Colorado Rockies: If MLB’s greatest pitchers had played at Coors Field

Recently, we took a look at how some of the game’s greatest hitters would have fared if they had played their entire careers with the Colorado Rockies. Today, we will look at how some of the game’s greatest pitchers would have performed if they had spent their entire careers pitching at Coors Field.

To run this simulation through Baseball Reference, we looked at how pitchers would have performed throughout their careers using the characteristics of Coors Field in 2017. Last season, there were an average of 5.27 runs per game. The batting park and pitching park factors were both set to 115.

What we found were some pretty interesting numbers. Of course, ERAs were bound to rise (Cy Young, for example, gained almost a run on his ERA). Strikeouts also rose, with Randy Johnson coming within just two Ks of 5,000 in our simulation.

Take a look at the numbers below and see what you think…

Roger Clemens (1984-2007)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 346

ERA: 3.52

HRs allowed: 392

Strikeouts: 4759

Walks: 1703

WHIP: 1.239

Actual statistics

Wins: 354

ERA: 3.12

HRs allowed: 363

Strikeouts: 4672

Walks: 1580

WHIP: 1.158

Colorado Rockies

Randy Johnson (1988-2009)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 282

ERA: 3.81

HRs allowed: 447

Strikeouts: 4998

Walks: 1645

WHIP: 1.247

Actual statistics

Wins: 303

ERA: 3.29

HRs allowed: 411

Strikeouts: 4875

Walks: 1497

WHIP: 1.171

Greg Maddux (1986-2008)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 340

ERA: 3.84

HRs allowed: 391

Strikeouts: 3458

Walks: 1122

WHIP: 1.252

Actual statistics

Wins: 355

ERA: 3.16

HRs allowed: 353

Strikeouts: 3371

Walks: 999

WHIP: 1.143

More from Rox Pile

• A Colorado Rockies Thanksgiving
• Colorado Rockies: What if Todd Helton had played football instead?
• Colorado Rockies: Charlie Blackmon out for the season
• Colorado Rockies: Injuries shift look of roster ahead of Dodgers series
• Colorado Rockies: Has Sean Bouchard earned a second look in 2023?

Cy Young (1890-1911)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 570

ERA: 3.74

HRs allowed: 155

Strikeouts: 3131

Walks: 1398

WHIP: 1.168

Actual statistics

Wins: 511

ERA: 2.63

HRs allowed: 138

Strikeouts: 2803

Walks: 1217

WHIP: 1.130

Old Hoss Radbourn (1881-1891)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 434

ERA: 4.09

HRs allowed: 154

Strikeouts: 2729

Walks: 1204

WHIP: 1.120

Actual statistics

Wins: 309

ERA: 2.68

HRs allowed: 118

Strikeouts: 1830

Walks: 875

WHIP: 1.149

Walter Johnson (1907-1927)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 444

ERA: 3.44

HRs allowed: 113

Strikeouts: 3719

Walks: 1689

WHIP: 1.241

Actual statistics

Wins: 417

ERA: 2.17

HRs allowed: 97

Strikeouts: 3509

Walks: 1363

WHIP: 1.061

Steve Carlton (1965-1988)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 334

ERA: 4.30

HRs allowed: 477

Strikeouts: 4241

Walks: 2135

WHIP: 1.425

Actual statistics

Wins: 329

ERA: 3.22

HRs allowed: 414

Strikeouts: 4136

Walks: 1833

WHIP: 1.247

Tom Seaver (1967-1986)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 329

ERA: 3.77

HRs allowed: 445

Strikeouts: 3695

Walks: 1650

WHIP: 1.296

Actual statistics

Wins: 311

ERA: 2.86

HRs allowed: 380

Strikeouts: 3640

Walks: 1390

WHIP: 1.121

Jim Palmer (1965-1984)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 267

ERA: 3.92

HRs allowed: 367

Strikeouts: 2242

Walks: 1574

WHIP: 1.385

Actual statistics

Wins: 268

ERA: 2.86

HRs allowed: 303

Strikeouts: 2212

Walks: 1311

WHIP: 1.180

Next: The 5 big bets the Rockies are making for the 2018 season

Bob Gibson (1959-1975)

Projected Coors Field statistics

Wins: 266

ERA: 3.83

HRs allowed: 293

Strikeouts: 3135

Walks: 1518

WHIP: 1.346

Actual statistics

Wins: 251

ERA: 2.91

HRs allowed: 257

Strikeouts: 3117

Walks: 1336

WHIP: 1.188