John Smiley

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1986-1997)

W–L 126–103
ERA 3.80
WHIP 1.23
SO 1,284
Pitcher PIV 20276.7
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
L / L
Height / Weight
6'4" / 180 lb
Born
3/17/1965 in Phoenixville, PA, USA
MLB Debut
1986-09-01
Last Game
1997-08-30
Awards
2× All-Star

Full name: John Patrick Smiley

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
126 103 361 280 28 8 4 1907.7 1,842 806 185 496 1,284 3.80 20276.7

Career ERA 3.80 vs. league average 4.11 across their career seasons — 7.5% 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
1986 PIT NL 1 0 12 0 0 0 0 11.7 4 5 4 9 3.86 3.97 (+3%) -149.6
1987 PIT NL 5 5 63 0 0 0 4 75.0 69 48 50 58 5.76 4.29 (-34%) -457.9
1988 PIT NL 13 11 34 32 5 1 0 205.0 185 74 46 129 3.25 3.73 (+13%) 2963.8
1989 PIT NL 12 8 28 28 8 1 0 205.3 174 64 49 123 2.81 3.71 (+24%) -111.3
1990 PIT NL 9 10 26 25 2 0 0 149.3 161 77 36 86 4.64 3.86 (-20%) 521.7
1991 PIT NL 20 8 33 32 2 1 0 207.7 194 71 44 129 3.08 3.91 (+21%) 3002.9
1992 MIN AL 16 9 34 34 5 2 0 241.0 205 86 65 163 3.21 3.75 (+14%) 3251.6
1993 CIN NL 3 9 18 18 2 0 0 105.7 117 66 31 60 5.62 4.19 (-34%) -1174.0
1994 CIN NL 11 10 24 24 1 1 0 158.7 169 68 37 112 3.86 4.51 (+15%) 2221.7
1995 CIN NL 12 5 28 27 1 0 0 176.7 173 68 39 124 3.46 4.45 (+22%) 5547.4
1996 CIN NL 13 14 35 34 2 2 0 217.3 207 88 54 171 3.64 4.61 (+21%) 5767.3
1997 CIN NL 9 10 20 20 0 0 0 117.0 139 68 31 94 5.23 4.39 (-19%) 148.2
1997 CLE AL 2 4 6 6 0 0 0 37.3 45 23 10 26 5.54 4.39 (-26%) -1255.1
Career · 13 seasons 126 103 361 280 28 8 4 1,907.2 1,842 806 496 1,284 3.80 — 20,277

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
361 504 21 73 14 0 2 35 0 25 183 .145 .185 .185 .369 -3,382

Career AVG .145 vs. league average .261 across their career seasons — 44.6% below league average.

Career OBP .185 vs. league average .329 across their career seasons — 43.9% below league average.

Career SLG .185 vs. league average .400 across their career seasons — 53.9% below league average.

Career OPS .369 vs. league average .729 across their career seasons — 49.4% 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
1986 PIT NL 12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1987 PIT NL 63 7 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 .143 — — — — 0.0
1988 PIT NL 34 63 2 5 1 0 0 1 0 3 30 .079 .254 (-69%) .317 (-62%) .377 (-75%) .695 (-69%) -666.9
1989 PIT NL 28 65 0 9 4 0 0 7 0 3 19 .138 .254 (-46%) .319 (-45%) .375 (-47%) .694 (-46%) -467.6
1990 PIT NL 26 49 1 6 0 0 0 3 0 3 15 .122 — — — — -443.2
1991 PIT NL 33 70 3 7 0 0 0 3 0 3 24 .100 .255 (-61%) .323 (-58%) .384 (-74%) .708 (-67%) -723.6
1992 MIN AL 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
1993 CIN NL 18 32 2 8 1 0 0 5 0 1 10 .250 — — — — 0.0
1994 CIN NL 24 55 5 11 3 0 0 2 0 4 26 .200 .269 (-26%) .338 (-25%) .424 (-40%) .763 (-33%) -305.0
1995 CIN NL 28 55 6 9 1 0 2 5 0 4 26 .164 .266 (-39%) .337 (-36%) .417 (-30%) .755 (-33%) -317.7
1996 CIN NL 35 68 1 13 2 0 0 6 0 4 22 .191 .269 (-29%) .340 (-31%) .426 (-48%) .767 (-40%) -458.1
1997 CIN NL 20 40 0 4 1 0 0 2 0 0 10 .100 — — — — 0.0
1997 CLE AL 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 13 seasons 361 504 21 73 14 0 2 35 0 25 183 .145 — — — — -3,382

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
5 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Playoff Batting by Year

Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1995 NLCS CIN 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1995 NLDS2 CIN 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000
1991 NLCS PIT 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1990 NLCS PIT 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
0 2 5 4 0 15.7 24 11 1 5 6.32

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1995 NLCS CIN 0 0 1 1 0 5.0 5 2 0 1 3.60
1995 NLDS2 CIN 0 0 1 1 0 6.0 9 2 0 1 3.00
1991 NLCS PIT 0 2 2 2 0 2.7 8 7 1 3 23.62
1990 NLCS PIT 0 0 1 0 0 2.0 2 0 0 0 0.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (722 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home1752171034119.157
Away1862871139116.136

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home175920.08493722756103.64
Away186987.29934342216743.95

Last 10 Games — Batting

DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1997-08-30 CLECHCL 000000000
1997-08-24 CLEOAKL 000000000
1997-08-19 CLESEAW 000000000
1997-08-13 CLEDETL 000000000
1997-08-07 CLETORL 000000000
1997-08-02 CLETEXW 000000000
1997-07-28 CINMIAW 201000001
1997-07-22 CINMIAW 200000001
1997-07-17 CINPITW 300000000
1997-07-12 CINWSNW 200000002

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1997-08-30 CLECHC L 5.0855122
1997-08-24 CLEOAK L 5.2533541
1997-08-19 CLESEA W 7.0722131
1997-08-13 CLEDET L 5.21166153
1997-08-07 CLETOR L 7.0944160
1997-08-02 CLETEX W 7.0533162
1997-07-28 CINMIA — 7.0700060
1997-07-22 CINMIA W 7.0533051
1997-07-17 CINPIT W 7.0833182
1997-07-12 CINWSN W 7.0633041

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 361 280 70 261 11 16

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1986 PIT P 12 0 1 2 0 0
1987 PIT P 63 0 7 9 0 2
1988 PIT P 34 32 14 27 0 3
1989 PIT P 28 28 7 23 4 2
1990 PIT P 26 25 8 24 2 1
1991 PIT P 33 32 5 34 1 0
1992 MIN P 34 34 4 35 0 2
1993 CIN P 18 18 7 16 0 0
1994 CIN P 24 24 8 19 2 2
1995 CIN P 28 27 3 27 0 3
1996 CIN P 35 34 6 29 2 1
1997 CIN P 20 20 0 12 0 0
1997 CLE P 6 6 0 4 0 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 361

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1992 Pitcher of the Month June

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1998 CLE AL $3,750,000
1997 CIN NL $3,750,000
1996 CIN NL $4,975,000
1995 CIN NL $4,975,000
1994 CIN NL $4,975,000
1993 CIN NL $3,475,000
1992 MIN AL $3,400,000
1991 PIT NL $1,050,000
1990 PIT NL $840,000
1989 PIT NL $230,000
1988 PIT NL $107,500
1987 PIT NL $62,500
Total Career Earnings $31,590,000

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1991 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 26.0 120 0
1991 Most Valuable Player NL 14th 5.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

John Smiley (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Bill Monbouquette
    114-112, 3.68 ERA
  2. 92
    Dennis Leonard
    144-106, 3.70 ERA
  3. 91
    Mike Scott
    124-108, 3.54 ERA
  4. 88
    Bryn Smith
    108-94, 3.53 ERA
  5. 87
    Kyle Hendricks
    105-91, 3.79 ERA
  6. 84
    Matt Morris
    121-92, 3.98 ERA

Frequently Asked Questions about John Smiley

What years did John Smiley play?
John Smiley played in Major League Baseball from 1986 to 1997.
Was John Smiley a pitcher?
Yes. John Smiley pitched in the major leagues, recording 126 wins and 1284 strikeouts.
How many home runs did John Smiley hit?
John Smiley hit 2 career home runs with 73 hits.