Baseball fans who grew up watching 20-game winners might be surprised by the modern definition of an ace. The complete game is a relic of the past, and pitchers rarely exceed 100 pitches in a single outing. This wasn’t always the case. In 1985, Dwight Gooden’s 24-4 record with a 1.53 ERA, punctuated by 16 complete games and 268 strikeouts, was the norm for a dominant starting pitcher. Today’s stars, like Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal, reach similar levels of dominance, but their stat lines look vastly different.
Skenes, a potential NL Cy Young winner, boasts an MLB-best ERA, leads the league in strikeouts and WAR, yet his win-loss record is a more modest 10-10. Skubal, a potential repeat AL Cy Young winner, also boasts impressive numbers but may not even reach 200 innings pitched. This stark contrast highlights the evolution of pitching in MLB. We’ve seen Cy Young winners with as few as 10 wins in recent years, a far cry from the 20-win seasons that were once standard.
To understand this shift, we analyzed the top 12 pitchers (aces) from 1975, 1985, 1995, 2005, 2015, and 2025, using Baseball-Reference WAR, innings pitched, ERA, and ERA+ as key metrics. The 1975 aces exemplified durability, averaging nearly 290 innings pitched and a remarkable 51% completion rate for their starts. Wins were paramount; Cy Young winners almost always eclipsed 20 wins. The average ace line for 1975 was: 20-12, 2.69 ERA, 288 IP, 244 H, 191 SO, 80 BB, 37 GS, 19 CG, 5 SHO, 138 ERA+, 6.8 WAR.
By 1985, the landscape was shifting. While still impressive, aces averaged fewer innings, complete games, and shutouts. The average ace line for 1985 was: 18-8, 2.54 ERA, 248 IP, 204 H, 67 BB, 167 SO, 33 GS, 12 CG, 4 SHO, 157 ERA+, 6.6 WAR. A strong secondary pitch became increasingly crucial as offense began to rise. The 1995 season, shortened by a strike, showed a further decline in innings pitched but a rise in strikeouts. The average ace line for 1995 was: 16-7, 2.99 ERA, 202 IP, 170 H, 61 BB, 166 SO, 29 GS, 5 CG, 2 SHO, 157 ERA+, 5.9 WAR. This era saw the rise of super pitchers dominating a high-offense environment fueled by performance-enhancing drugs.
The 2000s saw a continued emphasis on strikeouts, with a significant increase in the strikeout-to-walk ratio. The average ace line for 2005 was: 16-8, 2.82 ERA, 220 IP, 190 H, 46 BB, 185 SO, 32 GS, 4 CG, 2 SHO, 155 ERA+, 6.1 WAR. By 2015, strikeouts became even more dominant, reaching over nine per nine innings. The average ace line for 2015 was: 17-8, 2.56 ERA, 218 IP, 172 H, 45 BB, 225 SO, 32 GS, 3 CG, 2 SHO, 156 ERA+, 6.1 WAR. This reflected the emergence of high-velocity pitchers with diverse arsenals.
Finally, the 2025 season reveals a modern ace: dominant in shorter outings, with a focus on minimizing runs over innings pitched. The average ace line for 2025 was: 13-6, 2.65 ERA, 174 IP, 137 H, 44 BB, 195 SO, 16 HR, 29 GS, 1 CG, 0 SHO, 162 ERA+, 5.4 WAR. Wins are less important; overall value, measured by WAR, remains high, reflecting the continued dominance of the elite pitchers despite the decreased workload.
In conclusion, while the stat lines of today’s aces differ dramatically from those of the past, their dominance remains undeniable. While the 20-game winner may be a thing of the past, the impact of an elite starting pitcher endures, adapting to the changing dynamics of the game.
