Major league pitchers beating all 30 teams

Since 1998, there have been 30 teams in Major League Baseball (MLB). It is very rare for a pitcher to record a win against every team. In earlier times, two factors made it nearly impossible to defeat all teams in both leagues (even before expansion increased the number to 30):

  • Before the era of free-agency, in which players are free to move to another team at the end of their contract, a pitcher would play for only a few teams, and could not, of course, win a game against his own team.
  • Before inter-league play began in June 1997, a pitcher would see only half of the 30 teams in any single season, unless traded to a team in the other league. Even with inter-league play, a pitcher may not have his spot in a typical 5-man rotation match the games in the single 3- or 4-game series against another team, and only a few teams from the other league are played in any season.

In any case, defeating all teams is more likely only if a pitcher has a long career. Assuming that good health and rotation timing allows a top notch pitcher to beat every one of his team's opponents in a season, it will still only be 19–20 teams (14 intraleague and 5 or 6 interleague), unless he is traded. It is far more likely that his wins will come against 10 to 12 teams, most of which he has already beaten.

30 team winners

As of April 18, 2022, there have been 20 pitchers who have beaten all 30 teams. Only 14 teams have had a pitcher accomplish the feat while on their roster, with the San Francisco Giants and New York Yankees the only franchises to have three such pitchers: Randy Johnson, Barry Zito, and Tim Hudson for the Giants, and Kevin Brown, Javier Vázquez, and Gerrit Cole for the Yankees.

Name Date Team Opponent Score
Al Leiter April 30, 2002[1][2] New York Mets @ Arizona Diamondbacks 10–1
Kevin Brown March 31, 2004 New York Yankees @ Tampa Bay Devil Rays 12–1[lower-alpha 1]
Terry Mulholland July 19, 2004[3] Minnesota Twins @ Detroit Tigers 3–1
Curt Schilling September 10, 2004 Boston Red Sox @ Seattle Mariners 13–2
Woody Williams September 26, 2006 San Diego Padres @ St. Louis Cardinals 7–5
Jamie Moyer May 26, 2008 Philadelphia Phillies vs. Colorado Rockies 20–5
Randy Johnson HOF April 19, 2009 San Francisco Giants vs. Arizona Diamondbacks 2–0
Barry Zito June 12, 2010 San Francisco Giants vs. Oakland Athletics 5–4
Javier Vázquez July 21, 2010[4] New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Angels 10–6
Vicente Padilla August 10, 2010 Los Angeles Dodgers @ Philadelphia Phillies 15–9
Derek Lowe May 10, 2012 Cleveland Indians @ Boston Red Sox 8–3
A. J. Burnett July 21, 2012 Pittsburgh Pirates vs. Miami Marlins 5–1
Dan Haren August 9, 2013[5] Washington Nationals vs. Philadelphia Phillies 9–2
Kyle Lohse June 26, 2015[6] Milwaukee Brewers vs. Minnesota Twins 10–4
Tim Hudson July 26, 2015[7] San Francisco Giants vs. Oakland Athletics 4–3
John Lackey April 18, 2016[8] Chicago Cubs @ St. Louis Cardinals 5–0
Max Scherzer May 11, 2016[9] Washington Nationals vs. Detroit Tigers 3–2[lower-alpha 2]
Bartolo Colon August 20, 2017[10] Minnesota Twins vs. Arizona Diamondbacks 12–5
Zack Greinke September 14, 2019[11] Houston Astros @ Kansas City Royals 6–1
Gerrit Cole July 10, 2021[12] New York Yankees @ Houston Astros 1-0
Notes
    1. In Tokyo, Japan.
    2. Scherzer is the first pitcher to accomplish the feat with a complete game. He also struck out 20 batters, tying an MLB record for a nine-inning game.

    Active pitchers approaching 30 wins

    29 team winners

    As of April 18, 2022, eight active pitchers have defeated 29 teams.

    28 team winners

    As of April 18, 2022, six active pitchers have defeated 28 teams.

    27 team winners

    As of April 18, 2022, two active pitchers have defeated 27 teams.

    26 team winners

    As of April 18, 2022, six active pitchers have defeated 26 teams.

    • Edinson Vólquez – has not defeated the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Royals, Texas Rangers, or Toronto Blue Jays.
    • Trevor Cahill – has not defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, or New York Mets.
    • Johnny Cueto – has not defeated the Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, or Texas Rangers.
    • Dallas Keuchel - has not defeated the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and San Francisco Giants.
    • Corey Kluber - has not defeated the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Marlins, and Pittsburgh Pirates.
    • David Price - has not defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, or St. Louis Cardinals.

    References
    1. Lennon, David (May 1, 2002). "All Teams Know 'L' In Leiter". newsday.com. Newsday. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    2. Jaffe, Chris (April 30, 2012). "10th anniversary: first man to beat 30 franchises". hardballtimes.com. The Hardball Times. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    3. "Mullholland Beats All – Veteran Left-hander Tops Detroit, His 30th Victim". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. July 20, 2004. p. C1. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    4. Associated Press (July 21, 2010). "Javier Vazquez Becomes Third Active Pitcher to Beat All 30 Teams in Yankees Win". nesn.com. New England Sports Network. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    5. Cassavell, A.J. (August 9, 2013). "Washington Nationals right-hander Dan Haren tops the Philadelphia Phillies to become the 13th pitcher to beat all 30 Major League teams". Major League Baseball. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    6. Gruman, Andrew (June 27, 2015). "Milwaukee Brewers' Kyle Lohse completes rare feat with defeat of Minnesota Twins". Fox Sports. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    7. McCauley, Janie (27 July 2015). "Hudson beats his former A's, now has W against all 30 teams". Yahoo! Sports. Associated Press.
    8. Sharkey-Gotlieb, Simon (April 19, 2016). "Lackey becomes 16th pitcher to beat all 30 teams". thescore.com. Score Media Ventures. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    9. Birenbaum, Jonah (May 12, 2016). "Scherzer's Gem Makes Him 17th Pitcher to Beat All 30 Teams". thescore.com. Score Media Ventures. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
    10. "Twins' Bartolo Colon Beats Diamondbacks to Accomplish Rare MLB Feat". 20 August 2017.
    11. "Greinke slows Royals for wins over all MLB clubs". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-09-15.
    12. "Yankees vs. Astros - Game Recap - July 10, 2021 - ESPN".
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