Steve Bedrosian
Bedrosian won the 1987 Cy Young Award as a closer, making him one of just seven relievers to capture the honor. That season with Philadelphia, he posted a microscopic 2.83 ERA with 40 saves, becoming the rare reliever dominant enough to beat out starting pitchers for baseball's top pitching prize.
His peak came earlier with Atlanta in 1984, when he dominated as a setup man with a 2.37 ERA and an ERA+ of 161 — more than 60% better than league average. The right-hander's slider was his calling card, generating swings and misses throughout his 15-year career that saw him accumulate 921 strikeouts across 1,191 innings.
The numbers tell the story of a pitcher who reinvented himself successfully. Bedrosian evolved from an effective middle reliever into one of the premier closers of the late 1980s, proving that late-career adjustments can yield hardware.
Career · Hitting
14 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | ATL | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1982 | ATL | 64 | 26 | 0 | 0 | .038 | .113 | 16 |
| 1983 | ATL | 70 | 19 | 0 | 0 | .105 | .211 | 30 |
| 1984 | ATL | 40 | 17 | 0 | 0 | .118 | .235 | 33 |
| 1985 | ATL | 37 | 64 | 0 | 1 | .078 | .170 | 24 |
| 1986 | PHI | 68 | 5 | 0 | 0 | .200 | .533 | 74 |
| 1987 | PHI | 65 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1988 | PHI | 57 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1989 | SF | 68 | 6 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .333 | 48 |
| 1990 | SF | 68 | 4 | 0 | 1 | .500 | 1.000 | 141 |
| 1991 | MIN | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| 1993 | ATL | 49 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 1994 | ATL | 46 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | 131 |
| 1995 | ATL | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 732 | 153 | 0 | 2 | .098 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
14 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | ATL | 15 | 24.3 | 1 | 2 | 4.44 | 81 | 9 | 1.233 |
| 1982 | ATL | 64 | 137.7 | 8 | 6 | 2.42 | 159 | 123 | 1.155 |
| 1983 | ATL | 70 | 120.0 | 9 | 10 | 3.60 | 107 | 114 | 1.258 |
| 1984 | ATL | 40 | 83.7 | 9 | 6 | 2.37 | 161 | 81 | 1.171 |
| 1985 | ATL | 37 | 206.7 | 7 | 15 | 3.83 | 102 | 134 | 1.495 |
| 1986 | PHI | 68 | 90.3 | 8 | 6 | 3.39 | 117 | 82 | 1.251 |
| 1987 | PHI | 65 | 89.0 | 5 | 3 | 2.83 | 151 | 74 | 1.202 |
| 1988 | PHI | 57 | 74.3 | 6 | 6 | 3.75 | 99 | 61 | 1.372 |
| 1989 | SF | 68 | 84.7 | 3 | 7 | 2.87 | 129 | 58 | 1.122 |
| 1990 | SF | 68 | 79.3 | 9 | 9 | 4.20 | 92 | 43 | 1.462 |
| 1991 | MIN | 56 | 77.3 | 5 | 3 | 4.42 | 88 | 44 | 1.358 |
| 1993 | ATL | 49 | 49.7 | 5 | 2 | 1.63 | 256 | 33 | 0.966 |
| 1994 | ATL | 46 | 46.0 | 0 | 2 | 3.33 | 135 | 43 | 1.283 |
| 1995 | ATL | 29 | 28.0 | 1 | 2 | 6.11 | 73 | 22 | 1.857 |
| Career | 732 | 1191.0 | 76 | 79 | — | — | 921 | — | |
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.