Former Padres Pitcher on Brink of Major League History

He is off to an outstanding season.

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Former San Diego Padres relief pitcher Kirby Yates is on the brink of joining an exclusive group in MLB history. Yates, who pitched for the Padres from 2017-20, currently holds a 1.02 ERA through 43 game appearances this season with the Texas Rangers.

In MLB history, only 41 pitchers have pitched in 40 games or more while posting an ERA of 1.25 or lower. Only two other pitchers have achieved this feat twice — Craig Kimbrel and Wade Davis, per Fangraphs.

Kimbrel became the first player to do this twice, recording a 1.01 ERA in 63 games in 2012, followed by posting a 1.21 ERA in 68 games in 2013 with the Atlanta Braves. Kimbrel nearly accomplished this feat a third time with the Chicago Cubs in 2021, posting a 0.49 ERA through 39 games, one game short of the mark.

Davis achieved the benchmark in 2014-15 with the Kansas City Royals, posting a 1.00 ERA in 71 games in 2014, and a 0.94 ERA in 69 games in 2015.

Since Yates already accomplished this achievement in 2019, when he had a 1.19 ERA through 60 games, he has become the third player to join the rare group who has done this twice. What makes Yates' accomplishment unique though is he has now done this in non-consecutive seasons, while both Kimbrel and Davis recorded the mark in back-to-back seasons.

Yates had his best major league season in 2019, making the All-Star Game and recording over 100 strikeouts for the first time in his career. He also led the National League in saves and the All-MLB first-team, the lone time he has done so in his career so far.

The 2019 season was the highlight of Yates' tenure with the Padres. Yates, who originally began his career with the Tampa Bay Rays, spent time with the Rays, New York Yankees, and Los Angeles Angels before the Padres claimed him off of waivers in April 2017.

Yates did much better with the Padres than he had in his previous stops. Starting with that 2017 season, he pitched in at least 60 games for three straight seasons, the first time in his career. He posted a 3.72 ERA in 2017, a 2.14 ERA in 2018, and then a 1.19 ERA in 2019.

Yates struggled with an elbow injury the following season and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays the following offseason.