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A collection of everything Cleveland Guardians. From the best players to ever do it, to coaches, fans, title teams, and more!

Cleveland Guardians

The best pitchers in Cleveland Guardians history are all part of a long legacy of stellar pitching that stretches back to the beginnings of the franchise. Whether they were starters who became a key part of a winning pitching rotation or relievers who filled out the back end of the pitching staff, all of these players have been integral to the Guardians becoming a successful franchise.

Former stars like CC Sabathia and Bartolo Colon appear below, as well as Hall of Fame starting pitchers like Bob Feller and Gaylord Perry. Of course, there is Corey Kluber, who began his All-Star career as part of the Guardians roster.

So vote up the top pitchers in Cleveland Guardians history. Help choose the players who contributed the most to the franchise over the years and those who helped the team win games when it mattered.

The 50+ Best Cleveland Guardians Pitchers Ever, Ranked By Baseball Fans

The Best Pitchers In Cleveland Guardians History

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Bob Feller

Robert William Andrew Feller (November 3, 1918 – December 15, 2010), nicknamed "The Heater from Van Meter", "Bullet Bob", and "Rapid Robert", was an American baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians. Feller pitched from 1936 to 1941 and from 1945 to 1956, interrupted only by a four-year engagement in the Navy. In a career spanning 570 games, Feller pitched 3,827 innings and posted a win–loss record of 266–162, with 279 complete games, 44 shutouts, and a 3.25 earned run average (ERA).
A prodigy who bypassed the minor leagues, Feller first played for the Indians at the age of 17. His career was interrupted by four years of military service in World War II, during which time he served as Chief Petty Officer aboard the USS Alabama. Feller became the first pitcher to win 24 games in a season before the age of 21. During his career, he threw no-hitters in 1940, 1946, and 1951. Feller also recorded 12 one-hitters (his no-hitters and one-hitters were records at the time of his retirement). He helped the Indians win a World Series title in 1948 and an American League-record 111 wins and the pennant in 1954. Feller led the American League in wins six times and in strikeouts seven times. In 1946, he recorded 348 strikeouts, a total not exceeded for 19 years. An eight-time All-Star, Feller was ranked 36th on Sporting News's list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was named the publication's "greatest pitcher of his time". He was a finalist for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.
Baseball Hall of Fame member Ted Williams called Feller "the fastest and best pitcher I ever saw during my career." Hall of Famer Stan Musial believed he was "probably the greatest pitcher of our era." He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 on his first ballot appearance; at the time only three players ever had a higher percentage of ballot votes. He was elected the inaugural President of the Major League Baseball Players' Association and participated in exhibition games which featured players from both the Major and Negro Leagues. Feller died at the age of 92 in 2010.

Corey Kluber

Corey Scott Kluber (born April 10, 1986), nicknamed Klubot, is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers. He made his MLB debut in 2011, as a member of the Indians. A power pitcher, Kluber achieves high strikeout rates through a two-seam sinker and a breaking ball that variously resembles a slider and a curveball.

Bob Lemon

Robert Granville Lemon (September 22, 1920 – January 11, 2000) was an American right-handed pitcher and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Lemon was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a player in 1976.
Lemon was raised in California where he played high school baseball and was the state player of the year in 1938. At the age of 17, Lemon began his professional baseball career in the Cleveland Indians organization, with whom he played for his entire professional career. Lemon was called up to Cleveland's major league team as a utility player in 1941. He then joined the United States Navy during World War II and returned to the Indians in 1946. That season was the first Lemon would play at the pitcher position.
The Indians played in the 1948 World Series and were helped by Lemon's two pitching wins as they won the club's first championship since 1920. In the early 1950s, Cleveland had a starting pitching rotation which included Lemon, Bob Feller, Mike Garcia and Early Wynn. During the 1954 season, Lemon had a career-best 23–7 win–loss record and the Indians set a 154-game season AL-record win mark when they won 111 games before they won the American League (AL) pennant. He was an All-Star for seven consecutive seasons and recorded seven seasons of 20 or more pitching wins in a nine-year period from 1948–1956.
Lemon was a manager with the Kansas City Royals, Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees. He was named Manager of the Year with the White Sox and Yankees. In 1978, he was fired as manager of the White Sox. He was named Yankees manager one month later and he led the team to a 1978 World Series title. Lemon became the first AL manager to win a World Series after assuming the managerial role in the middle of a season.

Charles Nagy

Charles Harrison Nagy (born May 5, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball All-Star right-handed pitcher who played for 14 seasons in the major leagues from 1990 to 2003. He played for the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. He served as the pitching coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks from 2011 to 2013 and the Los Angeles Angels from 2016 to 2018.

CC Sabathia

Carsten Charles Sabathia Jr. (born July 21, 1980) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers. Sabathia bats and throws left-handed.
Sabathia made his major league debut with the Indians in 2001 and placed second in the 2001 AL Rookie of the Year voting behind 2001 AL MVP Ichiro Suzuki. Sabathia played the first seven-and-a-half seasons of his career with the Indians, with whom he won the 2007 Cy Young Award. He led the Indians to the 2007 AL Central Division title and their first postseason berth since his rookie year. Following a trade, Sabathia played the second half of the 2008 MLB season with the Milwaukee Brewers, helping them make the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.
In the 2008 offseason, Sabathia signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $161 million; at the time, this was the largest contract ever signed by a pitcher. With the Yankees, Sabathia led all of Major League Baseball in wins in both 2009 and 2010 and won a World Series ring in 2009. He was also voted the 2009 American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player. After mid-career struggles attributed to lost fastball velocity, chronic knee injuries, and alcoholism, Sabathia again found success in the late 2010s after reinventing himself as a control pitcher. In February 2019, he announced that 2019 would be his final season as a professional baseball player.
During his career, Sabathia has been named an All-Star six times and has won the Warren Spahn Award three times. In August 2017, Sabathia became the all-time American League leader in strikeouts by a left-handed pitcher. As of June 2019, he leads all active Major League players in career wins, career innings pitched and career strikeouts. On April 30, 2019, he became the seventeenth pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,000 strikeouts and the third left-hander to do so (joining Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton).

Early Wynn

Early Wynn Jr. (January 6, 1920 – April 4, 1999), nicknamed "Gus", was an American professional baseball right-handed pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Senators, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox, during his 23-year MLB career. Wynn was identified as one of the most intimidating pitchers in the game, having combined his powerful fastball with a hard attitude toward batters. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1972.
Wynn signed with the Senators at the age of 17, deciding to forego completing his high school education, in pursuit of a baseball career. He spent a couple of seasons in Minor League Baseball (MiLB), achieving a brief MLB stint in 1939. Wynn returned to the big leagues in 1941, pitching his first full MLB season in 1942. Wynn missed all of 1945 and a portion of the 1946 season, while serving in the United States Army during the latter part of World War II.
Wynn was a member of one of baseball's best pitching rotations, along with Bob Feller, Mike Garcia, and Bob Lemon, while with the Indians in the mid-1950s. He won the 1959 Cy Young Award, beginning to rely more heavily on the knuckleball, as the velocity of his pitches declined. Wynn retired following the 1963 season. He finished with exactly 300 career wins, having spent the last several months of his career in pursuit of that win.
Wynn served as a coach and broadcaster in the big leagues, after his retirement as a player. In 1999, he was included on The Sporting News list of the 100 greatest players in baseball history. Wynn died that year in an assisted living facility following heart-related problems and a stroke.

The best pitchers in Cleveland Guardians history are all part of a long legacy of stellar pitching that stretches back to the beginnings of the franchise.