complete games (25) and shutouts (6) . His performance earned him the AL MVP award.

Denny McLain (1968)

McLain was baseball's last 30 game winner. He won the CY Young, the MVP and helped lead the Tigers to the World Championship.

Virgil Trucks (1949)

Trucks finished first in strikeouts (153), second in WHIP (1.211) and third in ERA (2.81).

Bobo Newsome (1939)

After being acquired from the St. Louis Browns early in the season, Newhouser went on finish first in complete games (24), third in wins (20) and second in strikeouts (192) for the two teams combined. Of his 291 total innings, 246 came with the Tigers.

Dizzy Trout (1946)

Trout's season was overshadowed by Newhouser's great year but he finished 3rd in the league in ERA+ (155), sixth in ERA (2.35) and was in the top ten in innings, shutouts, complete games, strikeouts and wins.

Mark Fidrych (1976)

The charismatic Fidrych had one of the most famous and best rookie seasons in baseball history. He led the league with a 2.34 ERA and 24 complete games and won the Rookie of the Year award. He finished second to Jim Palmer in the Cy Young voting.

Hank Aguirre (1962)

Aguirre had an outstanding season as a starter and reliever amassing 16 wins, 10 saves and leading the league with a 2.21 ERA and 6.75 hits per nine innings.

Jim Bunning (1957)

Bunning led the league in wins (20) and innings (267) and was second in strikeouts (182) and third in ERA (2.70).

Tommy Bridges (1936)

In arguably his best of several great seasons, Bridges finished first in wins (23) and strikeouts (175) and fourth in ERA (3.60).

Justin Thompson (1997)

It surprised me to see how well Thompson's 1997 season compared to other great Tigers seasons in terms of my two biggest criteria: ERA+ and RSAA. He finished 5th in the league in ERA (3.02) and 4th in WHIP (1.137)

John Hiller (1973)

Hiller had arguably the best year ever for a Tigers reliever. He finished fourth in both the MVP and Cy Young voting. He had a 1.44 ERA, 10 wins and a league leading 38 saves in 125 innings.