Ben Sheets

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2001-2012)

Ben Sheets was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2001 to 2012 for the Milwaukee Brewers, the Athletics, and the Atlanta Braves, a span of 12 seasons. Across 250 career appearances, he went 94-96 with a 3.78 ERA and 1,325 strikeouts. He also batted .076 with 0 home runs. Ben Sheets was a 4-time All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 28864.5.

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 94–96
ERA 3.78
WHIP 1.22
SO 1,325
Pitcher PIV 28864.5
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 195 lb
Born
7/18/1978 in Baton Rouge, LA, USA
MLB Debut
2001-04-05
Last Game
2012-10-03
Awards
4× All-Star

Full name: Ben M. Sheets

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Career Pitching Statistics

Ben Sheets — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
94 96 250 250 18 4 0 1596.2 1,577 670 184 369 1,325 3.78 28864.5

Career ERA 3.78 vs. league average 4.33 across their career seasons — 12.7% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ben Sheets Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
2001 MIL NL 11 10 25 25 1 1 0 151.1 166 80 48 94 4.76 4.42 (-8%) -1572.9
2002 MIL NL 11 16 34 34 1 0 0 216.2 237 100 70 170 4.15 4.28 (+3%) 2928.3
2003 MIL NL 11 13 34 34 1 0 0 220.2 232 109 43 157 4.45 4.40 (-1%) 2402.2
2004 MIL NL 12 14 34 34 5 0 0 237.0 201 71 32 264 2.70 4.46 (+40%) 11286.0
2005 MIL NL 10 9 22 22 3 0 0 156.2 142 58 25 141 3.33 4.29 (+22%) 3951.2
2006 MIL NL 6 7 17 17 0 0 0 106.0 105 45 11 116 3.82 4.53 (+16%) 5678.4
2007 MIL NL 12 5 24 24 2 0 0 141.1 138 60 37 106 3.82 4.47 (+15%) 1320.6
2008 MIL NL 13 9 31 31 5 3 0 198.1 181 68 47 158 3.09 4.32 (+29%) 4875.4
2010 OAK AL 4 9 20 20 0 0 0 119.1 123 60 43 84 4.53 4.08 (-11%) -1889.4
2012 ATL NL 4 4 9 9 0 0 0 49.1 52 19 13 35 3.47 4.01 (+14%) -115.4
Career · 10 seasons 94 96 250 250 18 4 0 1,596.2 1,577 670 369 1,325 3.78 — 28,864

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

Ben Sheets — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
250 449 12 34 3 0 0 12 0 19 212 .076 .113 .082 .196 -3,034

Career AVG .076 vs. league average .263 across their career seasons — 71.2% below league average.

Career OBP .113 vs. league average .331 across their career seasons — 65.8% below league average.

Career SLG .082 vs. league average .419 across their career seasons — 80.3% below league average.

Career OPS .196 vs. league average .750 across their career seasons — 73.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Ben Sheets Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
2001 MIL NL 25 42 4 3 0 0 0 1 0 4 29 .071 — — — — 0.0
2002 MIL NL 34 68 2 6 1 0 0 3 0 4 39 .088 .261 (-66%) .331 (-58%) .416 (-75%) .747 (-68%) -755.0
2003 MIL NL 34 66 0 5 0 0 0 2 0 1 35 .076 .264 (-71%) .332 (-73%) .422 (-82%) .754 (-78%) -847.5
2004 MIL NL 34 67 2 9 0 0 0 1 0 5 22 .134 .266 (-50%) .335 (-42%) .427 (-69%) .762 (-57%) -627.7
2005 MIL NL 22 45 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 17 .022 — — — — 0.0
2006 MIL NL 17 33 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 13 .030 — — — — 0.0
2007 MIL NL 24 45 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 25 .067 — — — — 0.0
2008 MIL NL 31 67 2 5 2 0 0 5 0 2 24 .075 .263 (-72%) .333 (-70%) .416 (-75%) .749 (-73%) -803.6
2010 OAK AL 20 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 .333 — — — — 0.0
2012 ATL NL 9 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 10 seasons 250 449 12 34 3 0 0 12 0 19 212 .076 — — — — -3,034

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.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (500 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Ben Sheets — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home12822381906.085
Away12222641506.066

Pitching — Home / Away

Ben Sheets — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home128842.27793241767133.46
Away122754.07983461936124.13

Last 10 Games — Batting

Ben Sheets — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
2012-10-03 ATLPITW 000000000
2012-08-24 ATLSFGL 100000001
2012-08-18 ATLLADL 200000002
2012-08-12 ATLNYNL 200000001
2012-08-06 ATLPHIW 200000002
2012-08-01 ATLMIAL 100000000
2012-07-27 ATLPHIW 200000000
2012-07-21 ATLWASW 200000000
2012-07-15 ATLNYNW 100000010
2010-07-19 OAKBOSL 000000000

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Ben Sheets — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
2012-10-03 ATLPIT — 1.0000020
2012-08-24 ATLSFG L 4.1944320
2012-08-18 ATLLAD L 6.0466234
2012-08-12 ATLNYN L 6.0854151
2012-08-06 ATLPHI W 7.1711101
2012-08-01 ATLMIA L 6.21143180
2012-07-27 ATLPHI W 6.0611140
2012-07-21 ATLWAS W 6.0500360
2012-07-15 ATLNYN W 6.0200150
2010-07-19 OAKBOS L 6.2722221

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Ben Sheets — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 250 250 115 159 15 9

Season-by-Season Fielding

Ben Sheets — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
2001 MIL P 25 25 10 24 2 2
2002 MIL P 34 34 28 36 1 6
2003 MIL P 34 34 22 19 2 0
2004 MIL P 34 34 14 23 2 0
2005 MIL P 22 22 7 6 3 0
2006 MIL P 17 17 5 8 0 0
2007 MIL P 24 24 9 10 0 0
2008 MIL P 31 31 10 16 2 0
2010 OAK P 20 20 5 11 3 1
2012 ATL P 9 9 5 6 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Ben Sheets Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Pitcher 250

Awards & Honors

Ben Sheets — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
2007 Pitcher of the Month June
2004 Player of the Week Week of 2004-05-15
2001 Rookie of the Month June

Salary History

Ben Sheets — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
2010 OAK AL $10,000,000
2008 MIL NL $12,125,000
2007 MIL NL $11,125,000
2006 MIL NL $9,625,000
2005 MIL NL $6,000,000
2004 MIL NL $2,425,000
2003 MIL NL $428,000
2002 MIL NL $290,000
2001 MIL NL $200,000
Total Career Earnings $52,218,000

College History

Ben Sheets — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
University of Louisiana at Monroe Monroe LA 1997, 1998, 1999

Award Voting History

Ben Sheets — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
2004 Cy Young Award NL 8th 1.0 160 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Ben Sheets (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Kyle Hendricks
    105-91, 3.79 ERA
  2. 93
    Jordan Zimmermann
    95-91, 4.07 ERA
  3. 85
    Nathan Eovaldi
    113-94, 3.92 ERA
  4. 80
    Jameson Taillon
    84-66, 3.99 ERA
  5. 78
    Doug Fister
    83-92, 3.72 ERA
  6. 77
    Alex Cobb
    79-76, 3.84 ERA

Compare Ben Sheets

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

vs Roger Clemens
vs Greg Maddux
vs Randy Johnson
vs Pedro Martinez
vs Curt Schilling
vs Clayton Kershaw

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Ben Sheets: the record in brief

Between the debut on April 5, 2001 and the final game on October 3, 2012, Ben Sheets built the record summarized on this page. Sheets played for the Milwaukee Brewers (2001 through 2008), the Oakland Athletics (2010), and the Atlanta Braves (2012). Sheets is listed as a pitcher at 195 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame. Sheets batted and threw right-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is July 18, 1978, in Baton Rouge, LA, USA. The given name on file is Ben M. Sheets.

The pitching table credits Sheets with a 94-96 record and a 3.78 ERA in 250 games. Sheets had 1,325 strikeouts and 18 complete games. That 3.78 ERA compares with a 4.33 league average across the same seasons, 12.7% better. The best win total was 13, in 2008. The strikeout high was 264 in 2004. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 2.70 in 2004, when the league's was 4.46. Sheets's career Pitcher PIV, which scores run prevention against each season's league, is 28,864.5.

Frequently Asked Questions about Ben Sheets

What years did Ben Sheets play?
Ben Sheets played in Major League Baseball from 2001 to 2012.
Was Ben Sheets a pitcher?
Yes. Ben Sheets pitched in the major leagues, recording 94 wins and 1325 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Ben Sheets hit?
Ben Sheets hit 0 career home runs with 34 hits.
What was Ben Sheets's career batting average?
Ben Sheets batted .076 over his career, with 34 hits in 449 at bats.
How many RBI did Ben Sheets have?
Ben Sheets drove in 12 runs in his career.
What was Ben Sheets's career ERA?
Ben Sheets finished with a 3.78 career ERA, going 94-96 with 1,325 strikeouts.