Johnny Kucks

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1955-1960)

Johnny Kucks was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1960 for the New York Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics, a span of 6 seasons. Across 207 career appearances, he went 54-56 with a 4.10 ERA and 338 strikeouts. He also batted .110 with 0 home runs. Johnny Kucks was an All-Star.

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

W–L 54–56
ERA 4.10
WHIP 1.36
SO 338
Pitcher PIV -4575.7
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 170 lb
Born
7/27/1932 in Hoboken, NJ, USA
Died
10/31/2013 in Saddle River, NJ, USA
MLB Debut
1955-04-17
Last Game
1960-09-25
Awards
All-Star

Full name: John Charles Kucks

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Career Pitching Statistics

Johnny Kucks — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
54 56 207 123 30 7 7 938.1 970 427 91 308 338 4.10 -4575.7

Career ERA 4.10 vs. league average 3.90 across their career seasons — 5.1% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Kucks Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1955 NYA AL 8 7 29 13 3 1 0 126.2 122 48 44 49 3.41 4.00 (+15%) 1605.8
1956 NYA AL 18 9 34 31 12 3 0 224.1 223 96 72 67 3.85 3.96 (+3%) -28.8
1957 NYA AL 8 10 37 23 4 1 2 179.1 169 71 59 78 3.56 3.83 (+7%) 853.0
1958 NYA AL 8 8 34 15 4 1 4 126.0 132 55 39 46 3.93 3.86 (-2%) -1261.8
1959 NYA AL 0 1 9 1 0 0 0 16.2 21 16 9 9 8.64 3.90 (-121%) -1282.9
1959 KC1 AL 8 11 33 23 6 1 1 151.1 163 65 42 51 3.87 3.90 (+1%) 412.1
1960 KC1 AL 4 10 31 17 1 0 0 114.0 140 76 43 38 6.00 3.82 (-57%) -4873.0
Career · 7 seasons 54 56 207 123 30 7 7 938.1 970 427 308 338 4.10 — -4,576

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

Johnny Kucks — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
207 291 21 32 5 0 0 6 0 19 95 .110 .167 .127 .294 -1,572

Career AVG .110 vs. league average .257 across their career seasons — 57.3% below league average.

Career OBP .167 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 48.8% below league average.

Career SLG .127 vs. league average .393 across their career seasons — 67.6% below league average.

Career OPS .294 vs. league average .719 across their career seasons — 59.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Johnny Kucks — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1955 NYA AL 29 40 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 10 .050 — — — — 0.0
1956 NYA AL 34 77 7 11 1 0 0 1 0 7 25 .143 .258 (-45%) .331 (-33%) .397 (-61%) .728 (-48%) -579.8
1957 NYA AL 37 55 4 6 0 0 0 2 0 5 18 .109 .257 (-58%) .323 (-43%) .391 (-72%) .715 (-59%) -504.4
1958 NYA AL 34 40 2 5 2 0 0 2 0 3 9 .125 — — — — 0.0
1959 NYA AL 9 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
1959 KC1 AL 33 47 4 4 1 0 0 0 0 3 22 .085 — — — — 0.0
1960 KC1 AL 31 30 4 4 0 0 0 1 0 1 9 .133 — — — — 0.0
Career · 7 seasons 207 291 21 32 5 0 0 6 0 19 95 .110 — — — — -1,084

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

Johnny Kucks — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
8 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250

Playoff Batting by Year

Johnny Kucks — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1958 WS NYA 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000
1957 WS NYA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1956 WS NYA 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1955 WS NYA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

Johnny Kucks — Playoff Career Pitching
W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 0 8 1 0 19.0 15 4 6 4 1.89

Playoff Pitching by Year

Johnny Kucks — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1958 WS NYA 0 0 2 0 0 4.1 4 1 1 0 2.08
1957 WS NYA 0 0 1 0 0 0.2 1 0 1 1 0.00
1956 WS NYA 1 0 3 1 0 11.0 6 1 3 2 0.82
1955 WS NYA 0 0 2 0 0 3.0 4 2 1 1 6.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (414 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Johnny Kucks — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home100115101704.148
Away107176111502.085

Pitching — Home / Away

Johnny Kucks — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home100413.04331901371534.14
Away107524.25372371711844.07

Last 10 Games — Batting

Johnny Kucks — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1960-09-25 KC1DETL 100000000
1960-09-18 KC1CLEL 200000001
1960-09-11 KC1BALL 000000000
1960-09-07 KC1MINL 200000000
1960-09-01 KC1CLEL 101000100
1960-08-28 KC1BOSL 210000001
1960-08-24 KC1MINW 320000000
1960-08-19 KC1CHWL 000000000
1960-08-14 KC1CHWL 200000001
1960-08-09 KC1MINL 401000002

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Johnny Kucks — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1960-09-25 KC1DET — 4.0644013
1960-09-18 KC1CLE L 4.1974211
1960-09-11 KC1BAL — 0.1000000
1960-09-07 KC1MIN L 6.01054131
1960-09-01 KC1CLE L 4.0744101
1960-08-28 KC1BOS — 6.0733050
1960-08-24 KC1MIN W 7.1433410
1960-08-19 KC1CHW L 0.1211000
1960-08-14 KC1CHW L 6.01266000
1960-08-09 KC1MIN L 11.1833242

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Johnny Kucks — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 207 123 45 194 14 17

Season-by-Season Fielding

Johnny Kucks — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1955 NYA P 29 13 3 24 3 0
1956 NYA P 34 31 13 40 5 5
1957 NYA P 37 23 9 47 1 5
1958 NYA P 34 15 6 25 1 2
1959 NYA P 9 1 1 5 0 0
1959 KC1 P 33 23 10 31 1 4
1960 KC1 P 31 17 3 22 3 1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Johnny Kucks — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 207

Award Voting History

Johnny Kucks — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1956 Most Valuable Player AL 30th 2.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Johnny Kucks (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Randy Gumpert
    51-59, 4.17 ERA
  2. 88
    Nick Strincevich
    46-49, 4.05 ERA
  3. 78
    Wayne Garland
    55-66, 3.89 ERA
  4. 69
    Darltie Cooper
    70-56, 4.25 ERA
  5. 69
    John Cerutti
    49-43, 3.94 ERA
  6. 68
    Saul Rogovin
    48-48, 4.06 ERA

Johnny Kucks: the record in brief

The profile opens with Johnny Kucks's first major league game on April 17, 1955; the last one listed came on September 25, 1960. The team column moves through the New York Yankees (1955 through 1959) and the Kansas City Athletics (1959 to 1960). Kucks is listed as a pitcher at 6-foot-3 and 170 pounds. Kucks threw and hit right-handed, per the bio block. Kucks was born on July 27, 1932, in Hoboken, NJ, USA. The bio records the death on October 31, 2013, in Saddle River, NJ, USA. The bio lists the given name John Charles.

The pitching table credits Kucks with a 54-56 record and a 4.10 ERA in 207 games. Kucks had 338 strikeouts, 30 complete games, and 7 shutouts. The league ERA over Kucks's seasons was 3.90, so the 4.10 figure ran 5.1% worse than average. 1956 brought Kucks a season-high 18 wins. The strikeout high was 78 in 1957. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.56 in 1957, when the league's was 3.83.

Frequently Asked Questions about Johnny Kucks

What years did Johnny Kucks play?
Johnny Kucks played in Major League Baseball from 1955 to 1960.
Was Johnny Kucks a pitcher?
Yes. Johnny Kucks pitched in the major leagues, recording 54 wins and 338 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Johnny Kucks hit?
Johnny Kucks hit 0 career home runs with 32 hits.
What teams did Johnny Kucks play for?
Johnny Kucks played for 2 teams: the New York Yankees (1955–1959) and the Kansas City Athletics (1959–1960).
Did Johnny Kucks win a Cy Young Award?
No. Johnny Kucks did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Johnny Kucks win?
Johnny Kucks was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Johnny Kucks's career stats?
In 207 games, Johnny Kucks went 54-56 with a 4.10 ERA, 338 strikeouts, 938.1 innings pitched, and 7 saves. At the plate he had 32 hits and 0 home runs.
What position did Johnny Kucks play?
Johnny Kucks played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Johnny Kucks and how much did he weigh?
Johnny Kucks was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 170 pounds.
What was Johnny Kucks's career ERA?
Johnny Kucks finished with a 4.10 career ERA, going 54-56 with 338 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Johnny Kucks have?
Johnny Kucks recorded 338 career strikeouts.
Is Johnny Kucks in the Hall of Fame?
No. Johnny Kucks has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
How many All-Star Games did Johnny Kucks make?
Johnny Kucks was selected to 1 All-Star Game.