MLB Power Rankings: 25 Most Dominant Right-Handed Pitchers of Last 25 Years

This is the year the pitcher.

Last year was also year of the pitcher.

One could make the argument that we are entering a new dead ball era due the purported removal of steroids from the league and so on and so forth.

We have a seen a great number of pitchers rise and fall over the past quarter century, so it seemed appropriate to acknowledge those greats that survived and thrived during that period. Especially when the "juice" was flowing.

Just a disclaimer I focused on players who dominated during the last 25 years. Because of that players like Nolan are not included because though he was still great is best pitching and majority of his all star appearances happened prior to 1986.

These 25 righties were and some still are, the most dominant of their kind over the past 25 years.

25. Brad Lidge

The younger guys aren't going to get as much credit on this list because they still have more time ahead of them to dominate.

Brad Lidge when healthy has some of the most electric stuff in the league In less than 10 years he's amassed more than 200 saves despite not being a closer for the entirety of his career.

In 2004 he amassed 157 strikeouts in 94 innings, that's dominant.

24. Chris Carpenter

Granted, Carpenter isn't the most consistent player in terms of health, but when he's healthy he's been one of the best.

If you throw out this season, 2007 and 2008 because of injuries he has a record of 84 - 31 in the years 2004-2006 and 2009-2010.

23. Tim Hudson

Hudson's got a career 171-93 career record.

He's dominated in both the AL and NL.

He's bounced back well from Tommy John surgery and continued to pitch very well. He's got the potential durability to at least challenge 250 career wins.

He's also not a bad hitter, but that doesn't really matter in this list.

22. Felix Hernandez

Five years from now King Felix will probably be much higher in this list.

He won the Cy Young Award in 2010 despite posting a mere 13-12 record. So far in 2011 has not been at his best, but his talent level and dominance are undeniable.

21. Troy Percival

He was the Angels lone shining star before their 2002 World Series victory.

From 1996 to 2004 he registered a minimum of 27 saves every season. He has 358 saves in his career and a K/9 rate of over 10 for his career.

20. Josh Beckett

This is Josh Beckett's tenth full season. He has had an up and down career both for the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox. When he's off, he's off, but when he's on, he down right impossible to beat.

He led the Marlins to a championship in 2003 and the Red Sox to one in 2007.

He's also only 31, plenty of time to add to his trophy cabinet.

19. Joe Nathan

Few thought Nathan would become the dominant closer as the afterthought in the AJ Pierzynski trade.Nathan was possible the greatest closer from 2004-2009.

Every since he registered a minimum of 36 saves and 74 strikeouts. During that period his ERA in the worst season was  2.70. Five times he finished the year with an ERA below 2.

He's been disabled by injuries the last two seasons but there is still some life left in Nathan's arm.

18. Orel Hershiser

Orel Hershiser is better known now as an analyst for ESPN.

Back in his hay day Orel was dominant.

He was at the front of the LA Dodgers rotation that beat the A's in 1988.

He has more than 200 career wins and 2,000 career strikeouts over 18 seasons in the majors.

17. Roy Oswalt

Roy Oswalt is one of the most underrated pitchers over the past decade. From his debut in 2001 to his last start for the Phillies, Oswalt continues to deal

He is 154-88 in his career and over 1,700 strikeouts in just over 2,000 career innings. With the majority of his career spent in Texas, he's drawn some comparisons to Nolan Ryan (who would be first on this list if not for the aforementioned reasons)

16. Tim Lincecum

"The Freak" has only been in the league a few years, this will be his fourth full season in 2011, but his reputation is already that of a long tenured veteran.

Two Cy Young awards before the age of 26. He's one of the fastest ever to 1,000 strikeouts and he holds the Giants record for most double digit strikeout games.

More than Christy Mathewson, already. Think about that.

15. Kevin Brown

Many people will rag on Kevin Brown for his bloated contract for which he didn't really perform all that well.

But many people also forget he has a career ERA of 3.28, 211 career wins and nearly 2,400 career strikeouts.

If he wasn't sidelined by injuries he could have challenged 3,000 k's and possibly even 300 wins.

14. Francisco Rodriguez

I would argue no relief pitcher has had a coming out party like K-Rod did in the 2002 playoffs.

11 appearances, a 5-1 record, 1.93 ERA and 28 strikeouts, no doubt he was the Angels MVP that postseason.

He only went on to post four straight 40 plus save seasons from 2005-2008 with a nearly record breaking 62 in 2008.

His stats have declined since his joining the Mets, but those could partially be attributed to the team and less on the player.

13. Dave Stewart

Dave Stewart had a long and distinguished career.

His best years came as a member of the Oakland A's. From 1987-1990, the same years of the A's AL dominance.

Each one of those years Stewart won more than 20 games, had an ERA under 3.50 and had over 150 strikeouts. He also through at least eight complete games each year and had a career post season ERA of under three.

12. Mike Mussina

Mike Mussina was a model of consistency throughout his entire career, and if it weren't for a few injuries likely would have reached the 300 win plateau. He finished with 270, not too shabby nonetheless.

He had double digit wins every year from 1992 to 2008. Every season. Career ERA  of 3.68, and 2,813 career strikeouts.

And in conclusion, he had one of the classiest final season, retiring after the 2008 season where he went 20-9 with a 3.37 ERA for the Yankees.

11. Dwight Gooden

Gooden would be much higher if he hadn't peaked so early in his career.

His first 10 years with the Mets were the stuff of legends. Gooden managed to win 24 games his second year with a tiny 1.53 ERA. and the1985 Cy Young Award.

He pitched consistently well until injuries derailed him in 1994 and he never regained his previous form. 

Despite that he still won 192 career games with a 3.51 ERA and nearly 2,300 strikeouts to his name.

10. Curt Schilling

I'm not the first to dislike Curt Schilling but I can't deny he was good.

Really good.

Even when he wasn't dealing on a bum leg with a bloody sock, he was downright filthy none the less.

Three world championships, 3,000 k's and over 200 hundred wins.

He did it everywhere, from the Orioles, to the Phillies, to the Diamondbacks and finally the Red Sox.

He was very very good, and despite the socks he kept dealing.

9. David Cone

David Cone dominated no matter which borough he resided in.

With the majority of his career spent in Queens and the Bronx, David Cone struck out more than 2,600 in his 17 year MLB career. He was just six games short of 200 career wins and threw a memorable perfect game for the Yankees in 1999.

8. Greg Maddux

In the dictionary under durable there is a picture of Greg Maddux.

Besides throwing over 5,000 career innings Maddux won 355 games over the better part of 23 seasons with the Cubs, Braves, Dodgers, and Padres.

His career ERA is 3.16 and struck out 3,371 batters.

This no doubt first ballot hall of famer is the epitome of dominant right hander over the past 25 years, because well, he played in nearly all of them.

7. Trevor Hoffman

You can't deny the all time saves leader.

Trevor Hoffman is the only member of the 600 saves club, has a career ERA of 2.87 and over a strikeout per inning pitched.

Yes, he'll likely be passed by Mariano Rivera, but the Yankees get way more wins than the Padres, right?

6. John Smoltz

I ranked Smoltz this high because of his versatility.

When the Braves had a glut of starters and a lack of relievers Smoltz volunteered to close. Yeah, he was pretty good at that too.

In three plus years of closing Smoltz racked up 154 saves. He also has 213 career wins and a 3.33 ERA for his career.

He spent over twenty years on the Braves before finishing his career with the Red Sox and Cardinals in 2009.

Oh, yeah, he had 3,000 strikeouts too.

5. Roy Halladay

Roy "Doc" Halladay is the highest ranked current starter for those of you keeping score at home.

Phenomenal is really the only way to describe Halladay's career so far. He's only 34 add I'd venture a guess he's got at least five more great years in front of him.

He's got 178 career wins (through June 22nd) an ERA of 3.28 and 1833 k's despite pitching through the heart of the steroid ERA.

Last year he threw a perfect game and a postseason no hitter. He looks even better this season.

Kinda scary no?

4. Dennis Eckersley

I really like versatility. Although Dennis Eckersley is most remembered for the pitch he made to Kirk Gibson.

He's also the only guy to ever approach 200 wins and 400 saves.  (197 and 390 to be exact)

He is one of the few pitchers to win the Cy Young and MVP in the same season, 1992, when he won seven games out of the bullpen with an ERA of 1.71.

For his career, Eck had an ERA of 3.50 and 2400 k's. His numbers honestly don't reflect his ability but ask anyone who faced him including Gibson, and you'll know how good he was.

3. Pedro Martinez

Undersized? Yes.

A bit arrogant? Sure.

Dominating? Definitely.

A 213-100 career record is nothing to sneer at, neither is an ERA under three, considering the time in which he played.

He had over 3,000 strikeouts and was always a pain in the Yankees side in the regular season and beyond.

In my book , that's dominating.

2. Mariano Rivera

Mariano Rivera is the single most dominant reliever of the past 25 years.

His cutter is arguably the single best pitch from anyone during that span of time. He's past forty and he's still dealing as well as ever.

He's been the Yankees closer every year since 1997 when he accidently discovered his cutter playing catch. Since then he's racked up 577 saves and is only 24 behind Hoffman's all time record.

Since becoming a closer he averaged better than a strikeout per inning and has a career ERA of 2.22.

He's  pretty good in the postseason as well. Try an 0.77 ERA and 42 saves.

1. Roger Clemens

Apologies to Sox fans but it was tougher to find a good picture of Clemens from his time in Boston.

No player better fits the description of dominating over the past 25 years than Roger Clemens. Everywhere he pitched he dominated.

He won seven Cy Young's  and MVP and two pitching triple crowns. He had a pair of championships with the Yankee's and was an All-Star 11 times.

He struck out 4,672 opposing batter and won 354 games against only 184 losses.

There really isn't any other way to describe Clemens other than the greatest right handed pitcher of the last 25 years.