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Quality start
In baseball, a quality start (QS) is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in 1985 while writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He wrote that it "shows exactly how many times a baseball pitcher has done his job."
The quality start was created to be an accurate measure of a starting pitcher's performance. However, the implied earned run average (ERA) of a minimum quality start has been criticized, with Tim McCarver noting "three runs for six innings ... means the ERA would be 4.50 ... Rubbish."
This section lists quality start leaders in Major League Baseball (MLB). ESPN.com includes quality starts in its "Stat Leaders" section, and terms a loss suffered by a pitcher in a quality start as a "tough loss" and a win earned by a pitcher in a non-quality start a "cheap win". Baseball-Reference.com also includes quality starts, tough losses, and cheap wins for individual pitchers under Pitching-Advanced Stats-Starting Pitching. However, quality starts are absent from statistics provided on other baseball reference sites, such as Baseball Almanac.
† denotes that the player is an inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
† denotes that the player is an inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
As of the end of the 2014 season, the highest "quality start" percentage for a given season in the live-ball era (post-1920) was recorded by Greg Maddux, who had 24 of them in 25 games in 1994. Dwight Gooden was 33-for-35 in 1985.
Since 1913, numerous pitchers have thrown quality starts of over twenty games, with ten pitchers throwing at least 21 quality starts from 1913 to 2016, albeit with exceptions. Walter Johnson (September 14, 1914 to July 6, 1915) and Eddie Cicotte (September 15, 1916 to July 25, 1917) each had over 24 quality starts, but they also made spot appearances in relief for their teams (i.e. not starting 24 in a row). Bob Gibson, however, set a new high mark with 26 quality starts in a row (no relief appearances) from September 12, 1967 to July 30, 1968. Jacob deGrom tied Gibson by throwing 26 quality starts from May 18, 2018 to April 3, 2019, with 24 of them being done in the same season that set a record for most quality starts in a season previously set by Gibson (22) and Chris Carpenter (22, 2005). In 2022, American League, Framber Valdez pitched 25 quality starts in a row from April 25 to September 18 of the 2022 season. It set a new record for most consecutive quality starts in one season along with the most by a left-handed pitcher.
From 1871 to the end of the 2020 MLB season, the overall leaders by percentage (min. 100 starts):
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Quality start
In baseball, a quality start (QS) is a statistic for a starting pitcher defined as a game in which the pitcher completes at least six innings and permits no more than three earned runs. The quality start was developed by sportswriter John Lowe in 1985 while writing for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He wrote that it "shows exactly how many times a baseball pitcher has done his job."
The quality start was created to be an accurate measure of a starting pitcher's performance. However, the implied earned run average (ERA) of a minimum quality start has been criticized, with Tim McCarver noting "three runs for six innings ... means the ERA would be 4.50 ... Rubbish."
This section lists quality start leaders in Major League Baseball (MLB). ESPN.com includes quality starts in its "Stat Leaders" section, and terms a loss suffered by a pitcher in a quality start as a "tough loss" and a win earned by a pitcher in a non-quality start a "cheap win". Baseball-Reference.com also includes quality starts, tough losses, and cheap wins for individual pitchers under Pitching-Advanced Stats-Starting Pitching. However, quality starts are absent from statistics provided on other baseball reference sites, such as Baseball Almanac.
† denotes that the player is an inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
† denotes that the player is an inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
As of the end of the 2014 season, the highest "quality start" percentage for a given season in the live-ball era (post-1920) was recorded by Greg Maddux, who had 24 of them in 25 games in 1994. Dwight Gooden was 33-for-35 in 1985.
Since 1913, numerous pitchers have thrown quality starts of over twenty games, with ten pitchers throwing at least 21 quality starts from 1913 to 2016, albeit with exceptions. Walter Johnson (September 14, 1914 to July 6, 1915) and Eddie Cicotte (September 15, 1916 to July 25, 1917) each had over 24 quality starts, but they also made spot appearances in relief for their teams (i.e. not starting 24 in a row). Bob Gibson, however, set a new high mark with 26 quality starts in a row (no relief appearances) from September 12, 1967 to July 30, 1968. Jacob deGrom tied Gibson by throwing 26 quality starts from May 18, 2018 to April 3, 2019, with 24 of them being done in the same season that set a record for most quality starts in a season previously set by Gibson (22) and Chris Carpenter (22, 2005). In 2022, American League, Framber Valdez pitched 25 quality starts in a row from April 25 to September 18 of the 2022 season. It set a new record for most consecutive quality starts in one season along with the most by a left-handed pitcher.
From 1871 to the end of the 2020 MLB season, the overall leaders by percentage (min. 100 starts):