What years did Tony Watson play?

Tony Watson played in Major League Baseball from 2011 to 2021.

Was Tony Watson a pitcher?

Yes. Tony Watson pitched in the major leagues, recording 47 wins and 570 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Tony Watson hit?

Tony Watson hit 0 career home runs with 1 hit.

Did Tony Watson win a Cy Young Award?

No. Tony Watson did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did Tony Watson win?

Tony Watson was selected to 1 All-Star Game.

What were Tony Watson's career stats?

In 689 games, Tony Watson went 47-29 with a 2.90 ERA, 570 strikeouts, 648.1 innings pitched, and 32 saves.

What was Tony Watson's salary?

Tony Watson's last recorded salary was $3,450,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $3,450,000, in 2016, and his lowest was $484,000, in 2012. The Salary History table lists each season from 2012 to 2016.

What position did Tony Watson play?

Tony Watson played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was Tony Watson and how much did he weigh?

Tony Watson was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 224 pounds.

What was Tony Watson's career ERA?

Tony Watson finished with a 2.90 career ERA, going 47-29 with 570 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Tony Watson have?

Tony Watson recorded 570 career strikeouts.

Is Tony Watson in the Hall of Fame?

No. Tony Watson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Tony Watson

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (2011-2021)

Tony Watson was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 2011 to 2021 for 4 teams, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, a span of 11 seasons. Across 689 career appearances, he went 47-29 with a 2.90 ERA, 570 strikeouts, and 32 saves. Tony Watson was an All-Star. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 8276.4.

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 15, 2026

W–L 47–29

ERA 2.90

WHIP 1.08

SO 570

Pitcher PIV 8276.4

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / L
Height / Weight: 6'3" / 224 lb
Born: 5/30/1985 in Sioux City, IA, USA
MLB Debut: 2011-06-08
Last Game: 2021-09-28
Awards: All-Star

Full name: Anthony Michael Watson

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Career Pitching Statistics

Tony Watson — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
47	29	689	0	0	0	32	648.1	528	209	63	174	570	2.90	8276.4

Career ERA 2.90 vs. league average 4.11 across their career seasons — 29.4% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tony Watson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
2011	PIT	NL	2	2	43	0	41.0	34	18	20	37	3.95	3.94 (avg)	-735.0
2012	PIT	NL	5	2	68	0	53.1	37	20	23	53	3.38	4.01 (+16%)	456.5
2013	PIT	NL	3	1	67	2	71.2	51	19	12	54	2.39	3.87 (+38%)	1207.5
2014	PIT	NL	10	2	78	2	77.1	64	14	15	81	1.63	3.74 (+56%)	2058.5
2015	PIT	NL	4	1	77	1	75.1	55	16	17	62	1.91	3.96 (+52%)	2141.9
2016	PIT	NL	2	5	70	15	67.2	52	23	20	58	3.06	4.19 (+27%)	-310.0
2017	PIT	NL	5	3	47	10	46.2	57	19	14	35	3.66	4.36 (+16%)	-399.6
2017	LAN	NL	2	1	24	0	20.0	15	6	6	18	2.70	4.36 (+38%)	251.2
2018	SFN	NL	4	6	72	0	66.0	54	19	14	72	2.59	4.15 (+38%)	2843.7
2019	SFN	NL	2	2	60	0	54.0	56	25	12	41	4.17	4.51 (+8%)	-407.2
2020	SFN	NL	1	0	21	2	18.0	13	5	3	15	2.50	4.45 (+44%)	43.0
2021	LAA	AL	3	3	36	0	33.0	25	17	14	25	4.64	4.27 (-9%)	129.7
2021	SFN	NL	4	1	26	0	24.1	15	8	4	19	2.96	4.27 (+31%)	996.4
Career · 13 seasons			47	29	689	32	648.1	528	209	174	570	2.90	—	8,276

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

Tony Watson — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
689	8	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	.125	.125	.125	.250	0

Career AVG .125 vs. league average .252 across their career seasons — 50.4% below league average.

Career OBP .125 vs. league average .319 across their career seasons — 60.8% below league average.

Career SLG .125 vs. league average .409 across their career seasons — 69.5% below league average.

Career OPS .250 vs. league average .729 across their career seasons — 65.7% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Tony Watson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	H	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
2011	PIT	NL	43	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2012	PIT	NL	68	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2013	PIT	NL	67	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2014	PIT	NL	78	3	1	2	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
2015	PIT	NL	77	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2016	PIT	NL	70	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2017	PIT	NL	47	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2017	LAN	NL	24	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2018	SFN	NL	72	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2019	SFN	NL	60	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2020	SFN	NL	21	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2021	LAA	AL	36	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2021	SFN	NL	26	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 13 seasons			689	8	1	7	.125	—	—	—	—	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

Tony Watson — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
16	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Tony Watson — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
2017	NLCS	LAN	4	.000
2017	NLDS1	LAN	2	.000
2017	WS	LAN	5	.000
2015	NLWC	PIT	1	.000
2013	NLDS1	PIT	3	.000
2013	NLWC	PIT	1	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Tony Watson — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2	0	16	0	0	12.0	9	3	2	5	2.25

Playoff Pitching by Year

Tony Watson — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
2017	NLCS	LAN	0	4	2.1	0	0	0	2	0.00
2017	NLDS1	LAN	0	2	1.0	3	2	0	0	18.00
2017	WS	LAN	2	5	3.2	2	0	1	1	0.00
2015	NLWC	PIT	0	1	1.0	0	0	0	1	0.00
2013	NLDS1	PIT	0	3	3.0	2	0	1	1	0.00
2013	NLWC	PIT	0	1	1.0	2	1	0	0	9.00

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1378 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Tony Watson — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	351	2	0	0	0	0	.000
Away	338	6	0	1	0	0	.167

Pitching — Home / Away

Tony Watson — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	351	332.1	253	89	78	277	2.41
Away	338	316.0	275	120	96	293	3.42

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Tony Watson — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2021-09-28	SFG	AZ	—	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	1
2021-09-25	SFG	COL	W	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2021-09-24	SFG	COL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021-09-22	SFG	SDP	—	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0
2021-09-21	SFG	SDP	W	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2021-09-17	SFG	ATL	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021-09-16	SFG	SDP	—	0.2	4	3	3	1	0	0
2021-09-14	SFG	SDP	—	0.1	0	0	0	0	1	0
2021-09-12	SFG	CHC	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2021-09-10	SFG	CHC	—	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Tony Watson — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	689	0	40	99	7	9

Season-by-Season Fielding

Tony Watson — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	PO	A	E	DP
2011	PIT	P	43	3	8	0	0
2012	PIT	P	68	1	8	2	0
2013	PIT	P	67	2	12	0	0
2014	PIT	P	78	7	11	1	0
2015	PIT	P	77	5	12	0	1
2016	PIT	P	70	5	6	1	0
2017	PIT	P	47	1	10	0	3
2017	LAN	P	24	1	4	0	1
2018	SFN	P	72	6	11	0	2
2019	SFN	P	60	3	9	0	0
2020	SFN	P	21	2	2	1	0
2021	LAA	P	36	3	5	2	1
2021	SFN	P	26	1	1	0	1

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Tony Watson Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	689

Salary History

Tony Watson's recorded salaries total $6,708,000 over 5 seasons, 2012 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Watson's career ran from 2011 to 2021. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2011.

Tony Watson — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2016	PIT	NL	$3,450,000
2015	PIT	NL	$1,750,000
2014	PIT	NL	$518,500
2013	PIT	NL	$505,500
2012	PIT	NL	$484,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$6,708,000

College History

Tony Watson — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of Nebraska at Lincoln	Lincoln	NE	2005, 2006, 2007

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Tony Watson (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Tony Watson: the record in brief

Tony Watson's major league career runs from a debut on June 8, 2011 to a final game on September 28, 2021. The team column moves through the Pittsburgh Pirates (2011 to 2017), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2017), the San Francisco Giants (2018 through 2021), and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2021). Watson played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw left-handed. Born on May 30, 1985, in Sioux City, IA, USA, Watson was listed at 6 feet, 3 inches and 224 pounds. The bio lists the given name Anthony Michael.

Across 689 games (0 starts), Watson recorded 47 wins against 29 losses with a 2.90 ERA. Also on Watson's record: 570 strikeouts and 32 saves. That 2.90 ERA compares with a 4.11 league average across the same seasons, 29.4% better. The best win total was 10, in 2014. The most saves in one season was 15, in 2016. 2014 was Watson's sharpest full season, a 1.63 ERA against the league's 3.74.

Frequently Asked Questions about Tony Watson

What years did Tony Watson play?: Tony Watson played in Major League Baseball from 2011 to 2021.
Was Tony Watson a pitcher?: Yes. Tony Watson pitched in the major leagues, recording 47 wins and 570 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Tony Watson hit?: Tony Watson hit 0 career home runs with 1 hit.
What teams did Tony Watson play for?: Tony Watson played for 4 teams: the Pittsburgh Pirates (2011–2017), the Los Angeles Dodgers (2017), the San Francisco Giants (2018–2021), and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2021).
Did Tony Watson win a Cy Young Award?: No. Tony Watson did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did Tony Watson win?: Tony Watson was selected to 1 All-Star Game.
What were Tony Watson's career stats?: In 689 games, Tony Watson went 47-29 with a 2.90 ERA, 570 strikeouts, 648.1 innings pitched, and 32 saves.
How much did Tony Watson earn in his career?: Tony Watson's recorded salaries total $6,708,000 over 5 seasons, 2012 to 2016. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Watson's career ran from 2011 to 2021. His seasons after 2016 are not included, and no salary is recorded for 2011.
What was Tony Watson's salary?: Tony Watson's last recorded salary was $3,450,000, in 2016. His highest recorded salary was $3,450,000, in 2016, and his lowest was $484,000, in 2012. The Salary History table lists each season from 2012 to 2016.
What position did Tony Watson play?: Tony Watson played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was Tony Watson and how much did he weigh?: Tony Watson was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 224 pounds.
What was Tony Watson's career ERA?: Tony Watson finished with a 2.90 career ERA, going 47-29 with 570 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Tony Watson have?: Tony Watson recorded 570 career strikeouts.
Is Tony Watson in the Hall of Fame?: No. Tony Watson has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.