Revisiting Greg Maddux's Underrated Cy Young Run

One of the best arms in the history of the game had one of the best four-season runs in MLB history, yet it doesn't get enough spotlight

Greg Maddux is considered to be one of the best pitchers, but one of his best runs doesn't get enough attention / V.J. Lovero-Imagn Images

There are a few dominant runs that come to mind when you discuss the best seasons by a pitcher. There are Bob Gibson (1.12 ERA) and Denny McLain (31 wins) during the Year of the Pitcher in 1968. Some of these runs last two seasons such as Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000.

But what about four seasons, the latter three of which began a phenomenal run in an Atlanta Braves uniform?

From 1992 to 1995, starting pitcher Greg Maddux had arguably the best run on the mound in MLB history. However, it doesn’t quite get the same attention as some of the other great runs. Let’s look back at Maddux’s prime years and then discuss why that might be the case. 

A Cy Young Winner Arrives in Atlanta

Maddux signed with the Braves to a five-year $28 million deal ahead of the 1993 season. Man, this contract feels minuscule nowadays. Anyway, where was I? Oh, right. 

He took home his first career Cy Young Award the season prior. Maddux pitched to a 2.18 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP, 199 strikeouts and nine complete games in 35 starts. With Maddux in the rotation, the Braves would win another National League Pennant. 

Expectations were high for the two-time all-star. Any close to that would and should have been good enough for everyone. Turns out, that was the case. Maddux finished year one with the Braves with a 2.35 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, 197 strikeouts and had eight complete games in 36 starts. 

But little did everyone realize that he was going to outdo himself, not just once but twice over the coming seasons. It’s where this goes from an impressive all-star run to historic. 

Maddux finished the 1994 season strike-shortened season with a 1.56 ERA, a 0.896 WHIP, 10 complete games and 156 strikeouts over 25 starts. Three of those 10 complete games were a “Maddux,” as in he needed fewer than 100 pitches. To nobody's surprise, he took home his third consecutive Cy Young and his second with the Braves. For the first time, he took home the award unanimously. 

Hold up, guys, he’s got one more insane season in him for this run. In 28 starts in 1995, again, he pitched in another strike-shortened season, he had a 1.63 ERA, a 0.811 WHIP, averaged just one walk per nine innings and had 10 more complete games. Five of those complete games were a Maddux and three of them required fewer than 90 pitches. This earned him another unanimous Cy Young. Maddux had four Cy Young in his career, and he won them all in this historic run.

For a nice bonus, the Atlanta Braves won the World Series over the Cleveland Indians that year in six. 

Across those four seasons, Maddux had a 1.98 ERA, a 0.953 WHIP, 37 complete games and 733 strikeouts in 124 starts. 

Along they way, he faced some pretty stiff competition too. The top hitters of his era were Barry Bonds, Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Tony Gwynn and Mike Piazza. It wasn’t a deadball era. It wasn’t quite the peak of the steroid era yet, but home runs are ticking upward by this point. 

So, now that you have the rundown. Let’s discuss why this run can fly under the radar. 

Modern Analytics vs. Maddux 

One theory I have for why it doesn’t is this: Maddux’s numbers don’t cater to the advanced stats to the same degree. Going forward we’re going to solely compare Maddux to his peer, Pedro Martinez. It’s virtually the same era, so they’re on an even playing field. 

Let’s look at two very popular advanced stats: FIP and ERA+. 

FIP, or fielding independent pitching is like ERA, but only includes home runs, strikeouts, walks and hit by pitches. The things hitters are solo responsible for. ERA+ is a “context neutral” metric that sets an average player at 100 and number higher means you are that much percent better than an average joe (ex: 120 ERA+ means 20% better). 

Let’s compared Maddux’s best FIPs and ERA+’s to his ERAs from his run: 

1992: 2.18 ERA, 2.58 FIP, 166 ERA+

1993: 2.35 ERA, 2.85 FIP, 170 ERA+

1994: 1.56 ERA, 2.39 FIP, 271 ERA+

1995: 1.63 ERA, 2.26 FIP. 260 ERA+

Now, let’s look at Martinez in 1999 and 2000:

1999: 2.07 ERA, 1.39 FIP, 243 ERA+

2000: 1.71 ERA, 2.17 FIP, 291 ERA+ 

I know it’s not the same number of seasons, but it helps show that there were no points where advance stats do Maddux any favors. 

While ERA+ is still pretty kind to Maddux, it’s not the case with FIP. This stat indicates that while Maddux was impressive, his season was not nearly as good as we think. Sure, Martinez has a higher FIP than ERA in 2000, but that 2.17 FIP is lower than Maddux’s FIPs in either of the seasons he had a lower ERA than Martinez in 2000. 

This is where the type of pitcher Maddux was comes into play. It’s important as certain advanced stats become popular for evaluating players. 

FIP loves strikeouts. So, do a lot of advanced stats. Maddux was not a strikeout pitcher by any means. Being a member of the 3,000 strikeout club is more a testament to his longevity than being a strikeout pitcher. 

He struck out 200 batters in a season once. Meanwhile, Martinez had nine 200-strikeout seasons. He even struckout over 300 strikeouts in 1999. As a result, advanced stats will look better for those types pitchers who strikeout batters at a higher rate. It certainly doesn’t credit pitching deep into ballgames, something Maddux did much more. His 37 complete games in those four years is creeping up on Maritnez’s 46 career complete games. 

Advanced stats tell a lot. This isn’t to say they aren’t good. However, they don’t tell the whole story - no better than traditional stats. Wins would be an exception, for the record. It’s why they have gone completely unmentioned apart from Denny McLain earlier - it’s why he is famous. 

Up Against Other Cy Young Winners

One last thing I want to mention is the Cy Youngs. Maddux is also up against guys like Roger Clemens who won an absurd seven Cy Young Awards. Then, you have Randy Johnson, who won five, including four in a row. Those also can lead to a run like Maddux's to go less noticed.

It's just difficult to make it stand out when he is up against some similar strong runs by his peers.

But here is an opportunity to put this run by Maddux back into the spotlight, and to put Greg Maddux back in the spotlight in general. He recently got his own MLB Network documentary, helping remind us of his dominance. 

So, even if you still think other dominant runs were greater than what Maddux accomplished, that’s totally fine. If you think more strikeouts matter, all the power to you. This was not meant to put down other famous runs of dominance - quite the opposite actually. 

This is a reminder to give Greg Maddux a shutout during the conversation. It’s worth taking a moment to appreciate.