Joe Saunders

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2005-2014)

W–L 89–86
ERA 4.37
WHIP 1.42
SO 792
Pitcher PIV -16348.2
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'3" / 215 lb
Born
6/16/1981 in Falls Church, VA, USA
MLB Debut
2005-08-16
Last Game
2014-09-26
Awards
All-Star

Full name: Joseph Francis Saunders

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
89 86 235 229 9 3 0 1387.3 1,533 674 179 439 792 4.37 -16348.2

Career ERA 4.37 vs. league average 4.16 across their career seasons — 5.2% worse 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
2005 LAA AL 0 0 2 2 0 0 0 9.3 10 8 4 4 7.71 4.29 (-80%) 0.0
2006 LAA AL 7 3 13 13 0 0 0 70.7 71 37 29 51 4.71 4.53 (-4%) 799.6
2007 LAA AL 8 5 18 18 0 0 0 107.3 129 53 34 69 4.44 4.47 (+1%) 572.2
2008 LAA AL 17 7 31 31 1 0 0 198.0 187 75 53 103 3.41 4.32 (+21%) -200.7
2009 LAA AL 16 7 31 31 1 1 0 186.0 202 95 64 101 4.60 4.32 (-6%) -3930.3
2010 LAA AL 6 10 20 20 2 1 0 120.7 135 62 45 64 4.62 4.08 (-13%) -1781.1
2010 ARI NL 3 7 13 13 1 0 0 82.7 97 39 19 50 4.25 4.08 (-4%) -731.8
2011 ARI NL 12 13 33 33 1 0 0 212.0 210 87 67 108 3.69 3.94 (+6%) -4414.7
2012 ARI NL 6 10 21 21 1 1 0 130.0 146 61 31 89 4.22 4.01 (-5%) -560.3
2012 BAL AL 3 3 7 7 0 0 0 44.7 49 18 8 23 3.63 4.01 (+10%) 279.8
2013 SEA AL 11 16 32 32 2 0 0 183.0 232 107 61 107 5.26 3.87 (-36%) -3909.4
2014 TEX AL 0 5 8 8 0 0 0 39.7 62 27 20 22 6.13 3.74 (-64%) -2471.7
2014 BAL AL 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 3.3 3 5 4 1 13.50 — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 89 86 235 229 9 3 0 1,387.1 1,533 674 439 792 4.37 — -16,348

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
236 128 3 17 1 0 0 6 1 6 34 .133 .170 .141 .311 -376

Career AVG .133 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 48.9% below league average.

Career OBP .170 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 47.8% below league average.

Career SLG .141 vs. league average .410 across their career seasons — 65.7% below league average.

Career OPS .311 vs. league average .736 across their career seasons — 57.8% 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
2005 LAA AL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2006 LAA AL 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2007 LAA AL 18 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2008 LAA AL 31 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
2009 LAA AL 31 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2010 LAA AL 20 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2010 ARI NL 13 23 0 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 8 .087 — — — — 0.0
2011 ARI NL 33 61 2 12 1 0 0 4 0 2 15 .197 .255 (-23%) .320 (-31%) .399 (-47%) .719 (-40%) -376.5
2012 ARI NL 21 35 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 3 7 .086 — — — — 0.0
2012 BAL AL 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2013 SEA AL 33 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 — — — — 0.0
2014 TEX AL 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
2014 BAL AL 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 236 128 3 17 1 0 0 6 1 6 34 .133 — — — — -376

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
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
2012 ALDS1 BAL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2012 ALWC BAL 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2011 NLDS2 ARI 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000
2009 ALCS LAA 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
2008 ALDS1 LAA 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1 1 6 6 0 29.3 32 14 17 17 4.30

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2012 ALDS1 BAL 0 0 1 1 0 5.7 3 1 4 5 1.59
2012 ALWC BAL 1 0 1 1 0 5.7 6 1 1 4 1.59
2011 NLDS2 ARI 0 0 1 1 0 3.0 5 3 2 1 9.00
2009 ALCS LAA 0 1 2 2 0 10.3 13 5 6 5 4.35
2008 ALDS1 LAA 0 0 1 1 0 4.7 5 4 4 2 7.71

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (471 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home116562903.161
Away120721803.111

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home115687.07773571994014.68
Away120700.17563172403914.07

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
2014-09-26 BALTOR — 1.0000000
2014-09-25 BALNYY — 1.0000100
2014-09-22 BALNYY — 0.1000010
2014-09-10 BALBOS — 0.1355201
2014-09-07 BALTBR — 0.0000100
2014-09-05 BALTBR — 0.2000000
2014-06-30 TEXBAL L 5.0977224
2014-06-25 TEXDET L 4.0766521
2014-06-20 TEXLAA L 4.21074331
2014-06-14 TEXSEA — 6.0822030

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 235 229 60 227 5 18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
2005 LAA P 2 2 0 0 0 0
2006 LAA P 13 13 1 10 0 3
2007 LAA P 18 18 3 14 0 0
2008 LAA P 31 31 8 33 0 3
2009 LAA P 31 31 7 24 1 3
2010 LAA P 20 20 2 35 1 1
2010 ARI P 13 13 4 11 0 0
2011 ARI P 33 33 13 36 0 2
2012 ARI P 21 21 11 17 1 1
2012 BAL P 7 7 1 6 0 1
2013 SEA P 32 32 8 35 1 3
2014 TEX P 8 8 2 5 1 1
2014 BAL P 6 0 0 1 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 235

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
2013 SEA AL $6,000,000
2012 ARI NL $6,000,000
2011 ARI NL $5,500,000
2010 LAA AL $3,700,000
2009 LAA AL $475,000
2008 LAA AL $425,000
2007 LAA AL $380,000
Total Career Earnings $22,480,000

College History

School Name City State Years Attended
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg VA 2000, 2001, 2002

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

  1. 98
    Paul Maholm
    77-100, 4.30 ERA
  2. 97
    Clayton Richard
    69-84, 4.51 ERA
  3. 94
    Tim Leary
    78-105, 4.36 ERA
  4. 92
    Kris Benson
    70-75, 4.42 ERA
  5. 92
    Mark Clark
    74-71, 4.61 ERA
  6. 91
    Kyle Kendrick
    81-83, 4.68 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about Joe Saunders

What years did Joe Saunders play?
Joe Saunders played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2014.
Was Joe Saunders a pitcher?
Yes. Joe Saunders pitched in the major leagues, recording 89 wins and 792 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Joe Saunders hit?
Joe Saunders hit 0 career home runs with 17 hits.