Top 5 all-time Boston Red Sox starting pitchers
By Oliver Gold
2. Roger Clemens
The best two Red Sox pitchers of all time are undisputedly Pedro Martinez and Roger Clemens in my opinion. Both were absolutely dominant during their time in Boston and carried the Red Sox pitching staff for numerous years.
Clemens’ stats were better than what Pedro’s were in Boston and received more accolades, but he comes in at number two on this list. In Boston, “The Rocket” went 192-111 with a 3.06 ERA, striking out 2,590 batters in 2,776 innings pitched. Clemens won the AL Cy Young in 1986, 1987, and 1991 in Boston.
In 1986, Clemens went an absurd 24-4 with a 2.48 ERA and struck out 238 batters in 254 innings and also won the AL MVP that year at just 23 years old. Another highlight season came in 1990 when the right-hander went 21-6 with a 1.93 ERA and struck out 209 batters in 228.1 innings.
Over his 13 years in Boston, Clemens sits first all-time in team history in WAR at 81.0, tied for first in wins, second in innings pitched, first in strikeouts, and first in shutouts. Despite his steroid allegations, Clemens is considered one of the best pitchers in baseball history to many, and deservingly so.
Clemens, however, never had the same success in the playoffs as he had in the regular season with the Red Sox. In the nine postseason games Clemens pitched, the Red Sox went just 2-7, and he was never able to win a World Series with the Red Sox unlike everybody else on this list. Clemens still had a respectable 3.91 ERA in the playoffs but he wasn’t nearly as good in the playoffs as he was in the regular season.
Nonetheless, Clemens was a remarkable pitcher for the Red Sox and said he will be wearing the Boston Red Sox hat on his plaque if he ever gets inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.