What years did John Wetteland play?

John Wetteland played in Major League Baseball from 1989 to 2000.

Was John Wetteland a pitcher?

Yes. John Wetteland pitched in the major leagues, recording 48 wins and 804 strikeouts.

How many home runs did John Wetteland hit?

John Wetteland hit 1 career home run with 7 hits.

What teams did John Wetteland play for?

John Wetteland played for 4 teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1989–1991), the Montreal Expos (1992–1994), the New York Yankees (1995–1996), and the Texas Rangers (1997–2000).

Did John Wetteland win a Cy Young Award?

No. John Wetteland did not win the Cy Young Award.

What awards did John Wetteland win?

John Wetteland won the World Series MVP award (1996). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.

What were John Wetteland's career stats?

In 618 games, John Wetteland went 48-45 with a 2.93 ERA, 804 strikeouts, 765.0 innings pitched, and 330 saves.

What was John Wetteland's salary?

John Wetteland's last recorded salary was $6,500,000, in 2000. His highest recorded salary was $6,500,000, in 2000, and his lowest was $68,000, in 1989. The Salary History table lists each season from 1989 to 2000.

What position did John Wetteland play?

John Wetteland played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.

How tall was John Wetteland and how much did he weigh?

John Wetteland was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 195 pounds.

What was John Wetteland's career ERA?

John Wetteland finished with a 2.93 career ERA, going 48-45 with 804 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did John Wetteland have?

John Wetteland recorded 804 career strikeouts.

Is John Wetteland in the Hall of Fame?

No. John Wetteland has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

John Wetteland

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1989-2000)

John Wetteland was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1989 to 2000 for 4 teams, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, a span of 12 seasons. Across 618 career appearances, he went 48-45 with a 2.93 ERA, 804 strikeouts, and 330 saves. John Wetteland was a 3-time All-Star, a World Series MVP, and a Reliever of the Year. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 20366.2.

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 17, 2026

W–L 48–45

ERA 2.93

WHIP 1.13

SO 804

Pitcher PIV 20366.2

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: R / R
Height / Weight: 6'2" / 195 lb
Born: 8/21/1966 in San Mateo, CA, USA
MLB Debut: 1989-05-31
Last Game: 2000-09-20
Awards: 3× All-Star · World Series MVP · Reliever of the Year

Full name: John Karl Wetteland

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Career Pitching Statistics

John Wetteland — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
48	45	618	17	0	0	330	765.0	616	249	73	252	804	2.93	20366.2

Career ERA 2.93 vs. league average 4.28 across their career seasons — 31.6% better than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Wetteland Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1989	LAN	NL	5	8	31	12	1	102.2	81	43	34	96	3.77	3.71 (-2%)	2125.8
1990	LAN	NL	2	4	22	5	0	43.0	44	23	17	36	4.81	3.86 (-25%)	-593.0
1991	LAN	NL	1	0	6	0	0	9.0	5	0	3	9	0.00	3.91 (+100%)	0.0
1992	MON	NL	4	4	67	0	37	83.1	64	27	36	99	2.92	3.75 (+22%)	2039.2
1993	MON	NL	9	3	70	0	43	85.1	58	13	28	113	1.37	4.19 (+67%)	5077.4
1994	MON	NL	4	6	52	0	25	63.2	46	20	21	68	2.83	4.51 (+37%)	2200.9
1995	NYA	AL	1	5	60	0	31	61.1	40	20	14	66	2.93	4.45 (+34%)	2396.5
1996	NYA	AL	2	3	62	0	43	63.2	54	20	21	69	2.83	4.61 (+39%)	1257.2
1997	TEX	AL	7	2	61	0	31	65.0	43	14	21	63	1.94	4.39 (+56%)	2057.6
1998	TEX	AL	3	1	63	0	42	62.0	47	14	14	72	2.03	4.43 (+54%)	2636.6
1999	TEX	AL	4	4	62	0	43	66.0	67	27	19	60	3.68	4.71 (+22%)	1264.9
2000	TEX	AL	6	5	62	0	34	60.0	67	28	24	53	4.20	4.77 (+12%)	-96.9
Career · 12 seasons			48	45	618	17	330	765.0	616	249	252	804	2.93	—	20,366

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

John Wetteland — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
618	42	4	7	2	0	1	8	0	0	19	.167	.167	.286	.452	0

Career AVG .167 vs. league average .264 across their career seasons — 36.9% below league average.

Career OBP .167 vs. league average .334 across their career seasons — 50.1% below league average.

Career SLG .286 vs. league average .409 across their career seasons — 30.2% below league average.

Career OPS .452 vs. league average .743 across their career seasons — 39.1% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Wetteland Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SO	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1989	LAN	NL	31	21	1	3	1	0	3	10	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1990	LAN	NL	22	7	2	1	0	1	3	1	.143	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	LAN	NL	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	MON	NL	67	5	0	1	0	0	0	4	.200	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	MON	NL	70	4	0	0	0	0	0	3	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	MON	NL	52	4	0	1	0	0	1	1	.250	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	NYA	AL	60	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	NYA	AL	62	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1997	TEX	AL	61	1	1	1	1	0	1	0	1.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1998	TEX	AL	63	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1999	TEX	AL	62	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
2000	TEX	AL	62	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 12 seasons			618	42	4	7	2	1	8	19	.167	—	—	—	—	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

John Wetteland — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

John Wetteland — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AVG
1999	ALDS2	TEX	1	.000
1998	ALDS2	TEX	1	.000
1996	ALCS	NYA	4	.000
1996	ALDS2	NYA	3	.000
1996	WS	NYA	5	.000
1995	ALDS2	NYA	3	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

John Wetteland — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	1	17	0	7	18.2	16	10	9	22	4.82

Playoff Pitching by Year

John Wetteland — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	L	G	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1999	ALDS2	TEX	0	1	0	1.0	0	0	0	1	0.00
1998	ALDS2	TEX	0	1	0	1.0	0	0	1	1	0.00
1996	ALCS	NYA	0	4	1	4.0	2	2	1	5	4.50
1996	ALDS2	NYA	0	3	2	4.0	2	0	4	4	0.00
1996	WS	NYA	0	5	4	4.1	4	1	1	6	2.08
1995	ALDS2	NYA	1	3	0	4.1	8	7	2	5	14.54

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (1236 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

John Wetteland — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	321	18	1	4	0	2	.222
Away	297	24	3	3	1	6	.125

Pitching — Home / Away

John Wetteland — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	321	379.2	310	132	119	384	3.13
Away	297	385.1	306	117	133	420	2.73

Last 10 Games — Pitching

John Wetteland — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
2000-09-20	TEX	MIN	W	1.0	1	1	1	0	0	0
2000-09-17	TEX	KCR	SV	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2000-09-15	TEX	KCR	W	1.0	1	1	0	0	1	0
2000-09-12	TEX	BAL	SV	1.0	1	2	2	2	1	0
2000-09-09	TEX	KCR	SV	0.2	1	0	0	0	0	0
2000-09-08	TEX	KCR	SV	1.0	1	1	1	0	1	0
2000-09-05	TEX	CHW	SV	1.0	1	0	0	1	3	0
2000-09-04	TEX	CHW	SV	1.0	2	1	1	1	1	1
2000-09-03	TEX	DET	SV	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2000-08-31	TEX	CLE	—	1.0	2	1	1	0	0	0

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

John Wetteland — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	618	17	27	60	12	2

Season-by-Season Fielding

John Wetteland — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1989	LAN	P	31	12	5	8	2	0
1990	LAN	P	22	5	1	3	1	0
1991	LAN	P	6	0	1	2	1	0
1992	MON	P	67	0	7	6	1	0
1993	MON	P	70	0	1	5	3	0
1994	MON	P	52	0	3	4	1	0
1995	NYA	P	60	0	2	3	1	1
1996	NYA	P	62	0	0	6	0	1
1997	TEX	P	61	0	1	6	0	0
1998	TEX	P	63	0	2	7	1	0
1999	TEX	P	62	0	2	5	1	0
2000	TEX	P	62	0	2	5	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

John Wetteland Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	618

Awards & Honors

John Wetteland — Awards & Honors
Year	Award	Notes
1996	Player of the Week	Week of 1996-07-13
1996	Reliever of the Year Award
1996	TSN Fireman of the Year
1996	World Series MVP
1993	Pitcher of the Month	September
1992	Player of the Week	Week of 1992-06-20

Salary History

John Wetteland's recorded salaries total $33,506,500 over 11 seasons, 1989 to 2000. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Wetteland's career ran from 1989 to 2000. No salary is recorded for 1991.

John Wetteland — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
2000	TEX	AL	$6,500,000
1999	TEX	AL	$6,350,000
1998	TEX	AL	$5,800,000
1997	TEX	AL	$4,575,000
1996	NYA	AL	$4,000,000
1995	NYA	AL	$3,375,000
1994	MON	NL	$2,225,000
1993	MON	NL	$315,000
1992	MON	NL	$156,000
1990	LAN	NL	$142,500
1989	LAN	NL	$68,000
Total recorded salary (partial)			$33,506,500

College History

John Wetteland — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
College of San Mateo	San Mateo	CA	1985

Award Voting History

John Wetteland — Award Voting History
Year	Award	League	Finish	Points Won	Points Max
1999	Cy Young Award	AL	6th	3.0	140
1998	Most Valuable Player	AL	16th	3.0	392
1996	Most Valuable Player	AL	19th	4.0	392
1993	Most Valuable Player	NL	24th	1.0	392
1992	Most Valuable Player	NL	22th	1.0	336

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

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

Compare John Wetteland

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John Wetteland: the record in brief

John Wetteland played a first major league game on May 31, 1989 and a last one on September 20, 2000. The season rows list, in order, the Los Angeles Dodgers (1989 through 1991), the Montreal Expos (1992 through 1994), the New York Yankees (1995 through 1996), and the Texas Rangers (1997 to 2000). Wetteland is listed as a pitcher at 6-foot-2 and 195 pounds. Wetteland threw and hit right-handed, per the bio block. Wetteland was born on August 21, 1966, in San Mateo, CA, USA. Wetteland's full given name, per the bio, is John Karl Wetteland.

Wetteland pitched in 618 games, starting 17, and finished with a 48-45 record and 2.93 ERA. The same table counts 804 strikeouts and 330 saves. That 2.93 ERA compares with a 4.28 league average across the same seasons, 31.6% better. 1993 brought Wetteland a season-high 9 wins. Wetteland saved 43 games in 1993, the season high. 1993 was Wetteland's sharpest full season, a 1.37 ERA against the league's 4.19.

Frequently Asked Questions about John Wetteland

What years did John Wetteland play?: John Wetteland played in Major League Baseball from 1989 to 2000.
Was John Wetteland a pitcher?: Yes. John Wetteland pitched in the major leagues, recording 48 wins and 804 strikeouts.
How many home runs did John Wetteland hit?: John Wetteland hit 1 career home run with 7 hits.
What teams did John Wetteland play for?: John Wetteland played for 4 teams: the Los Angeles Dodgers (1989–1991), the Montreal Expos (1992–1994), the New York Yankees (1995–1996), and the Texas Rangers (1997–2000).
Did John Wetteland win a Cy Young Award?: No. John Wetteland did not win the Cy Young Award.
What awards did John Wetteland win?: John Wetteland won the World Series MVP award (1996). He was selected to 3 All-Star Games.
What were John Wetteland's career stats?: In 618 games, John Wetteland went 48-45 with a 2.93 ERA, 804 strikeouts, 765.0 innings pitched, and 330 saves.
How much did John Wetteland earn in his career?: John Wetteland's recorded salaries total $33,506,500 over 11 seasons, 1989 to 2000. This total is partial: the salary data covers 1985 to 2016, and Wetteland's career ran from 1989 to 2000. No salary is recorded for 1991.
What was John Wetteland's salary?: John Wetteland's last recorded salary was $6,500,000, in 2000. His highest recorded salary was $6,500,000, in 2000, and his lowest was $68,000, in 1989. The Salary History table lists each season from 1989 to 2000.
What position did John Wetteland play?: John Wetteland played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was John Wetteland and how much did he weigh?: John Wetteland was listed at 6 feet 2 inches and 195 pounds.
What was John Wetteland's career ERA?: John Wetteland finished with a 2.93 career ERA, going 48-45 with 804 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did John Wetteland have?: John Wetteland recorded 804 career strikeouts.
Is John Wetteland in the Hall of Fame?: No. John Wetteland has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.