The debate over the greatest Major League Baseball pitchers of all time spans more than a century of evolving rules, strategies and athletic standards. Pitchers routinely logged over 400 innings a season during the dead-ball era, while the modern age depends on a maximum-effort bullpen.
The arms that shaped the game did so by setting records that will likely never be broken. Meanwhile, the modern masters achieved historical greatness facing vastly superior contemporary lineups.
With these factors in mind, let’s take a look at the 10 best pitchers in MLB history.
