The 10 Greatest Pitchers in Texas Rangers History

Since the establishment of the Texas Rangers franchise in 1961, thousands of pitchers have graced the mound in a Rangers uniform.  Some of the games greatest names have pitched at least a portion of their careers in Texas.

The Texas Rangers are the only AL team to never have a Cy Young Award winner, voted annually by the media as the top pitcher in a given season.  The Rangers have had several close calls for the Cy Young, but the award has eluded all of the Rangers greatest pitchers.

Here is a look at my Top 10 Texas Rangers pitchers of all-time. (all statistics found on baseball-reference.com)

Greatest Texas Rangers Pitchers: #1- Nolan Ryan

Years: 5 (1989-1993)

G/GS/CG: 129/129/15

W-L: 51-39

ERA: 3.43

IP: 840.0

SO: 939

WHIP: 1.13

The namesake of our FanSided page, Nolan Ryan is the best pitcher who ever pitched for the Rangers.  Ryan signed with the Rangers prior to the 1989 season and pitched in parts of five seasons for the Rangers.  He was well past his prime but, Ryan was able to throw two no-hitters and recorded his 300th career victory playing for Texas, all after the age of 42.

Ryan pitched 27 seasons in MLB and continues to have 51 MLB records including the most SO (5,714) by a pitcher in major league history.

According to baseball-referecnce.com, Ryan earned just over $25.75M in career earnings.  His highest salary was $4.2M in 1992, at the age of 45.

After retiring as a player, from 2008-2013, Ryan was president and CEO of the Rangers before stepping down and taking on a position with the Houston Astros.

Ryan was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999 when he collected 98.79% of the vote on his first ballot.  In 2003, Ryan was elected to the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame, and remains the only pitcher in Rangers history to have his number (34) retired.

Could Clayton Kershaw be this current team’s Nolan Ryan?