What years did John Costello play?

John Costello played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 1991.

Was John Costello a pitcher?

Yes. John Costello pitched in the major leagues, recording 11 wins and 104 strikeouts.

How many home runs did John Costello hit?

John Costello hit 0 career home runs.

What was John Costello's career batting average?

John Costello batted .000 over his career, with 0 hits in 12 at bats.

What was John Costello's career ERA?

John Costello finished with a 2.97 career ERA, going 11-6 with 104 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did John Costello have?

John Costello recorded 104 career strikeouts.

John Costello

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1988-1991)

John Costello was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 1991 for the St. Louis Cardinals, the Montreal Expos, and the San Diego Padres, a span of 4 seasons. Across 119 career appearances, he went 11-6 with a 2.97 ERA and 104 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 654.4.

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 12, 2026

W–L 11–6

ERA 2.97

WHIP 1.30

SO 104

Pitcher PIV 654.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'1" / 190 lb
Born: 12/24/1960 in Bronx, NY, USA
MLB Debut: 1988-06-02
Last Game: 1991-10-05

Full name: John Reilly Costello

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Career Pitching Statistics

John Costello — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
11	6	119	0	0	0	4	157.2	141	52	13	64	104	2.97	654.4

Career ERA 2.97 vs. league average 3.80 across their career seasons — 22.0% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Costello — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1988	SLN	NL	5	2	36	1	49.2	44	10	25	38	1.81	3.73 (+51%)	250.3
1989	SLN	NL	5	4	48	3	62.1	48	23	20	40	3.32	3.71 (+11%)	204.1
1990	SLN	NL	0	0	4	0	4.1	7	3	1	1	6.23	—	0.0
1990	MON	NL	0	0	4	0	6.1	5	4	1	1	5.68	—	0.0
1991	SDN	NL	1	0	27	0	35.0	37	12	17	24	3.09	3.91 (+21%)	200.0
Career · 5 seasons			11	6	119	4	157.2	141	52	64	104	2.97	—	654

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 Costello — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
119	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Career AVG .000 vs. league average .255 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 .381 across their career seasons — 100.0% below league average.

Career OPS .000 vs. league average .702 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 Costello — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1988	SLN	NL	36	5	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1989	SLN	NL	48	6	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	SLN	NL	4	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	MON	NL	4	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	SDN	NL	27	1	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 5 seasons			119	12	9	.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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (238 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

John Costello — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	62	6	0	0	0	0	.000
Away	57	6	0	0	0	0	.000

Pitching — Home / Away

John Costello — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	62	78.1	62	14	36	41	1.61
Away	57	79.1	79	38	28	63	4.31

Last 10 Games — Pitching

John Costello — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1991-10-05	SDP	CIN	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1
1991-09-28	SDP	CIN	—	2.0	1	0	0	0	3
1991-09-20	SDP	SFG	W	2.1	1	0	0	1	2
1991-09-18	SDP	ATL	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	0
1991-08-06	SDP	HOU	—	2.1	0	0	0	1	2
1991-08-04	SDP	ATL	—	0.1	3	2	2	0	0
1991-07-31	SDP	PHI	—	1.0	3	3	3	1	0
1991-07-27	SDP	NYN	—	3.0	0	0	0	2	0
1991-07-24	SDP	WSN	—	2.0	2	0	0	2	2
1991-07-20	SDP	PHI	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

John Costello — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	119	0	6	12	0	0

Season-by-Season Fielding

John Costello — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A
1988	SLN	P	36	3	3
1989	SLN	P	48	3	4
1990	SLN	P	4	0	0
1990	MON	P	4	0	0
1991	SDN	P	27	0	5

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

John Costello — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	119

Salary History

John Costello — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1990	SLN	NL	$105,000
1989	SLN	NL	$85,000
Total Career Earnings			$190,000

College History

John Costello — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
Mercyhurst College	Erie	PA	1980, 1981, 1982, 1983

John Costello: the record in brief

According to the bio, John Costello debuted on June 2, 1988 and played a final game on October 5, 1991. Club by club, the record runs the St. Louis Cardinals (1988 through 1990), the Montreal Expos (1990), and the San Diego Padres (1991). Costello, born on December 24, 1960, in Bronx, NY, USA, is listed as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. The bio gives 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds. The given name on file is John Reilly Costello.

Costello went 11-6 with a 2.97 ERA in 119 games, 0 of them starts. The same table counts 104 strikeouts. The leagues Costello pitched in allowed 3.80 earned runs per nine over those seasons, so the career ERA was 22.0% better than average. 1988 brought Costello a season-high 5 wins. 1988 was Costello's sharpest full season, a 1.81 ERA against the league's 3.73. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 654.4 for Costello's career.

Frequently Asked Questions about John Costello

What years did John Costello play?: John Costello played in Major League Baseball from 1988 to 1991.
Was John Costello a pitcher?: Yes. John Costello pitched in the major leagues, recording 11 wins and 104 strikeouts.
How many home runs did John Costello hit?: John Costello hit 0 career home runs.
What was John Costello's career batting average?: John Costello batted .000 over his career, with 0 hits in 12 at bats.
What was John Costello's career ERA?: John Costello finished with a 2.97 career ERA, going 11-6 with 104 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did John Costello have?: John Costello recorded 104 career strikeouts.