John Candelaria

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1975-1993)

W–L 177–122
ERA 3.33
WHIP 1.18
SO 1,673
Pitcher PIV 28405.1
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'7" / 230 lb
Born
11/6/1953 in New York, NY, USA
MLB Debut
1975-06-08
Last Game
1993-07-07
Awards
All-Star

Full name: John Robert Candelaria

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
177 122 600 356 54 13 29 2525.7 2,399 935 245 592 1,673 3.33 28405.1

Career ERA 3.33 vs. league average 3.86 across their career seasons — 13.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1975 PIT NL 8 6 18 18 4 1 0 120.7 95 37 36 95 2.76 3.71 (+26%) 2756.3
1976 PIT NL 16 7 32 31 11 4 1 220.0 173 77 60 138 3.15 3.51 (+10%) -51.3
1977 PIT NL 20 5 33 33 6 1 0 230.7 197 60 50 133 2.34 4.00 (+41%) 621.9
1978 PIT NL 12 11 30 29 3 1 1 189.0 191 68 49 94 3.24 3.69 (+12%) 1020.8
1979 PIT NL 14 9 33 30 8 0 0 207.0 201 74 41 101 3.22 4.00 (+20%) 204.9
1980 PIT NL 11 14 35 34 7 0 1 233.3 246 104 50 97 4.01 3.84 (-4%) 2808.8
1981 PIT NL 2 2 6 6 0 0 0 40.7 42 16 11 14 3.54 3.58 (+1%) -100.3
1982 PIT NL 12 7 31 30 1 1 1 174.7 166 57 37 133 2.94 3.86 (+24%) 4512.3
1983 PIT NL 15 8 33 32 2 0 0 197.7 191 71 45 157 3.23 3.87 (+17%) 5173.6
1984 PIT NL 12 11 33 28 3 1 2 185.3 179 56 34 133 2.72 3.81 (+29%) 2783.8
1985 PIT NL 2 4 37 0 0 0 9 54.3 57 22 14 47 3.64 3.89 (+6%) 599.0
1985 CAL AL 7 3 13 13 1 1 0 71.0 70 30 24 53 3.80 3.89 (+2%) 503.5
1986 CAL AL 10 2 16 16 1 1 0 91.7 68 26 26 81 2.55 3.97 (+36%) 3391.2
1987 CAL AL 8 6 20 20 0 0 0 116.7 127 61 20 74 4.71 4.29 (-10%) 766.9
1987 NYN NL 2 0 3 3 0 0 0 12.3 17 8 3 10 5.84 4.29 (-36%) 389.6
1988 NYA AL 13 7 25 24 6 2 1 157.0 150 59 23 121 3.38 3.73 (+9%) 2179.4
1989 NYA AL 3 3 10 6 1 0 0 49.0 49 28 12 37 5.14 3.71 (-39%) -489.3
1989 MON NL 0 2 12 0 0 0 0 16.3 17 6 4 14 3.31 3.71 (+11%) -188.1
1990 MIN AL 7 3 34 1 0 0 4 58.3 55 22 9 44 3.39 3.86 (+12%) 137.2
1990 TOR AL 0 3 13 2 0 0 1 21.3 32 13 11 19 5.48 3.86 (-42%) -113.4
1991 LAN NL 1 1 59 0 0 0 2 33.7 31 14 11 38 3.74 3.91 (+4%) 995.2
1992 LAN NL 2 5 50 0 0 0 5 25.3 20 8 13 23 2.84 3.75 (+24%) 461.9
1993 PIT NL 0 3 24 0 0 0 1 19.7 25 18 9 17 8.24 4.19 (-97%) 41.3
Career · 23 seasons 177 122 600 356 54 13 29 2,525.2 2,399 935 592 1,673 3.33 — 28,405

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
603 596 39 104 20 3 1 48 0 44 162 .174 .233 .223 .456 -2,906

Career AVG .174 vs. league average .259 across their career seasons — 32.7% below league average.

Career OBP .233 vs. league average .325 across their career seasons — 28.4% below league average.

Career SLG .223 vs. league average .387 across their career seasons — 42.3% below league average.

Career OPS .456 vs. league average .712 across their career seasons — 36.0% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1975 PIT NL 18 43 2 6 0 0 0 2 0 3 12 .140 — — — — 0.0
1976 PIT NL 32 76 5 14 2 1 0 5 0 7 17 .184 .255 (-28%) .320 (-21%) .360 (-34%) .681 (-28%) -320.3
1977 PIT NL 33 80 5 18 3 2 0 11 0 4 18 .225 .264 (-15%) .329 (-20%) .401 (-22%) .730 (-21%) -289.4
1978 PIT NL 31 52 6 9 3 0 0 1 0 9 19 .173 .257 (-33%) .323 (-2%) .378 (-39%) .702 (-22%) -139.7
1979 PIT NL 33 68 0 9 4 0 0 6 0 1 18 .132 .265 (-50%) .329 (-56%) .397 (-52%) .727 (-54%) -595.7
1980 PIT NL 35 77 5 15 3 0 0 7 0 4 14 .195 .264 (-26%) .326 (-29%) .387 (-40%) .714 (-35%) -431.3
1981 PIT NL 6 13 0 3 0 0 0 3 0 0 1 .231 — — — — 0.0
1982 PIT NL 33 54 6 12 2 0 0 9 0 6 20 .222 .261 (-15%) .324 (-9%) .388 (-33%) .712 (-22%) -181.9
1983 PIT NL 33 65 4 9 1 0 0 2 0 5 17 .138 .260 (-47%) .324 (-38%) .389 (-60%) .714 (-50%) -509.2
1984 PIT NL 33 62 6 8 2 0 1 2 0 4 25 .129 .259 (-50%) .322 (-44%) .384 (-46%) .707 (-45%) -438.3
1985 PIT NL 37 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 CAL AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 CAL AL 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 CAL AL 20 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 NYN NL 3 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 — — — — 0.0
1988 NYA AL 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 NYA AL 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1989 MON NL 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 MIN AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1990 TOR AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1991 LAN NL 59 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1992 LAN NL 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1993 PIT NL 24 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 23 seasons 603 596 39 104 20 3 1 48 0 44 162 .174 — — — — -2,906

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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
6 9 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 .111

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1986 ALCS CAL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1979 NLCS PIT 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000
1979 WS PIT 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333
1975 NLCS PIT 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 6 6 0 34.3 33 11 11 29 2.88

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1986 ALCS CAL 1 1 2 2 0 10.7 11 1 6 7 0.84
1979 NLCS PIT 0 0 1 1 0 7.0 5 2 1 4 2.57
1979 WS PIT 1 1 2 2 0 9.0 14 5 2 4 5.00
1975 NLCS PIT 0 0 1 1 0 7.7 3 3 2 14 3.52

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1203 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home2992821948124.170
Away3043142056024.178

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home2981321.012585033299033.43
Away3021204.211414322637703.23

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1993-07-07 PITHOU — 0.1000010
1993-07-04 PITCIN — 0.1100000
1993-06-30 PITWSN — 1.0000000
1993-06-28 PITWSN — 0.1000000
1993-06-25 PITPHI L 1.0122111
1993-06-23 PITCHC — 1.0100000
1993-06-21 PITCHC — 1.0000000
1993-06-13 PITMIA — 0.2111110
1993-06-11 PITMIA — 1.0433020
1993-06-02 PITCOL — 0.1000010

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 600 356 58 339 11 16

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1975 PIT P 18 18 3 13 4 0
1976 PIT P 32 31 3 31 0 2
1977 PIT P 33 33 6 30 1 3
1978 PIT P 30 29 4 25 0 0
1979 PIT P 33 30 2 36 0 3
1980 PIT P 35 34 8 38 2 3
1981 PIT P 6 6 1 7 0 1
1982 PIT P 31 30 1 23 1 1
1983 PIT P 33 32 5 20 0 1
1984 PIT P 33 28 3 21 0 1
1985 PIT P 37 0 1 8 1 0
1985 CAL P 13 13 2 8 1 0
1986 CAL P 16 16 3 10 0 0
1987 CAL P 20 20 4 23 0 1
1987 NYN P 3 3 2 1 0 0
1988 NYA P 25 24 4 22 0 0
1989 NYA P 10 6 1 6 0 0
1989 MON P 12 0 1 1 1 0
1990 MIN P 34 1 3 3 0 0
1990 TOR P 13 2 1 6 0 0
1991 LAN P 59 0 0 2 0 0
1992 LAN P 50 0 0 5 0 0
1993 PIT P 24 0 0 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 600

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1986 TSN Comeback Player of the Year
1982 Pitcher of the Month July
1982 Player of the Week Week of 1982-07-23
1977 Player of the Week Week of 1977-09-30
1976 Player of the Week Week of 1976-08-13

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1993 PIT NL $760,000
1992 LAN NL $1,250,000
1991 LAN NL $830,000
1990 MIN AL $500,000
1989 NYA AL $800,000
1988 NYA AL $700,000
1987 CAL AL $800,000
1986 CAL AL $800,000
1985 CAL AL $612,500
Total Career Earnings $7,052,500

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1977 Cy Young Award NL 5th 17.0 120 1
1977 Most Valuable Player NL 18th 8.0 336 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 Candelaria (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Harvey Haddix
    136-113, 3.63 ERA
  2. 90
    Nelson Briles
    129-112, 3.44 ERA
  3. 90
    Larry Jackson
    194-183, 3.40 ERA
  4. 90
    Jimmy Key
    186-117, 3.51 ERA
  5. 89
    Sonny Siebert
    140-114, 3.21 ERA
  6. 88
    Mike Cuellar
    185-130, 3.14 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about John Candelaria

What years did John Candelaria play?
John Candelaria played in Major League Baseball from 1975 to 1993.
Was John Candelaria a pitcher?
Yes. John Candelaria pitched in the major leagues, recording 177 wins and 1673 strikeouts.
How many home runs did John Candelaria hit?
John Candelaria hit 1 career home runs with 104 hits.