Jon Matlack

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1971-1983)

W–L 125–126
ERA 3.18
WHIP 1.23
SO 1,516
Pitcher PIV 38810.9
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'3" / 205 lb
Born
1/19/1950 in West Chester, PA, USA
MLB Debut
1971-07-11
Last Game
1983-09-15
Awards
3× All-Star · Rookie of the Year · All-Star Game MVP

Full name: Jonathan Trumpbour Matlack

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
125 126 361 318 97 30 3 2363.0 2,276 835 161 638 1,516 3.18 38810.9

Career ERA 3.18 vs. league average 3.72 across their career seasons — 14.4% 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
1971 NYN NL 0 3 7 6 0 0 0 37.0 31 17 15 24 4.14 3.47 (-19%) 369.0
1972 NYN NL 15 10 34 32 8 4 0 244.0 215 63 71 169 2.32 3.26 (+29%) 3887.2
1973 NYN NL 14 16 34 34 14 3 0 242.0 210 86 99 205 3.20 3.75 (+15%) 4846.0
1974 NYN NL 13 15 34 34 14 7 0 265.3 221 71 76 195 2.41 3.63 (+34%) 8472.6
1975 NYN NL 16 12 33 32 8 3 0 228.7 224 86 58 154 3.38 3.71 (+9%) 5050.2
1976 NYN NL 17 10 35 35 16 6 0 262.0 236 86 57 153 2.95 3.51 (+16%) 3240.1
1977 NYN NL 7 15 26 26 5 3 0 169.0 175 79 43 123 4.21 4.00 (-5%) 1992.5
1978 TEX AL 15 13 35 33 18 2 1 270.0 252 68 51 157 2.27 3.69 (+39%) 6981.8
1979 TEX AL 5 4 13 13 2 0 0 85.0 98 39 15 35 4.13 4.00 (-3%) 329.1
1980 TEX AL 10 10 35 34 8 1 1 234.7 265 96 48 142 3.68 3.84 (+4%) 4577.3
1981 TEX AL 4 7 17 16 1 1 0 104.3 101 48 41 43 4.14 3.58 (-16%) -1035.3
1982 TEX AL 7 7 33 14 1 0 1 147.7 158 58 37 78 3.53 3.86 (+8%) 676.9
1983 TEX AL 2 4 25 9 2 0 0 73.3 90 38 27 38 4.66 3.87 (-20%) -576.6
Career · 13 seasons 125 126 361 318 97 30 3 2,363.0 2,276 835 638 1,516 3.18 — 38,811

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
362 441 32 57 3 0 0 23 0 57 217 .129 .230 .136 .366 -3,059

Career AVG .129 vs. league average .258 across their career seasons — 49.9% below league average.

Career OBP .230 vs. league average .323 across their career seasons — 28.9% below league average.

Career SLG .136 vs. league average .379 across their career seasons — 64.1% below league average.

Career OPS .366 vs. league average .702 across their career seasons — 47.9% 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
1971 NYN NL 7 11 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 .273 — — — — 0.0
1972 NYN NL 34 78 6 10 1 0 0 2 0 10 44 .128 .243 (-47%) .310 (-27%) .353 (-60%) .664 (-45%) -490.9
1973 NYN NL 35 65 5 9 0 0 0 2 0 13 38 .138 .256 (-46%) .325 (-13%) .378 (-63%) .703 (-40%) -364.8
1974 NYN NL 34 79 3 8 0 0 0 8 0 5 34 .101 .256 (-61%) .324 (-53%) .369 (-73%) .693 (-63%) -776.3
1975 NYN NL 33 70 6 7 0 0 0 2 0 13 33 .100 .257 (-61%) .327 (-26%) .374 (-73%) .701 (-51%) -527.5
1976 NYN NL 35 88 10 17 1 0 0 9 0 8 35 .193 .255 (-24%) .320 (-16%) .360 (-43%) .681 (-31%) -380.3
1977 NYN NL 26 50 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 7 27 .060 .264 (-77%) .329 (-47%) .401 (-80%) .730 (-65%) -518.7
1978 TEX AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1979 TEX AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1980 TEX AL 35 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1981 TEX AL 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1982 TEX AL 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1983 TEX AL 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 362 441 32 57 3 0 0 23 0 57 217 .129 — — — — -3,059

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
4 6 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 3 .167

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1973 NLCS NYN 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 .000
1973 WS NYN 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 .250

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 2 4 4 0 25.7 12 4 8 20 1.40

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1973 NLCS NYN 1 0 1 1 0 9.0 2 0 3 9 0.00
1973 WS NYN 1 2 3 3 0 16.7 10 4 5 11 2.16

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (723 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1751851824010.130
Away1872561433013.129

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home1751178.010753482927912.66
Away1861185.012014883467253.71

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1983-09-15 TEXOAK — 2.0211120
1983-09-13 TEXOAK — 1.0200000
1983-09-05 TEXMIN — 0.1000000
1983-08-25 TEXKCR L 8.0833251
1983-08-19 TEXCHW — 1.0100010
1983-08-15 TEXBAL — 1.2211210
1983-08-07 TEXCLE L 3.2755051
1983-07-30 TEXBAL — 1.0000000
1983-07-22 TEXTOR — 0.2000100
1983-07-17 TEXNYY — 1.2322230

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 361 318 68 346 21 14

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1971 NYN P 7 6 1 2 0 0
1972 NYN P 34 32 8 33 1 1
1973 NYN P 34 34 4 40 1 3
1974 NYN P 34 34 5 40 0 1
1975 NYN P 33 32 3 28 3 1
1976 NYN P 35 35 10 35 1 0
1977 NYN P 26 26 4 27 1 1
1978 TEX P 35 33 17 42 5 2
1979 TEX P 13 13 3 16 2 1
1980 TEX P 35 34 5 25 4 0
1981 TEX P 17 16 2 20 2 0
1982 TEX P 33 14 4 24 0 1
1983 TEX P 25 9 2 14 1 3

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 361

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1975 All-Star Game MVP
1972 Rookie of the Year
1972 TSN Rookie Pitcher of the Year

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1976 Cy Young Award NL 6th 5.0 120 1
1972 Rookie of the Year NL 1st 19.0 24 19

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Jon Matlack (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Larry Dierker
    139-123, 3.31 ERA
  2. 74
    Mike Scott
    124-108, 3.54 ERA
  3. 74
    Gary Peters
    124-103, 3.25 ERA
  4. 68
    Joe Horlen
    116-117, 3.11 ERA
  5. 63
    Bill Singer
    118-127, 3.39 ERA
  6. 60
    Dennis Leonard
    144-106, 3.70 ERA

Compare Jon Matlack

Side-by-side career stat comparisons against Matlack's closest peers by position and era.

vs Tom Seaver
vs Gaylord Perry
vs Steve Carlton
vs Bert Blyleven
vs Don Sutton
vs Jerry Koosman

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See Jon Matlack in Another Era

What would Matlack's 1978 season look like in a different era's run environment? Try the cross-era translation with a live slider.

Translate Jon Matlack's peak season across eras →

Frequently Asked Questions about Jon Matlack

What years did Jon Matlack play?
Jon Matlack played in Major League Baseball from 1971 to 1983.
Was Jon Matlack a pitcher?
Yes. Jon Matlack pitched in the major leagues, recording 125 wins and 1516 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Jon Matlack hit?
Jon Matlack hit 0 career home runs with 57 hits.