What years did John Axford play?

John Axford played in Major League Baseball from 2009 to 2021.

Was John Axford a pitcher?

Yes. John Axford pitched in the major leagues, recording 38 wins and 589 strikeouts.

How many home runs did John Axford hit?

John Axford hit 0 career home runs.

What were John Axford's career stats?

In 544 games, John Axford went 38-34 with a 3.90 ERA, 589 strikeouts, 525.2 innings pitched, and 144 saves.

What was John Axford's salary?

John Axford's last recorded salary was $4,500,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $5,000,000, in 2013, and his lowest was $442,500, in 2011. The Salary History table lists each season from 2011 to 2016.

What position did John Axford play?

John Axford played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was John Axford and how much did he weigh?

John Axford was listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 234 pounds.

What was John Axford's career ERA?

John Axford finished with a 3.90 career ERA, going 38-34 with 589 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did John Axford have?

John Axford recorded 589 career strikeouts.

Is John Axford in the Hall of Fame?

No. John Axford has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

John Axford

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2009-2021)

John Axford was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2009 to 2021 for 8 teams, including the Milwaukee Brewers, a span of 13 seasons. Across 544 career appearances, he went 38-34 with a 3.90 ERA, 589 strikeouts, and 144 saves. John Axford was a Reliever of the Year. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 4339.5.

W (Wins):: Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):: Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):: For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):: Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated October 24, 2026

W–L 38–34

ERA 3.90

WHIP 1.42

SO 589

Pitcher PIV 4339.5

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'5" / 234 lb
Born: 4/1/1983 in Simcoe, ON, CAN
MLB Debut: 2009-09-15
Last Game: 2021-08-02
Awards: Reliever of the Year

Full name: John Berton Axford

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Career Pitching Statistics

John Axford — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
38	34	544	1	0	0	144	525.2	485	228	50	261	589	3.90	4339.5

Career ERA 3.90 vs. league average 4.08 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Axford Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2009	MIL	NL	0	0	7	0	1	7.2	5	3	6	9	3.52	—	0.0
2010	MIL	NL	8	2	50	0	24	58.0	42	16	27	76	2.48	4.08 (+39%)	2859.8
2011	MIL	NL	2	2	74	0	46	73.2	59	16	25	86	1.95	3.94 (+50%)	2856.5
2012	MIL	NL	5	8	75	0	35	69.1	61	36	39	93	4.67	4.01 (-16%)	-80.5
2013	MIL	NL	6	7	62	0	0	54.2	62	27	23	54	4.45	3.87 (-15%)	-1232.6
2013	SLN	NL	1	0	13	0	0	10.1	11	2	3	11	1.74	3.87 (+55%)	462.2
2014	CLE	AL	2	3	49	0	10	43.2	34	19	30	51	3.92	3.74 (-5%)	-1060.8
2014	PIT	NL	0	1	13	0	0	11.0	9	5	6	12	4.09	3.74 (-9%)	242.8
2015	COL	NL	4	5	60	0	25	55.2	56	26	32	62	4.20	3.96 (-6%)	558.5
2016	OAK	AL	6	4	68	0	3	65.2	65	29	30	60	3.97	4.19 (+5%)	291.7
2017	OAK	AL	0	1	22	0	0	21.0	27	15	17	21	6.43	4.36 (-48%)	-719.8
2018	TOR	AL	4	1	45	1	0	51.0	44	25	20	50	4.41	4.15 (-6%)	161.7
2018	LAN	NL	0	0	5	0	0	3.2	8	7	2	4	17.18	—	0.0
2021	MIL	NL	0	0	1	0	0	0.1	2	2	1	0	54.00	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			38	34	544	1	144	525.2	485	228	261	589	3.90	—	4,340

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

John Axford — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
544	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .254 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OBP .000 vs. league average .321 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career SLG .000 vs. league average .407 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS .000 vs. league average .728 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Axford Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2009	MIL	NL	7	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2010	MIL	NL	50	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2011	MIL	NL	74	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2012	MIL	NL	75	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	MIL	NL	62	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	SLN	NL	13	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	CLE	AL	49	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	PIT	NL	13	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	COL	NL	60	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2016	OAK	AL	68	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2017	OAK	AL	22	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2018	TOR	AL	45	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2018	LAN	NL	5	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2021	MIL	NL	1	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 14 seasons			544	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

John Axford — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

John Axford — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
2013	NLCS	SLN	2	.000
2013	NLDS1	SLN	2	.000
2013	WS	SLN	2	.000
2011	NLCS	MIL	3	.000
2011	NLDS2	MIL	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

John Axford — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	0	12	0	3	12.2	7	2	6	18	1.42

Playoff Pitching by Year

John Axford — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2013	NLCS	SLN	0	2	0	2.0	2	1	1	4	4.50
2013	NLDS1	SLN	0	2	0	1.1	0	0	2	0	0.00
2013	WS	SLN	0	2	0	2.1	0	0	1	5	0.00
2011	NLCS	MIL	0	3	2	3.0	2	0	0	4	0.00
2011	NLDS2	MIL	1	3	1	4.0	3	1	2	5	2.25

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1088 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

John Axford — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	286	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Away	258	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

John Axford — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	286	278.2	273	124	119	298	4.00
Away	258	247.0	212	104	142	291	3.79

Last 10 Games — Pitching

John Axford — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2021-08-02	MIL	PIT	—	0.1	2	2	2	1	0	0
2018-09-21	LAD	SDP	—	0.0	3	2	1	0	0	0
2018-09-17	LAD	COL	—	0.1	1	0	0	0	0	0
2018-08-12	LAD	COL	—	2.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2018-08-10	LAD	COL	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0
2018-08-04	LAD	HOU	—	0.1	3	6	6	2	0	0
2018-07-28	TOR	CHW	—	3.0	1	0	0	0	3	0
2018-07-24	TOR	MIN	—	1.1	2	3	3	1	1	1
2018-07-22	TOR	BAL	W	1.0	3	2	2	1	2	0
2018-07-20	TOR	BAL	W	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

John Axford — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	544	1	20	57	6	4

Season-by-Season Fielding

John Axford — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
2009	MIL	P	7	0	1	0	0	0
2010	MIL	P	50	0	4	5	0	2
2011	MIL	P	74	0	1	7	2	1
2012	MIL	P	75	0	2	4	1	0
2013	MIL	P	62	0	1	3	0	0
2013	SLN	P	13	0	0	0	0	0
2014	CLE	P	49	0	0	4	0	0
2014	PIT	P	13	0	2	2	0	0
2015	COL	P	60	0	6	8	1	1
2016	OAK	P	68	0	2	11	0	0
2017	OAK	P	22	0	1	4	0	0
2018	TOR	P	45	1	0	7	2	0
2018	LAN	P	5	0	0	2	0	0
2021	MIL	P	1	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

John Axford Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	544

Awards & Honors

John Axford — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
2011	Reliever of the Month	July
2011	Reliever of the Year Award

Salary History

John Axford's recorded salaries total $17,567,500 over 6 seasons, 2011 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Axford's career ran from 2009 to 2021. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2009 and 2010.

John Axford — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2016	OAK	AL	$4,500,000
2015	COL	NL	$2,600,000
2014	CLE	AL	$4,500,000
2013	MIL	NL	$5,000,000
2012	MIL	NL	$525,000
2011	MIL	NL	$442,500
Total recorded salary (partial)			$17,567,500

College History

John Axford — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Canisius College	Buffalo	NY	2006
University of Notre Dame	South Bend	IN	2003, 2005

Award Voting History

John Axford — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max	Votes First
2011	Cy Young Award	NL	9th	2.0	224	0
2011	Most Valuable Player	NL	17th	7.0	448	0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

John Axford (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

John Axford: the record in brief

According to the bio, John Axford debuted on September 15, 2009 and played a final game on August 2, 2021. By club, Axford's seasons break down as the Milwaukee Brewers (2009 through 2021), the St. Louis Cardinals (2013), the Cleveland Indians (2014), the Pittsburgh Pirates (2014), the Colorado Rockies (2015), the Oakland Athletics (2016 through 2017), the Toronto Blue Jays (2018), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2018). Axford is listed as a pitcher at 234 pounds on a 6-foot-5 frame. The bio says Axford batted and threw right-handed. Axford was born on April 1, 1983, in Simcoe, ON, CAN. The given name on file is John Berton Axford.

Axford's career pitching line is 38 wins, 34 losses and a 3.90 ERA over 544 appearances. Axford had 589 strikeouts and 144 saves. Axford's 3.90 ERA was close to the 4.08 league figure for those seasons. Axford won 8 games in 2010, the most of any season listed. The strikeout high was 93 in 2012.

Frequently Asked Questions about John Axford

What years did John Axford play?: John Axford played in Major League Baseball from 2009 to 2021.
Was John Axford a pitcher?: Yes. John Axford pitched in the major leagues, recording 38 wins and 589 strikeouts.
How many home runs did John Axford hit?: John Axford hit 0 career home runs.
What teams did John Axford play for?: John Axford played for 8 teams: the Milwaukee Brewers (2009–2013, 2021), the St. Louis Cardinals (2013), the Cleveland Indians (2014), the Pittsburgh Pirates (2014), the Colorado Rockies (2015), the Oakland Athletics (2016–2017), the Toronto Blue Jays (2018), and the Los Angeles Dodgers (2018).
What were John Axford's career stats?: In 544 games, John Axford went 38-34 with a 3.90 ERA, 589 strikeouts, 525.2 innings pitched, and 144 saves.
How much did John Axford earn in his career?: John Axford's recorded salaries total $17,567,500 over 6 seasons, 2011 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Axford's career ran from 2009 to 2021. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2009 and 2010.
What was John Axford's salary?: John Axford's last recorded salary was $4,500,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $5,000,000, in 2013, and his lowest was $442,500, in 2011. The Salary History table lists each season from 2011 to 2016.
What position did John Axford play?: John Axford played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was John Axford and how much did he weigh?: John Axford was listed at 6 feet 5 inches and 234 pounds.
What was John Axford's career ERA?: John Axford finished with a 3.90 career ERA, going 38-34 with 589 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did John Axford have?: John Axford recorded 589 career strikeouts.
Is John Axford in the Hall of Fame?: No. John Axford has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.