New York Yankees: 10 Greatest Finesse Pitchers in Franchise History

When you think of the Bronx, what comes to mind?

The Yankees, that goes without saying.

How much you loathe the Cross Bronx Expressway.

How about finesse?

Neither did I.

Statistically, when defining a finesse pitcher, you are looking for pitchers who walk and strike out less than 24 percent of the batters they face.

Instead of throwing heat past a batter—oftentimes because they simply can't—these pitchers rely on command and movement to keep hitters off-balance and either hit lazy fly balls to the outfield or ground balls to the infield.

To whittle down the number of possibilities, we will take into account their entire body of work, not just strictly their walk/strikeout percentage—though to be considered, a pitcher must come in under that 24 percent mark and have spent a minimum of three seasons as a Yankee.

Lets get to it.

Just Missed the Cut

These five pitchers narrowly missed being included in the top 10:

Fritz Peterson (16.21 BB/SO%)

Tommy John (14.14 BB/SO%)

Tiny Bonham (11.71 BB/SO%)

Ralph Terry (18.74 BB/SO%)

Jimmy Key (22.30 BB/SO%)

10. Chien-Ming Wang

BB Percentage: 7.00%

SO Percentage: 11.00%

BB/SO Percentage:  18.00%

Had Chien-Ming Wang not injured his foot running the bases against the Houston Astros in 2008, an injury that ultimately led to his shoulder problems and subsequent release by the Yankees, there's no telling how successful he would have been.

Over the course of two years, 2006 through 2007, Wang posted a 38-13 record with a 3.67 ERA—his 38 wins being the most by any pitcher in baseball during that span.

Unlike a traditional finesse pitcher, Wang relied heavily on his fastball, often able to get it into the 94 MPH range. He also utilized a sinker, change and slider.

Wang is currently a member of the Washington Nationals as he continues his way back from shoulder surgery that forced him to miss all of 2010 and large parts of both 2009 and 2011.

9. Catfish Hunter

BB Percentage: 6.59%

SO Percentage: 12.15%

BB/SO Percentage:  18.74%

While years of strain on his arm and the effects of his diabetes ended up getting the better of him for the majority of his five-year tenure with the Yankees, Catfish Hunter still was an important piece on two World Series Championship teams in the Bronx.

Hunter primarily used two pitches—a fastball and slider, though he also developed a change that he used on occasion against left-handed batters. When asked about catching Catfish, Ray Fosse, his former catcher with the Oakland A's remarked:

"

He doesn’t throw as hard as Vida and his ball doesn’t move around as much.To right-handers, he has a super slider.

"

8. Jack Chesbro

BB Percentage: 5.61%

SO Percentage: 11.81%

BB/SO Percentage:  17.42%

While it's difficult to compare players from the early 1900s with players from today's game, omitting Jack Chesbro simply because of the era that he played in would be both disingenuous and well, dumb.

Of course, the other reason he could be left off is that he basically only threw one pitch after joining the Yankees in 1903 and until he parted ways during the 1909 season—the spitball.

The story goes that Chesbro became so good with controlling the spitter that he could signal to his catcher exactly how the ball would break and where it would end up crossing the plate. Some historians believe that Chesbro was the first player to actually throw a spitball in a game.

His 41 wins, 51 starts, 48 complete games and 454.2 innings pitched in 1904 are all team records that will likely never be broken.

7. Mel Stottlemyre

BB Percentage: 7.37%

SO Percentage: 11.46%

BB/SO Percentage: 18.83%

Better known by some as Joe Torre's pitching coach for the majority of his tenure as Yankees manager, Mel Stottlemyre spent his entire 11-year playing career in the Bronx.

An underrated pitcher, Stottlemyre won 20 games three times, and his career ERA of 2.97 is third-lowest in team history among pitchers who made at least 200 starts as a Yankee.

Stottlemyre threw a sinker, fastball, curveball and slider to keep hitters off-balance.

Elston Howard once said that Stottlemyre's slider was the best that he had ever caught.

6. David Wells

BB Percentage: 3.93%

SO Percentage: 15.77%

BB/SO Percentage:  19.70%

David Wells and finesse rarely go in the same sentence—but Wells checks in with nearly 80 percent of balls he threw heading into the field of play.

Wells spent four seasons in the Bronx, winning two World Series championships and throwing a perfect game in 1998. He primarily threw his fastball and a big, overhand curve but also mixed in a slider and changeup to keep hitters off-balance.

At his peak, his fastball sat in the low 90s and later in his career, the high 80s. But it was his pinpoint control, evidenced by his impressive walk rate of less than four percent of batters faced that made Wells a success in pinstripes.

He finished his four years in the Bronx with a 68-28 record—a .708 winning percentage that places him fifth all time in the Yankee record books.

5. Spud Chandler

BB Percentage: 7.59%

SO Percentage: 10.06%

BB/SO Percentage:  17.65%

Spud Chandler would spend his entire 11-year career with the Yankees, winning three World Series championships and taking home the AL MVP award in 1943.

Chandler had a massive arsenal of seven pitches to choose from: a fastball that touched 90 MPH on occasion, a curve, an overhead sinker, a slider, a forkball, a screwball that acted like a changeup, and on occasion, a knuckleball.

Noted for being all business on the mound, his .717 winning percentage is good enough for third on the Yankees all time, behind only Johnny Murphy and CC Sabathia.

4. Waite Hoyt

BB Percentage: 6.52%

SO Percentage: 7.37%

BB/SO Percentage:  13.89%

A funeral director and vaudeville performer during the offseason, work that got him the moniker of "the Merry Mortician," Waite Hoyt spent 10 of his 22 years as a major league pitcher with the Yankees, winning more games for them during the 1920s (155) than anyone else.

Twice a 20-game winner, Hoyt primarily used a curve and change to frustrate the opposition, working in his fastball when needed. His 13.89 BB/SO percentage is second only to Herb Pennock amongst Yankee pitchers with at least 300 starts to their name.

3. Herb Pennock

BB Percentage: 5.03%

SO Percentage: 7.47%

BB/SO Percentage:  12.49%

Herb Pennock spent 11 of his 22 years in the major leagues with the Yankees, winning 20 games three times and becoming another Hall of Fame player whom the Boston Red Sox gave to the Yankees.

Pennock was the master of the curveball, and he threw two variations of it—one sidearm, the other overhand—a pitch that Bill James and Rob Neyer ranked as the eighth best curve in history.

He also threw a screwball, changeup and a fastball, though by his own admission his heater was anything but fast:

"

I broke into the professional game, I did not have any great speed. I was not and I never have been a speed pitcher … There are many pitchers who can throw a faster ball than I can.

"

He would win four World Series championships as a member of the Yankees.

2. Whitey Ford

BB Percentage: 8.33%

SO Percentage: 15.00%

BB/SO Percentage: 23.33%

One of the best left-handed pitchers in baseball history, the "chairman of the board" just squeezes onto the list.

The team's all-time leader in wins, innings pitched and strikeouts, among other things, Ford spent his entire 16-year career with the Yankees, winning six World Series championships along the way.

Whitey had a wide array of pitches to choose from aside from his fastball, including a curve that had a big break to it, a sinker that looked like his fastball and his two go-to-pitches—a changeup and a slider—a pitch that Elston Howard called one of the best in the game.

Ford also admits to having scuffed the ball later in his career, though whether it was done by himself or Elston Howard changed from game to game.

1. Red Ruffing

BB Percentage: 7.98%

SO Percentage: 11.43%

BB/SO Percentage: 19.41%

With only one toe on his left foot, Red Ruffing spent 15 years in the Bronx after being acquired from the Boston Red Sox in 1930, at the urging of Bob Shawkey, the former ace of the Yankee rotation.

One of the first pitchers to master throwing the slider—a pitch that some say Ruffing invented, he also had a fastball and curve in his arsenal.

A six-time World Series champion, his 231 career victories trail only Whitey Ford in the Yankee record books.

Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated