Complete game

In the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball (MLB) pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start, barring injury or ejection.

[6] Years earlier, Robin Roberts of the Philadelphia Phillies threw 28 consecutive complete games, spanning the 1952 and 1953 seasons.

[10] Given this, sabermetricians generally regard Cy Young's total of 749 complete games as the career baseball record that will never be broken.

[citation needed] Further supporting the belief is that only three pitchers (Young, Ryan, and Don Sutton) even made at least 749 starts in their careers.

The last pitcher to throw as many as 15 complete games in a single season was Curt Schilling, who accomplished that feat for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1998.

Through March 28, 2024, the top 9 active players who lead MLB in career complete games were:[12] All pitchers were right-handed except Matt Kilroy and Toad Ramsey.