One of baseball’s five oldest franchises, the Cincinnati Reds have had plenty of great pitching. A total of 18 pitchers have topped the 100-win mark in Cincinnati, including five with more than 150. Only 25 wins separate the top five Cincinnati Reds’ all-time wins leaders. They include Hall of Famer Eppa Rixey and championship rotation mates Bucky Walters and Paul Derringer.
5. Dolf Luque: 154 wins
A great Cuban hurler, Dolf Luque ranks fifth among the Cincinnati Reds’ all-time wins leaders. Luque played 20 Major League seasons, spending 12 of them in Cincinnati and pitching his best seasons with the club. He notched double-digit wins for ten straight years from 1919 to 1928. He had his best campaign in 1923; he led the National League with 27 wins and a 1.93 ERA, both of which were good for career highs.
4. Bucky Walters: 160 wins
Though he started out as a position player, Bucky Walters converted to pitching and became one of the Cincinnati Reds’ all-time wins leaders. Walters pitched with the Reds from 1938 to 1948, leading the National League in wins three times. In 1939, he had his most impressive season by leading the NL with 27 wins, a 2.29 ERA, and 319 innings pitched to take home the MVP Award. In the following year, Walters won two games and homered in the World Series to lead the Reds to their second championship.
3. Paul Derringer: 161 wins
Six-time All-Star Paul Derringer ranks third on the list of Cincinnati Reds’ all-time wins leaders. Derringer was a durable pitcher, finishing with more than 200 innings in all ten of his seasons in Cincinnati. He won more than 20 games for three straight seasons from 1938 to 1940 and did so four times overall. Derringer tossed a complete game to win the decisive game seven of the Reds’ 1940 World Series Championship.
2. Tony Mullane: 163 wins
Ranking second on the Cincinnati Reds’ all-time wins list, Tony Mullane was a mainstay with the organization in the 19th century. Mullane pitched in Cincinnati from 1886 to 1893, beginning in the era when the team was known as the Red Stockings. In 285 starts, he failed to finish the complete game only 21 times as he tossed 2,599 innings in only eight seasons with the team. In Cincinnati, he had five seasons of more than 20 wins including two of better than 30. For his career as a whole, Mullane, totaled 284 wins in 13 years.
1. Eppa Rixey: 179 wins
Hall of Fame lefty Eppa Rixey is the Cincinnati Reds’ all-time wins leader. Rixey spent the last 13 years of his 21-year career in Cincinnati, earning a total of 266 wins between Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Rixey was one of the most durable pitchers of all-time, tossing 4,494.2 innings to rank in the top 30 in Major League history. For the Reds, he finished in the top five in ERA four times, posting a career 3.15 mark. He had four 20-win seasons, maxing out at 25 in 1922.
* Indicates the player is active with the team.
References:
Cincinnati Reds Player Career Pitching Register. Baseball-Reference.com
