List of Major League Baseball annual shutout leaders
The following is a list of annual leaders in shutouts in Major League Baseball (MLB). A shutout occurs when a single pitcher throws a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a single run.
Walter Johnson holds the career shutout record with 110. The most shutouts pitched in one season was 16, which was a feat accomplished by both Pete Alexander (1916) and George Bradley (1876). In the dead-ball era and throughout much of the first three-quarters of the twentieth century, starting pitchers were generally expected to perform complete games, and starting pitchers would throw dozens of complete games a year — thereby increasing a pitcher's chances of achieving a shutout. These shutout records are among the most secure records in baseball, as pitchers today rarely earn more than one or two shutouts per season with the heavy emphasis on pitch counts and relief pitching. Pitchers today will often pitch only a few, if any, complete games a season. The 2018 season marked a new low for complete-game shutouts; no pitcher threw for more than one shutout during the season, with eleven American League and seven National League pitchers finishing with only one shutout that season.
American League
* – Denotes a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
‡ – Denotes a pitcher that led the league in shutouts in their rookie year.
National League
* – Denotes a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
‡ – Denotes a pitcher that led the league in shutouts in their rookie year.
American Association
Year | Player(s) | Team(s) | Shutouts |
---|---|---|---|
1882 | Will White | Cincinnati Red Stockings | |
1883 | Jumbo McGinnis Will White |
St. Louis Brown Stockings Cincinnati Red Stockings |
|
1884 | Tony Mullane Will White |
Toledo Blue Stockings Cincinnati Red Stockings |
|
1885 | Ed Morris | Pittsburgh Alleghenys | |
1886 | Ed Morris | Pittsburgh Alleghenys | |
1887 | Matt Kilroy Tony Mullane |
Baltimore Orioles Cincinnati Red Stockings |
|
1888 | Ed Seward Silver King |
Philadelphia Athletics St. Louis Browns |
|
1889 | Bob Caruthers | Brooklyn Bridegrooms | |
1890 | Elton Chamberlain | St. Louis Browns Columbus Solons |
|
1891 | George Haddock Phil Knell Sadie McMahon |
Boston Reds Columbus Solons Baltimore Orioles |
Federal League
Year | Player(s) | Team(s) | Shutouts |
---|---|---|---|
1914 | Cy Falkenberg | Indianapolis Hoosiers | |
1915 | Dave Davenport | St. Louis Terriers |
Players' League
Year | Player(s) | Team(s) | Shutouts |
---|---|---|---|
1890 | Silver King | Chicago Pirates |
Union Association
Year | Player(s) | Team(s) | Shutouts |
---|---|---|---|
1884 | Jim McCormick | Cincinnati Outlaw Reds |
National Association
* – Denotes a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
‡ – Denotes a pitcher that led the league in shutouts in their rookie year.