Joe Nathan

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1999-2016)

W–L 64–34
ERA 2.87
WHIP 1.12
SO 976
Pitcher PIV 22319.3
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'4" / 230 lb
Born
11/22/1974 in Houston, TX, USA
MLB Debut
1999-04-21
Last Game
2016-09-27
Awards
6× All-Star

Full name: Joseph Michael Nathan

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
64 34 787 29 0 0 377 923.3 690 294 84 344 976 2.87 22319.3

Career ERA 2.87 vs. league average 4.27 across their career seasons — 32.8% 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
1999 SFN NL 7 4 19 14 0 0 1 90.3 84 42 46 54 4.18 4.71 (+11%) -2794.3
2000 SFN NL 5 2 20 15 0 0 0 93.3 89 54 63 61 5.21 4.77 (-9%) -2059.1
2002 SFN NL 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 3.7 1 0 0 2 0.00 — 0.0
2003 SFN NL 12 4 78 0 0 0 0 79.0 51 26 33 83 2.96 4.40 (+33%) 1907.7
2004 MIN AL 1 2 73 0 0 0 44 72.3 48 13 23 89 1.62 4.46 (+64%) 4221.4
2005 MIN AL 7 4 69 0 0 0 43 70.0 46 21 22 94 2.70 4.29 (+37%) 3701.7
2006 MIN AL 7 0 64 0 0 0 36 68.3 38 12 16 95 1.58 4.53 (+65%) 4926.0
2007 MIN AL 4 2 68 0 0 0 37 71.7 54 15 19 77 1.88 4.47 (+58%) 3308.1
2008 MIN AL 1 2 68 0 0 0 39 67.7 43 10 18 74 1.33 4.32 (+69%) 2627.2
2009 MIN AL 2 2 70 0 0 0 47 68.7 42 16 22 89 2.10 4.32 (+51%) 2512.4
2011 MIN AL 2 1 48 0 0 0 14 44.7 38 24 14 43 4.84 3.94 (-23%) -376.0
2012 TEX AL 3 5 66 0 0 0 37 64.3 55 20 13 78 2.80 4.01 (+30%) 2005.7
2013 TEX AL 6 2 67 0 0 0 43 64.7 36 10 22 73 1.39 3.87 (+64%) 2631.4
2014 DET AL 5 4 62 0 0 0 35 58.0 60 31 29 54 4.81 3.74 (-29%) -292.8
2015 DET AL 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0.3 0 0 0 1 0.00 — 0.0
2016 CHN NL 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 2.0 2 0 2 4 0.00 — 0.0
2016 SFN NL 1 0 7 0 0 0 0 4.3 3 0 2 5 0.00 — 0.0
Career · 17 seasons 64 34 787 29 0 0 377 923.1 690 294 344 976 2.87 — 22,319

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
787 63 4 10 3 0 2 4 0 3 17 .159 .194 .302 .496 0

Career AVG .159 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — 39.3% below league average.

Career OBP .194 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — 41.1% below league average.

Career SLG .302 vs. league average .416 across their career seasons — 27.5% below league average.

Career OPS .496 vs. league average .745 across their career seasons — 33.5% 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
1999 SFN NL 19 28 1 5 1 0 0 1 0 2 6 .179 — — — — 0.0
2000 SFN NL 20 32 3 5 2 0 2 3 0 1 9 .156 — — — — 0.0
2002 SFN NL 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2003 SFN NL 78 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
2004 MIN AL 73 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2005 MIN AL 69 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2006 MIN AL 64 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
2007 MIN AL 68 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2008 MIN AL 68 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2009 MIN AL 70 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2011 MIN AL 48 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2012 TEX AL 66 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2013 TEX AL 67 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2014 DET AL 62 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2015 DET AL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2016 CHN NL 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2016 SFN NL 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 17 seasons 787 63 4 10 3 0 2 4 0 3 17 .159 — — — — 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

G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2014 ALDS2 DET 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2012 ALWC TEX 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2009 ALDS1 MIN 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2006 ALDS2 MIN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2004 ALDS2 MIN 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2003 NLDS1 SFN 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
0 2 10 0 1 10.0 14 9 8 12 8.10

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2014 ALDS2 DET 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 1 0.00
2012 ALWC TEX 0 0 1 0 0 1.0 2 2 1 1 18.00
2009 ALDS1 MIN 0 0 2 0 0 2.0 5 2 1 2 9.00
2006 ALDS2 MIN 0 0 1 0 0 0.7 1 0 0 1 0.00
2004 ALDS2 MIN 0 1 3 0 1 5.0 2 2 5 6 3.60
2003 NLDS1 SFN 0 1 2 0 0 0.3 4 3 1 1 81.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1570 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home422272612.222
Away363362412.111

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home422495.23391351755472.45
Away363425.23481591694273.36

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
2016-09-27 SFGCOL — 0.1000010
2016-09-23 SFGSDP — 1.0000010
2016-09-18 SFGSTL — 0.1000000
2016-09-14 SFGSDP — 0.2000210
2016-09-09 SFGAZ W 1.0100010
2016-09-07 SFGCOL — 0.0200000
2016-09-04 SFGCHC — 1.0000010
2016-07-31 CHCSEA — 0.0100100
2016-07-26 CHCCHW — 1.0000010
2016-07-24 CHCMIL W 1.0100130

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 787 29 50 82 7 6

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1999 SFN P 19 14 3 11 0 0
2000 SFN P 20 15 8 11 0 0
2002 SFN P 4 0 0 2 0 0
2003 SFN P 78 0 4 5 0 1
2004 MIN P 73 0 1 6 0 1
2005 MIN P 69 0 2 6 1 0
2006 MIN P 64 0 3 5 2 1
2007 MIN P 68 0 1 3 1 0
2008 MIN P 68 0 3 6 1 1
2009 MIN P 70 0 5 6 1 1
2011 MIN P 48 0 5 4 0 0
2012 TEX P 66 0 3 4 1 1
2013 TEX P 67 0 5 7 0 0
2014 DET P 62 0 6 6 0 0
2015 DET P 1 0 0 0 0 0
2016 CHN P 3 0 0 0 0 0
2016 SFN P 7 0 1 0 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 787

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
2013 Reliever of the Month June
2009 Reliever of the Month June
2008 Reliever of the Month July
2006 Reliever of the Month July
2005 Player of the Week Week of 2005-07-02
2005 TSN All-Star RP
2004 Player of the Week Week of 2004-05-15
2004 TSN Reliever of the Year

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2015 DET AL $10,000,000
2014 DET AL $9,000,000
2013 TEX AL $8,000,000
2012 TEX AL $7,000,000
2011 MIN AL $11,250,000
2010 MIN AL $11,250,000
2009 MIN AL $11,250,000
2008 MIN AL $6,000,000
2007 MIN AL $5,250,000
2006 MIN AL $3,750,000
2005 MIN AL $2,100,000
2004 MIN AL $440,000
2003 SFN NL $300,000
2000 SFN NL $225,000
1999 SFN NL $200,000
Total Career Earnings $86,015,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Stony Brook University Stony Brook NY 1993, 1994, 1995

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
2006 Cy Young Award AL 5th 3.0 140 0
2006 Most Valuable Player AL 18th 6.0 392 0
2004 Cy Young Award AL 4th 1.0 140 0
2004 Most Valuable Player AL 12th 12.0 392 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Joe Nathan (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    John Wetteland
    48-45, 2.93 ERA
  2. 94
    Francisco Rodriguez
    52-53, 2.86 ERA
  3. 93
    Troy Percival
    35-43, 3.17 ERA
  4. 92
    Tom Henke
    41-42, 2.67 ERA
  5. 88
    Robb Nen
    45-42, 2.98 ERA
  6. 80
    Bruce Sutter HOF
    68-71, 2.83 ERA

Compare Joe Nathan

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

vs Mariano Rivera
vs Billy Wagner
vs Trevor Hoffman
vs David Robertson
vs Kelvim Escobar
vs Jonathan Papelbon

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Nathan

What years did Joe Nathan play?
Joe Nathan played in Major League Baseball from 1999 to 2016.
Was Joe Nathan a pitcher?
Yes. Joe Nathan pitched in the major leagues, recording 64 wins and 976 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Nathan hit?
Joe Nathan hit 2 career home runs with 10 hits.