What years did Josh James play?

Josh James played in Major League Baseball from 2018 to 2021.

Was Josh James a pitcher?

Yes. Josh James pitched in the major leagues, recording 8 wins and 158 strikeouts.

What was Josh James's career ERA?

Josh James finished with a 4.64 career ERA, going 8-1 with 158 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Josh James have?

Josh James recorded 158 career strikeouts.

Is Josh James in the Hall of Fame?

No. Josh James has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

What teams did Josh James play for?

Josh James played for the Houston Astros.

Josh James

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2018-2021)

Josh James was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2018 to 2021 for the Houston Astros, a span of 4 seasons. Across 73 career appearances, he went 8-1 with a 4.64 ERA and 158 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 56.4.

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 8–1

ERA 4.64

WHIP 1.32

SO 158

Pitcher PIV 56.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 234 lb
Born: 3/8/1993 in Hollywood, FL, USA
MLB Debut: 2018-09-01
Last Game: 2021-09-22

Full name: Joshua James

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Career Pitching Statistics

Josh James — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
8	1	73	6	0	0	1	106.2	80	55	18	61	158	4.64	56.4

Career ERA 4.64 vs. league average 4.32 across their career seasons — 7.4% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Josh James — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2018	HOU	AL	2	0	6	3	0	23.0	15	6	7	29	2.35	4.15 (+43%)	370.0
2019	HOU	AL	5	1	49	1	1	61.1	46	32	35	100	4.70	4.51 (-4%)	814.6
2020	HOU	AL	1	0	13	2	0	17.1	15	14	17	21	7.27	4.45 (-63%)	-1128.2
2021	HOU	AL	0	0	5	0	0	5.0	4	3	2	8	5.40	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			8	1	73	6	1	106.2	80	55	61	158	4.64	—	56

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

Josh James — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
73	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000	0

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Josh James — Season-by-Season Batting
Year	Team	Lg	G	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2018	HOU	AL	6	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2019	HOU	AL	49	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2020	HOU	AL	13	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2021	HOU	AL	5	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 4 seasons			73	—	—	—	—	—	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

Josh James — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Josh James — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
2020	ALCS	HOU	2	.000
2020	ALDS2	HOU	1	.000
2019	ALCS	HOU	4	.000
2019	ALDS1	HOU	2	.000
2019	WS	HOU	3	.000
2018	ALCS	HOU	2	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Josh James — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2	1	14	0	0	15.1	19	12	10	24	7.04

Playoff Pitching by Year

Josh James — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2020	ALCS	HOU	0	0	2	3.0	2	1	0	3	3.00
2020	ALDS2	HOU	0	0	1	1.0	3	3	1	0	27.00
2019	ALCS	HOU	1	0	4	3.2	3	2	3	7	4.91
2019	ALDS1	HOU	0	0	2	1.1	3	0	1	2	0.00
2019	WS	HOU	1	0	3	1.2	2	2	3	5	10.80
2018	ALCS	HOU	0	1	2	4.2	6	4	2	7	7.71

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (146 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Josh James — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	36	0	0	0	0	0	—
Away	37	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

Josh James — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	36	51.1	50	33	32	89	5.79
Away	37	55.1	30	22	29	69	3.58

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Josh James — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2021-09-22	HOU	LAA	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2021-09-21	HOU	LAA	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	1	0
2021-09-16	HOU	TEX	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2021-09-15	HOU	TEX	—	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	0
2021-09-04	HOU	SDP	—	1.0	3	2	2	1	3	1
2020-09-22	HOU	SEA	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2020-09-19	HOU	AZ	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2020-09-17	HOU	TEX	—	1.2	1	0	0	0	3	0
2020-09-16	HOU	TEX	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	2	0
2020-09-12	HOU	LAD	W	1.1	0	0	0	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Josh James — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	73	6	2	5	0	1

Season-by-Season Fielding

Josh James — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	DP
2018	HOU	P	6	3	0	1	0
2019	HOU	P	49	1	1	3	1
2020	HOU	P	13	2	1	1	0
2021	HOU	P	5	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Josh James — Career Games by Position
Position	Games
Pitcher	73

Josh James: the record in brief

Josh James's major league career runs from a debut on September 1, 2018 to a final game on September 22, 2021. James's only club in the season tables is the Houston Astros. James played primarily as a pitcher and both batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on March 8, 1993, in Hollywood, FL, USA and a listed size of 234 pounds on a 6-foot-3 frame. The given name on file is Joshua James.

James went 8-1 with a 4.64 ERA in 73 games, 6 of them starts. The same table counts 158 strikeouts. The league ERA over James's seasons was 4.32, so the 4.64 figure ran 7.4% worse than average. 2019 brought James a season-high 5 wins. 2019 was James's sharpest full season, a 4.70 ERA against the league's 4.51. By Pitcher PIV, Baseball Data Hub's measure of run prevention relative to each season's league, James's career adds up to 56.4.

Pitching in the playoffs, James went 2-1 with a 7.04 ERA in 14 games. Those appearances came in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

Retrosheet box scores cover 146 of James's games, and the full game log is linked from the splits section.

The position breakdown shows 73 games, all at pitcher. On the mound, James's fielding totals are 2 putouts, 5 assists and 0 errors.

Frequently Asked Questions about Josh James

What years did Josh James play?: Josh James played in Major League Baseball from 2018 to 2021.
Was Josh James a pitcher?: Yes. Josh James pitched in the major leagues, recording 8 wins and 158 strikeouts.
What was Josh James's career ERA?: Josh James finished with a 4.64 career ERA, going 8-1 with 158 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Josh James have?: Josh James recorded 158 career strikeouts.
Is Josh James in the Hall of Fame?: No. Josh James has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
What teams did Josh James play for?: Josh James played for the Houston Astros.