Bruce Sutter

Pitcher · Career Stats, Hall of Fame Bio & Records (1976-1988)

⭐ Hall of Fame 2006
W–L 68–71
ERA 2.83
WHIP 1.14
SO 861
Pitcher PIV 23291.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'2" / 190 lb
Born
1/8/1953 in Lancaster, PA, USA
Died
10/13/2022 in Cartersville, GA, USA
MLB Debut
1976-05-09
Last Game
1988-09-09
Hall of Fame
Inducted 2006 (BBWAA)
Awards
6× All-Star · Cy Young · 4× Reliever of the Year · Babe Ruth Award

Full name: Howard Bruce Sutter

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Career Pitching Statistics

W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
68 71 661 0 0 0 300 1042.0 879 328 77 309 861 2.83 23291.8

Career ERA 2.83 vs. league average 3.82 across their career seasons — 25.9% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

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Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1976 CHN NL 6 3 52 0 0 0 10 83.3 63 25 26 73 2.70 3.51 (+23%) 2275.0
1977 CHN NL 7 3 62 0 0 0 31 107.3 69 16 23 129 1.34 4.00 (+66%) 6548.8
1978 CHN NL 8 10 64 0 0 0 27 98.7 82 35 34 106 3.19 3.69 (+13%) 2187.1
1979 CHN NL 6 6 62 0 0 0 37 101.3 67 25 32 110 2.22 4.00 (+45%) 5453.4
1980 CHN NL 5 8 60 0 0 0 28 102.3 90 30 34 76 2.64 3.84 (+31%) 2386.4
1981 SLN NL 3 5 48 0 0 0 25 82.3 64 24 24 57 2.62 3.58 (+27%) 1397.2
1982 SLN NL 9 8 70 0 0 0 36 102.3 88 33 34 61 2.90 3.86 (+25%) 620.5
1983 SLN NL 9 10 60 0 0 0 21 89.3 90 42 30 64 4.23 3.87 (-9%) 784.5
1984 SLN NL 5 7 71 0 0 0 45 122.7 109 21 23 77 1.54 3.81 (+60%) 2381.5
1985 ATL NL 7 7 58 0 0 0 23 88.3 91 44 29 52 4.48 3.89 (-15%) -1354.8
1986 ATL NL 2 0 16 0 0 0 3 18.7 17 9 9 16 4.34 3.97 (-9%) -289.3
1988 ATL NL 1 4 38 0 0 0 14 45.3 49 24 11 40 4.76 3.73 (-28%) 901.6
Career · 12 seasons 68 71 661 0 0 0 300 1,042.0 879 328 309 861 2.83 — 23,292

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
661 102 6 9 0 0 0 6 1 7 50 .088 .153 .088 .241 0

Career AVG .088 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — 66.0% below league average.

Career OBP .153 vs. league average .324 across their career seasons — 52.8% below league average.

Career SLG .088 vs. league average .386 across their career seasons — 77.1% below league average.

Career OPS .241 vs. league average .710 across their career seasons — 66.0% 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
1976 CHN NL 52 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 .000 — — — — 0.0
1977 CHN NL 62 20 4 3 0 0 0 0 0 2 10 .150 — — — — 0.0
1978 CHN NL 64 13 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 .077 — — — — 0.0
1979 CHN NL 62 12 0 3 0 0 0 3 1 1 5 .250 — — — — 0.0
1980 CHN NL 60 9 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 .111 — — — — 0.0
1981 SLN NL 48 9 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
1982 SLN NL 70 8 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .125 — — — — 0.0
1983 SLN NL 60 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .000 — — — — 0.0
1984 SLN NL 71 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 — — — — 0.0
1985 ATL NL 58 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1986 ATL NL 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
1988 ATL NL 38 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 .000 — — — — 0.0
Career · 12 seasons 661 102 6 9 0 0 0 6 1 7 50 .088 — — — — 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
6 1 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
1982 NLCS SLN 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
1982 WS SLN 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Playoff Career Pitching

W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
2 0 6 0 3 12.0 6 4 3 7 3.00

Playoff Pitching by Year

Year Round Team W L G GS SV IP H ER BB SO ERA
1982 NLCS SLN 1 0 2 0 1 4.3 0 0 0 1 0.00
1982 WS SLN 1 0 4 0 2 7.7 6 4 3 6 4.70

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1322 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home331472502.106
Away330554404.073

Pitching — Home / Away

SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home331531.04711811414303.07
Away330511.04081471684312.59

Last 10 Games — Pitching

DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1988-09-09 ATLSDP SV 1.0000010
1988-09-06 ATLLAD SV 1.0100000
1988-09-05 ATLLAD — 1.0000000
1988-08-31 ATLSTL — 1.0000010
1988-08-27 ATLCHC — 1.0222001
1988-08-24 ATLSTL L 1.0433210
1988-08-19 ATLCHC — 0.0322000
1988-07-23 ATLNYN — 1.0000110
1988-07-18 ATLPHI — 1.0322010
1988-07-15 ATLNYN — 2.0211011

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Position G GS PO A E DP
P 661 0 90 145 9 9

Season-by-Season Fielding

Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1976 CHN P 52 0 6 9 1 1
1977 CHN P 62 0 11 14 0 0
1978 CHN P 64 0 12 9 0 0
1979 CHN P 62 0 9 15 3 0
1980 CHN P 60 0 6 14 0 0
1981 SLN P 48 0 7 8 0 0
1982 SLN P 70 0 6 15 1 5
1983 SLN P 60 0 11 19 2 1
1984 SLN P 71 0 14 19 0 2
1985 ATL P 58 0 5 13 0 0
1986 ATL P 16 0 1 3 0 0
1988 ATL P 38 0 2 7 2 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Position Games
Pitcher 661

Awards & Honors

Year Award Notes
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-04-13
1984 Player of the Week Week of 1984-09-07
1984 Reliever of the Year Award
1984 TSN Fireman of the Year
1982 Babe Ruth Award RP
1982 Player of the Week Week of 1982-09-17
1982 Player of the Week Week of 1982-08-27
1982 Reliever of the Year Award
1982 TSN Fireman of the Year
1981 Reliever of the Year Award
1981 TSN Fireman of the Year
1979 Cy Young Award
1979 Player of the Week Week of 1979-04-20
1979 Reliever of the Year Award
1979 TSN Fireman of the Year
1978 Player of the Week Week of 1978-07-08
1977 Pitcher of the Month May
1977 Player of the Week Week of 1977-05-13

Salary History

Year Team League Salary
1990 ATL NL $1,729,167
1989 ATL NL $1,729,167
1988 ATL NL $1,729,167
1987 ATL NL $1,729,167
1986 ATL NL $1,729,167
1985 ATL NL $1,354,167
Total Career Earnings $10,000,002

Award Voting History

Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1984 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 33.0 120 0
1984 Most Valuable Player NL 6th 67.0 336 0
1982 Cy Young Award NL 3rd 25.0 120 2
1982 Most Valuable Player NL 5th 134.0 336 2
1981 Cy Young Award NL 5th 1.0 120 0
1981 Most Valuable Player NL 8th 59.0 336 0
1979 Cy Young Award NL 1st 72.0 120 10
1979 Most Valuable Player NL 7th 69.0 336 0
1978 Most Valuable Player NL 20th 5.0 336 0
1977 Cy Young Award NL 6th 5.0 120 0
1977 Most Valuable Player NL 7th 68.0 336 0

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Bruce Sutter (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    John Wetteland
    48-45, 2.93 ERA
  2. 96
    Jeff Reardon
    73-77, 3.16 ERA
  3. 94
    Mark Melancon
    37-40, 2.94 ERA
  4. 93
    Tom Henke
    41-42, 2.67 ERA
  5. 92
    Jeff Montgomery
    46-52, 3.27 ERA
  6. 90
    Todd Worrell
    50-52, 3.09 ERA

Compare Bruce Sutter

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

vs Rick Reuschel
vs Mariano Rivera
vs Dennis Eckersley
vs Hoyt Wilhelm
vs Billy Wagner
vs Trevor Hoffman

Browse all MLB player comparisons →

Frequently Asked Questions about Bruce Sutter

What years did Bruce Sutter play?
Bruce Sutter played in Major League Baseball from 1976 to 1988.
Was Bruce Sutter a pitcher?
Yes. Bruce Sutter pitched in the major leagues, recording 68 wins and 861 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Bruce Sutter hit?
Bruce Sutter hit 0 career home runs with 9 hits.
Is Bruce Sutter in the Hall of Fame?
Yes. Bruce Sutter was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.