Ranking Braves' 5 best pitching campaigns

ATLANTA -- When compiling a list of the greatest seasons ever recorded by a Braves pitcher, you are immediately reminded of the fact that over the course of two seasons, Greg Maddux constructed two of the greatest seasons the baseball world has ever seen.

Going all the way back to Kid Nichols’ dominance in the late 1800s, the Braves have long had the privilege of employing some of the best pitchers in baseball history. Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz continued the excellence of Warren Spahn and Phil Niekro, who became the organization’s first Modern Era pitchers to be elected to the Hall of Fame.

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Here is a look at the five best seasons produced by a Braves pitcher during the Modern Era:

1. Greg Maddux, 1995
Key stats: 19-2, 1.63 ERA, 28 starts, 209 2/3 innings, 10 complete games, three shutouts, 9.7 WAR (per Baseball-Reference model)

The initial challenging aspect of constructing this list was deciding whether to list 1994 or '95 as Maddux’s finest season. A strong argument can be made for either of these seasons, both of which were unfortunately shortened by a work stoppage.

Going back to 1900, there have been just four instances during which a pitcher has produced an ERA+ of 260 or greater while making at least 25 starts in a season. Pedro Martinez (291 in 2000) and Dutch Leonard (279 in 1914) account for two of those instances. Maddux accounts for the other two -- 260 ERA+ in 1995 and a 271 ERA+ in '94.

Looking simply at the 1.63 ERA in 1995, within the Division Era (since '69), there have been just two other instances when a pitcher has produced a better ERA while making at least 25 starts. Those were produced by Maddux (1.56 in 1994) and Dwight Gooden (1.53 in '85).

Maddux won his fourth consecutive Cy Young Award (second straight in unanimous fashion) in 1995 and posted a 2.84 ERA in five postseason starts. His two-hit complete game in Game 1 of the World Series was enough to deem this season greater than his other great ones.

2. Maddux, 1994
Key stats: 16-6, 1.56 ERA, 25 starts, 202 innings, 10 CG, 3 SO, 8.5 bWAR

As mentioned above, the 1.56 ERA and 271 ERA+ Maddux produced during this season rank within the four best ever produced by a pitcher with at least 25 starts in a season. He allowed five runs during a June 27 loss to the Expos and then constructed a 0.93 ERA over his final eight starts (68 innings).

Maddux surrendered just four home runs and limited opponents to a .259 slugging percentage. Both of these numbers are incredible when compared to what we’ve seen over the past 50 years.

Within the Division Era, Maddux is the only pitcher to allow as few as four home runs while completing at least 200 innings in a season. Joe Magrane (5 HR, 234 2/3 innings in 1989), Ken Brett (5 HR, 203 IP in '76) and Ron Reed (5 HR in 250 1/3 innings in '75) are the only other pitchers to allow five homers or less during this era.

Maddux (.258 in 1995 and .259 in '94) also accounts for two of the five lowest slugging percentages surrendered by a pitcher who has logged at least 200 innings in a season going back to '69. The others were produced by fellow Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan (.246 in 1972 and .256 in '77) and Pedro Martinez (.259 in 2000).

3. Warren Spahn, 1953
Key stats: 23-7, 2.10 ERA, 32 starts, 265 2/3 innings, 24 CGs, 5 shutouts, 8.8 bWAR

With 363 career wins, Spahn owns more wins than any pitcher born after the start of the 20th century. So, it’s also not necessarily easy to choose his finest season. The 17-time All-Star won his only Cy Young Award in 1957, but he led the NL in ERA three different times ('47, '53 and '61) over the course of three different decades.

So what makes 1953 his best season? Well, let’s start with the fact that he produced a career-best 188 ERA+. How much more dominant was he than everyone else while producing a 2.10 ERA that year? Well, Robin Roberts ranked second in the NL with a 2.75 ERA and Harvey Haddix’s 3.06 ERA ranked third.

The 1953 season was a memorable one for the Braves, who moved from Boston to Milwaukee a month before the season began. They never had much chance to catch the mighty Brooklyn Dodgers, who claimed 105 wins before losing to the Yankees in the World Series that year. But Spahn kept hope alive for the second-place Braves by posting a 1.51 ERA over his final 17 appearances (15 starts). He constructed a 1.40 ERA while going the distance in each of his final five starts.

Maddux and Spahn combine to account for each of the top five ERA+ marks produced by any Braves pitcher who has made at least 25 starts in a season dating back to 1900. The sixth-best mark was the 173 ERA+ Mike Soroka produced during his dazzling 2019 rookie season.

4. John Smoltz, 1996
Key stats: 24-8, 2.94 ERA, 35 starts, 253 2/3 innings, 6 CGs, 2 shutouts, 7.4 bWAR

How unique was Smoltz’s Cy Young Award season in comparison to most of the other great seasons we’ve seen over the past 40 years? Going back to 1969, there have been just 11 different pitchers who have tallied 20-plus wins, totaled 250-plus innings and recorded 250-plus strikeouts while producing a Fielding Independent Pitching mark below 2.65.

Smoltz became a member of this exclusive group nearly a quarter of a century ago. The only additions since then have been Roger Clemens (1997) and Curt Schilling (2002). But what’s really telling is the fact that this has been done a total of six times since 1980. The only pitchers to do so during the 1980s were Steve Carlton ('80 and '82) and Dwight Gooden ('85).

5. Tom Glavine, 1991
Key stats: 20-11, 2.55 ERA, 34 starts, 246 2/3 innings, 9 CGs, 1 shutout, 8.5 bWAR

When you look simply at stats, you could argue Maddux and Spahn both had multiple seasons better than Glavine’s 1991. You could even argue Glavine’s 1998 was better than his '91. But it’s hard to argue against the significance of what a 25-year-old Glavine did during that magical Worst-to-First Season.

On the way to claiming the first of two Cy Young Awards and notching the first of three straight 20-win seasons, Glavine put the Braves in position to overtake the Dodgers during the final weekend and claim the first of 14 consecutive division titles.

With Smoltz faltering through the season’s first half and Steve Avery continuing his on-the-job development, the Braves significantly benefited from Glavine posting a 1.89 ERA through his first 19 starts. He stumbled during a few late-season starts but righted himself in time to show he had the ability to be a big-game pitcher.

Four years before constructing his most memorable eight-inning masterpiece, Glavine limited the Reds to one earned run over eight innings of an Oct. 2 victory that pushed the Braves into a first-place tie with the Dodgers with three games remaining.