Cliff Lee
Lee's 2008 Cy Young campaign gets the headlines, but his 2011 season might have been even better. That 2.40 ERA came with pristine control — just 42 walks in 232 innings — while facing the meat grinders of the NL East. His 164 ERA+ that year ranked third in the National League, a masterclass in precision pitching.
The lefty's career arc tells the story of late-blooming excellence. After struggling early in Cleveland, Lee reinvented himself into one of the game's most reliable workhorses. His 130 career ERA+ over 13 seasons speaks to remarkable consistency, but the peak years from 2008-2011 showcased true dominance.
Lee's strikeout-to-walk ratios were otherworldly for his era. In 2010, he posted a 4.28 K/BB ratio across two different leagues during his playoff odyssey. Few pitchers have ever combined his command with that level of swing-and-miss stuff when it mattered most.
Career · Hitting
13 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | CLE | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2003 | CLE | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 2004 | CLE | 33 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .333 | .667 | 87 |
| 2005 | CLE | 32 | 8 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2006 | CLE | 33 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .333 | 43 |
| 2007 | CLE | 20 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2008 | CLE | 31 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2009 | PHI | 34 | 38 | 0 | 1 | .184 | .442 | 59 |
| 2010 | SEA | 28 | 3 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2011 | PHI | 35 | 75 | 2 | 7 | .200 | .514 | 71 |
| 2012 | PHI | 33 | 64 | 0 | 4 | .156 | .357 | 49 |
| 2013 | PHI | 34 | 60 | 0 | 6 | .183 | .443 | 62 |
| 2014 | PHI | 13 | 24 | 0 | 1 | .250 | .500 | 71 |
| Career | 337 | 291 | 2 | 19 | .175 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
13 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | CLE | 2 | 10.3 | 0 | 1 | 1.74 | 245 | 6 | 1.355 |
| 2003 | CLE | 9 | 52.3 | 3 | 3 | 3.61 | 122 | 44 | 1.166 |
| 2004 | CLE | 33 | 179.0 | 14 | 8 | 5.43 | 82 | 161 | 1.503 |
| 2005 | CLE | 32 | 202.0 | 18 | 5 | 3.79 | 113 | 143 | 1.218 |
| 2006 | CLE | 33 | 200.7 | 14 | 11 | 4.40 | 103 | 129 | 1.405 |
| 2007 | CLE | 20 | 97.3 | 5 | 8 | 6.29 | 71 | 66 | 1.521 |
| 2008 | CLE | 31 | 223.3 | 22 | 3 | 2.54 | 170 | 170 | 1.110 |
| 2009 | CLE | 34 | 231.7 | 14 | 13 | 3.22 | 134 | 181 | 1.243 |
| 2010 | TEX | 28 | 212.3 | 12 | 9 | 3.18 | 128 | 185 | 1.003 |
| 2011 | PHI | 32 | 232.7 | 17 | 8 | 2.40 | 164 | 238 | 1.027 |
| 2012 | PHI | 30 | 211.0 | 6 | 9 | 3.16 | 127 | 207 | 1.114 |
| 2013 | PHI | 31 | 222.7 | 14 | 8 | 2.87 | 134 | 222 | 1.010 |
| 2014 | PHI | 13 | 81.3 | 4 | 5 | 3.65 | 102 | 72 | 1.377 |
| Career | 328 | 2156.6 | 143 | 91 | — | — | 1824 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.