best single season mlb era starting pitching history

Tim Keefe has the lowest ERA in a season, with an ERA of 0.86 in his rookie season in 1880.

Regular season
Min. 1 Innings Pitched Per Team Game

	NAME	GS	ERA	SEASON	TM	G	W	L	W%	SO	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	R	HR	BB	HBP	GF	IBB	TBF	WP	K/9	BB/9	K/BB	HR/9	K%	BB%	WHIP	BABIP	RA	ERA-	FIP	FIP-	H/9	PRAA
1	Tim Keefe T. Keefe	12	0.86	1880	TRO	12	6	6	.500	39	12	0	0	105.0	68	10	27	0	16		0		397	1	3.34	1.37	2.44	0.00	9.8	4.0	0.80		2.31	35	2.25	91	5.83	3.6
2	Dutch Leonard D. Leonard	25	0.96	1914	BSA	36	19	5	.792	176	17	7	3	224.2	139	24	34	3	60	8	8		842	2	7.05	2.40	2.93	0.12	20.9	7.1	0.89	.229	1.36	36	1.95	70	5.57	20.4
3	Dan Casey D. Casey	2	1.00	1884	WIL	2	1	1	.500	10	2	0	0	18.0	23	2	17	0	4		0		83	0	5.00	2.00	2.50	0.00	12.0	4.8	1.50		8.50	32	2.83	104	11.50	-0.1
4	Ed Cushman E. Cushman	4	1.00	1884	MIL	4	4	0	1.000	47	4	2	0	36.0	10	4	4	0	3		0		125	1	11.75	0.75	15.67	0.00	37.6	2.4	0.36		1.00	8	0.91	8	2.50	17.4
5	Mordecai Brown M. Brown	32	1.04	1906	CHC	36	26	6	.813	144	27	9	3	277.1	198	32	56	1	61	4	4		1,044	2	4.67	1.98	2.36	0.03	13.8	5.8	0.93	.236	1.82	39	2.08	75	6.43	21.1
6	Bob Gibson B. Gibson	34	1.12	1968	STL	34	22	9	.710	268	28	13	0	304.2	198	38	49	11	62	7	0	6	1,161	4	7.92	1.83	4.32	0.32	23.1	5.3	0.85	.230	1.45	38	1.77	63	5.85	34.8
7	Christy Mathewson C. Mathewson	33	1.14	1909	NYG	37	25	6	.806	149	26	8	2	275.1	192	35	57	2	36	0	4		998	4	4.87	1.18	4.14	0.07	14.9	3.6	0.83	.234	1.86	44	1.62	61	6.28	31.7
8	Walter Johnson W. Johnson	36	1.14	1913	WSH	48	36	7	.837	243	29	11	2	346.0	232	44	56	9	38	9	10		1,271	2	6.32	0.99	6.39	0.23	19.1	3.0	0.78	.229	1.46	39	1.90	63	6.03	42.3
9	Jack Pfiester J. Pfiester	22	1.15	1907	CHC	30	14	9	.609	90	13	3	0	195.0	143	25	61	1	48	5	5		745	2	4.15	2.22	1.88	0.05	12.1	6.4	0.98	.236	2.82	47	2.14	81	6.60	10.6
10	Addie Joss A. Joss	35	1.16	1908	CLE	42	24	11	.686	130	29	9	2	325.0	232	42	77	2	30	2	6		1,209	6	3.60	0.83	4.33	0.06	10.8	2.5	0.81	.220	2.13	49	1.68	76	6.42	19.3
11	Carl Lundgren C. Lundgren	25	1.17	1907	CHC	28	18	7	.720	84	21	7	0	207.0	130	27	42	0	92	2	3		795	2	3.65	4.00	0.91	0.00	10.6	11.6	1.07	.211	1.83	48	2.73	104	5.65	-2.3
12	Denny Driscoll D. Driscoll	23	1.21	1882	PIT	23	13	9	.591	59	23	0	0	201.0	162	27	73	0	12		0		799	7	2.64	0.54	4.92	0.00	7.4	1.5	0.87		3.27	45	2.36	84	7.25	10.2
13	Grover Alexander G. Alexander	42	1.22	1915	PHN	49	31	10	.756	241	36	12	3	376.1	253	51	86	3	64	10	7		1,435	2	5.76	1.53	3.77	0.07	16.8	4.5	0.84	.224	2.06	43	1.82	63	6.05	44.1
14	George Bradley G. Bradley	64	1.23	1876	STL	64	45	19	.703	103	63	16	0	573.0	470	78	229	3	38		0		2,269	34	1.62	0.60	2.71	0.05	4.5	1.7	0.89		3.60	58	2.14	101	7.38	-20.7
15	Cy Young C. Young	33	1.26	1908	BOS	36	21	11	.656	150	30	3	2	299.0	230	42	68	1	37	1	3		1,116	4	4.52	1.11	4.05	0.03	13.4	3.3	0.89	.247	2.05	52	1.52	67	6.92	25.4
16	Ed Walsh E. Walsh	36	1.27	1910	CWS	45	18	20	.474	258	33	7	5	369.2	242	52	87	5	61	4	7		1,359	6	6.28	1.49	4.23	0.12	19.0	4.5	0.82	.230	2.12	52	1.63	66	5.89	34.8
17	Walter Johnson W. Johnson	29	1.27	1918	WSH	39	23	13	.639	162	29	8	3	326.0	241	46	71	2	70	8	10		1,261	8	4.47	1.93	2.31	0.06	12.8	5.6	0.95	.235	1.96	47	2.04	74	6.65	25.9
18	Christy Mathewson C. Mathewson	37	1.28	1905	NYG	43	31	9	.775	206	32	8	3	338.2	252	48	85	4	64	1	6		1,294	6	5.47	1.70	3.22	0.11	15.9	4.9	0.93	.243	2.26	42	2.03	69	6.70	34.9
19	Jack Taylor J. Taylor	34	1.29	1902	CHO	37	23	11	.676	88	34	8	1	333.2	273	48	86	2	45	12	3		1,278	10	2.37	1.21	1.96	0.05	6.9	3.5	0.95	.240	2.32	49	2.73	98	7.36	0.6
20	Guy Hecker G. Hecker	11	1.30	1882	LOU	13	6	6	.500	33	10	0	0	104.0	75	15	49	0	5		1		403	7	2.86	0.43	6.60	0.00	8.2	1.2	0.77		4.24	49	2.27	82	6.49	5.1
21	Jack Coombs J. Coombs	38	1.30	1910	PHA	45	31	9	.775	224	35	13	1	353.0	248	51	74	0	115	7	6		1,353	10	5.71	2.93	1.95	0.00	16.6	8.5	1.03	.246	1.89	53	2.09	83	6.32	15.8
22	Mordecai Brown M. Brown	34	1.31	1909	CHC	50	27	9	.750	172	32	8	7	342.2	246	50	78	1	53	7	15		1,280	9	4.52	1.39	3.25	0.03	13.4	4.1	0.87	.234	2.05	51	1.78	68	6.46	32.4
23	Walter Johnson W. Johnson	42	1.36	1910	WSH	45	25	17	.595	313	38	8	1	370.0	262	56	92	1	76	13	3		1,367	21	7.61	1.85	4.12	0.02	22.9	5.6	0.91	.271	2.24	56	1.39	56	6.37	45.2
24	George Bradley G. Bradley	20	1.38	1880	PRO	28	13	8	.619	54	16	4	2	196.0	158	30	66	2	6		7		757	7	2.48	0.28	9.00	0.09	7.1	0.8	0.84		3.03	60	2.21	96	7.26	0.6
25	Old Hoss Radbourn O. Hoss Radbourn	73	1.38	1884	PRO	75	59	12	.831	441	73	11	2	678.2	528	104	216	18	98		2		2,672	34	5.85	1.30	4.50	0.24	16.5	3.7	0.92		2.86	48	2.75	84	7.00	31.9

Unlock 2x data

More MLB News

Sandy Alcantara comes out of the bullpen on 1 day of rest and earns 1st career save for Marlins

Sep 17, 2026

Marlins hold off Diamondbacks 4-3 with Sandy Alcantara getting 1st career save

Sep 17, 2026

Raleigh and Naylor carry the Mariners past the Angels, 7-2

Sep 17, 2026

With 2 more homers, the Cubs' Pete Crow-Armstrong makes his MVP case

Sep 17, 2026

Ethan Salas becomes youngest catcher with a multi-homer game as Padres beat Rockies 9-3

Sep 17, 2026

Rangers reach .500 again and tie for AL West lead with 7-3 victory over Red Sox

Sep 17, 2026

MLB 2026 Batting Leaders

HR Leaders

45

Schwarber

44

Crow-Armstrong

41

Caminero

RBI Leaders

111

Burleson

108

Stewart

105

Crow-Armstrong

Batting Average Leaders

.316

Arraez

.310

Alvarez

.310

Simpson

Hit Leaders

182

Lopez

180

Arraez

173

Díaz

Run Leaders

115

Crow-Armstrong

103

Arozarena

102

Wood

OBP Leaders

.428

Alvarez

.394

Bauers

.392

Rumfield

SLG Leaders

.594

Alvarez

.581

Crow-Armstrong

.538

García

SB Leaders

46

Nuñez

42

Simpson

42

Witt

MLB 2026 Pitching Leaders

Win Leaders

17

Sánchez

17

Gray

15

Misiorowski

Strikeout Leaders

243

Misiorowski

236

Cease

235

Williams

ERA Leaders

1.89

Misiorowski

1.95

Schlittler

2.18

Sale

WHIP Leaders

0.81

Misiorowski

0.87

Yamamoto

0.90

Schlittler

K/9 Leaders

13.15

Misiorowski

12.77

Cease

12.16

Williams

K/BB Leaders

6.13

Sale

5.93

Rasmussen

5.79

Misiorowski

Walk Leaders

24

Martinez

27

Rasmussen

31

Sale

MLB Fantasy 2026

FanDuel Points Leaders

2,264.8

Ohtani

2,259.5

Crow-Armstrong

1,937.2

Alvarez

DraftKings Points Leaders

1,712

Crow-Armstrong

1,592.6

Ohtani

1,451

Alvarez

MLB 2026 Betting

Best Record ATS

86-66

85-67

85-68

84-69

81-71

80-71

Worst Record ATS

58-95

62-90

65-87

70-82

71-82

MLB 2026 Standings

NL East	W	L	PCT	GB
Braves	89	64	.582
Phillies	84	68	.553	4.5
Marlins	76	77	.497	13.0
Nationals	71	82	.464	18.0
Mets	69	83	.454	19.5
NL Central	W	L	PCT	GB
Brewers - y	95	57	.625
Cubs	85	68	.556	10.5
Pirates	75	77	.493	20.0
Cardinals	75	78	.490	20.5
Reds	71	81	.467	24.0
NL West	W	L	PCT	GB
Dodgers - x	92	60	.605
Padres	83	69	.546	9.0
Diamondbacks	80	73	.523	12.5
Giants	64	89	.418	28.5
Rockies	56	96	.368	36.0

AL East	W	L	PCT	GB
Rays - x	92	59	.609
Yankees - x	88	64	.579	4.5
Red Sox	82	70	.539	10.5
Blue Jays	76	77	.497	17.0
Orioles	75	78	.490	18.0
AL Central	W	L	PCT	GB
Guardians	78	75	.510
White Sox	77	75	.507	0.5
Tigers	72	80	.474	5.5
Twins	71	81	.467	6.5
Royals	67	85	.441	10.5
AL West	W	L	PCT	GB
Astros	76	76	.500
Rangers	76	76	.500
Mariners	71	82	.464	5.5
Athletics	61	91	.401	15.0
Angels	58	94	.382	18.0