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.

What was Joe Saunders's career batting average?

Joe Saunders batted .133 over his career, with 17 hits in 128 at bats.

How many RBI did Joe Saunders have?

Joe Saunders drove in 6 runs in his career.

What was Joe Saunders's career ERA?

Joe Saunders finished with a 4.37 career ERA, going 89-86 with 792 strikeouts.

Joe Saunders

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

Joe Saunders was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2005 to 2014 for 5 teams, including the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, a span of 10 seasons. Across 235 career appearances, he went 89-86 with a 4.37 ERA and 792 strikeouts. Joe Saunders 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 October 12, 2026

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

Joe Saunders — 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	1387.1	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.

Joe Saunders Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2005	LAA	AL	0	0	2	2	0	0	9.1	10	8	4	4	7.71	4.29 (-80%)	0.0
2006	LAA	AL	7	3	13	13	0	0	70.2	71	37	29	51	4.71	4.53 (-4%)	799.6
2007	LAA	AL	8	5	18	18	0	0	107.1	129	53	34	69	4.44	4.47 (+1%)	572.2
2008	LAA	AL	17	7	31	31	1	0	198.0	187	75	53	103	3.41	4.32 (+21%)	-200.7
2009	LAA	AL	16	7	31	31	1	1	186.0	202	95	64	101	4.60	4.32 (-6%)	-3930.3
2010	LAA	AL	6	10	20	20	2	1	120.2	135	62	45	64	4.62	4.08 (-13%)	-1781.1
2010	ARI	NL	3	7	13	13	1	0	82.2	97	39	19	50	4.25	4.08 (-4%)	-731.8
2011	ARI	NL	12	13	33	33	1	0	212.0	210	87	67	108	3.69	3.94 (+6%)	-4414.7
2012	ARI	NL	6	10	21	21	1	1	130.0	146	61	31	89	4.22	4.01 (-5%)	-560.3
2012	BAL	AL	3	3	7	7	0	0	44.2	49	18	8	23	3.63	4.01 (+10%)	279.8
2013	SEA	AL	11	16	32	32	2	0	183.0	232	107	61	107	5.26	3.87 (-36%)	-3909.4
2014	TEX	AL	0	5	8	8	0	0	39.2	62	27	20	22	6.13	3.74 (-64%)	-2471.7
2014	BAL	AL	0	0	6	0	0	0	3.1	3	5	4	1	13.50	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			89	86	235	229	9	3	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

Joe Saunders — 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.

Joe Saunders Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	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	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2006	LAA	AL	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2007	LAA	AL	18	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2008	LAA	AL	31	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2009	LAA	AL	31	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2010	LAA	AL	20	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2010	ARI	NL	13	23	0	2	0	1	1	1	8	.087	—	—	—	—	0.0
2011	ARI	NL	33	61	2	12	1	4	0	2	15	.197	.255 (-23%)	.320 (-31%)	.399 (-47%)	.719 (-40%)	-376.5
2012	ARI	NL	21	35	1	3	0	1	0	3	7	.086	—	—	—	—	0.0
2012	BAL	AL	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	SEA	AL	33	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	TEX	AL	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	BAL	AL	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			236	128	3	17	1	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

Joe Saunders — 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

Joe Saunders — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	BB	AVG
2012	ALDS1	BAL	1	0	.000
2012	ALWC	BAL	1	0	.000
2011	NLDS2	ARI	1	1	.000
2009	ALCS	LAA	2	0	.000
2008	ALDS1	LAA	1	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Joe Saunders — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1	1	6	6	0	29.1	32	14	17	17	4.30

Playoff Pitching by Year

Joe Saunders — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2012	ALDS1	BAL	0	0	1	1	5.2	3	1	4	5	1.59
2012	ALWC	BAL	1	0	1	1	5.2	6	1	1	4	1.59
2011	NLDS2	ARI	0	0	1	1	3.0	5	3	2	1	9.00
2009	ALCS	LAA	0	1	2	2	10.1	13	5	6	5	4.35
2008	ALDS1	LAA	0	0	1	1	4.2	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

Joe Saunders — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	116	56	2	9	0	3	.161
Away	120	72	1	8	0	3	.111

Pitching — Home / Away

Joe Saunders — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	115	687.0	777	357	199	401	4.68
Away	120	700.1	756	317	240	391	4.07

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Joe Saunders — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2014-09-26	BAL	TOR	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2014-09-25	BAL	NYY	—	1.0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2014-09-22	BAL	NYY	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
2014-09-10	BAL	BOS	—	0.1	3	5	5	2	0	1
2014-09-07	BAL	TBR	—	0.0	0	0	0	1	0	0
2014-09-05	BAL	TBR	—	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	0
2014-06-30	TEX	BAL	L	5.0	9	7	7	2	2	4
2014-06-25	TEX	DET	L	4.0	7	6	6	5	2	1
2014-06-20	TEX	LAA	L	4.2	10	7	4	3	3	1
2014-06-14	TEX	SEA	—	6.0	8	2	2	0	3	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Joe Saunders — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	235	229	60	227	5	18

Season-by-Season Fielding

Joe Saunders — 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.

Joe Saunders Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	235

Salary History

Joe Saunders — 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

Joe Saunders — 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.

Joe Saunders: the record in brief

Joe Saunders played a first major league game on August 16, 2005 and a last one on September 26, 2014. Saunders played for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2005 through 2010), the Arizona Diamondbacks (2010 through 2012), the Baltimore Orioles (2012 to 2014), the Seattle Mariners (2013), and the Texas Rangers (2014). Saunders is listed as a pitcher at 6 feet, 3 inches and 215 pounds. The bio says Saunders batted and threw left-handed. Saunders was born on June 16, 1981, in Falls Church, VA, USA. The given name on file is Joseph Francis Saunders.

Saunders went 89-86 with a 4.37 ERA in 235 games, 229 of them starts. The totals include 792 strikeouts. The league ERA over Saunders's seasons was 4.16, so the 4.37 figure ran 5.2% worse than average. The best win total was 17, in 2008. Saunders struck out 108 batters in 2011, a career high. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.41 in 2008, when the league's was 4.32.

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.
What was Joe Saunders's career batting average?: Joe Saunders batted .133 over his career, with 17 hits in 128 at bats.
How many RBI did Joe Saunders have?: Joe Saunders drove in 6 runs in his career.
What was Joe Saunders's career ERA?: Joe Saunders finished with a 4.37 career ERA, going 89-86 with 792 strikeouts.