What years did Carl Willis play?

Carl Willis played in Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1995.

Was Carl Willis a pitcher?

Yes. Carl Willis pitched in the major leagues, recording 22 wins and 222 strikeouts.

How many home runs did Carl Willis hit?

Carl Willis hit 0 career home runs with 1 hits.

What was Carl Willis's career batting average?

Carl Willis batted .250 over his career, with 1 hits in 4 at bats.

What was Carl Willis's career ERA?

Carl Willis finished with a 4.25 career ERA, going 22-16 with 222 strikeouts.

How many strikeouts did Carl Willis have?

Carl Willis recorded 222 career strikeouts.

Carl Willis

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1984-1995)

Carl Willis was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1995 for 4 teams, including the Detroit Tigers, a span of 12 seasons. Across 267 career appearances, he went 22-16 with a 4.25 ERA and 222 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 4775.2.

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 12, 2026

W–L 22–16

ERA 4.25

WHIP 1.38

SO 222

Pitcher PIV 4775.2

Position: Pitcher
Bats / Throws: L / R
Height / Weight: 6'4" / 210 lb
Born: 12/28/1960 in Danville, VA, USA
MLB Debut: 1984-06-09
Last Game: 1995-05-03

Full name: Carl Blake Willis

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Career Pitching Statistics

Carl Willis — Career Pitching Statistics
W	L	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	ERA	Pitcher PIV
22	16	267	2	0	0	13	390.0	424	184	28	115	222	4.25	4775.2

Career ERA 4.25 vs. league average 4.01 across their career seasons — 5.9% worse than league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Carl Willis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA	Lg ERA	Pitcher PIV
1984	DET	AL	0	2	10	2	0	16.0	25	13	5	4	7.31	3.81 (-92%)	-82.9
1984	CIN	NL	0	1	7	0	1	9.2	8	4	2	3	3.72	3.81 (+2%)	0.0
1985	CIN	NL	1	0	11	0	1	13.2	21	14	5	6	9.22	3.89 (-137%)	-636.9
1986	CIN	NL	1	3	29	0	0	52.1	54	26	32	24	4.47	3.97 (-13%)	-1003.1
1988	CHA	AL	0	0	6	0	0	12.0	17	11	7	6	8.25	3.73 (-121%)	-910.6
1991	MIN	AL	8	3	40	0	2	89.0	76	26	19	53	2.63	3.91 (+33%)	2238.8
1992	MIN	AL	7	3	59	0	1	79.1	73	24	11	45	2.72	3.75 (+27%)	2066.8
1993	MIN	AL	3	0	53	0	5	58.0	56	20	17	44	3.10	4.19 (+26%)	2042.4
1994	MIN	AL	2	4	49	0	3	59.1	89	39	12	37	5.92	4.51 (-31%)	1060.7
1995	MIN	AL	0	0	3	0	0	0.2	5	7	5	0	94.50	—	0.0
Career · 10 seasons			22	16	267	2	13	390.0	424	184	115	222	4.25	—	4,775

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

Carl Willis — Career Batting Statistics
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	PIV
267	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	.250	.400	.250	.650	0

Career AVG .250 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .400 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — +22.4% above league average.

Career SLG .250 vs. league average .394 across their career seasons — 36.6% below league average.

Career OPS .650 vs. league average .721 across their career seasons — 9.9% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Carl Willis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year	Team	Lg	G	AB	H	BB	AVG	Lg AVG	Lg OBP	Lg SLG	Lg OPS	PIV
1984	DET	AL	10	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1984	CIN	NL	7	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1985	CIN	NL	11	1	0	1	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1986	CIN	NL	29	3	1	0	.333	—	—	—	—	0.0
1988	CHA	AL	6	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1991	MIN	AL	40	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1992	MIN	AL	59	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1993	MIN	AL	53	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1994	MIN	AL	49	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
1995	MIN	AL	3	0	0	0	.000	—	—	—	—	0.0
Career · 10 seasons			267	4	1	1	.250	—	—	—	—	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

Carl Willis — Playoff Career Batting
G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Batting by Year

Carl Willis — Playoff Batting by Year
Year	Round	Team	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	AVG
1991	ALCS	MIN	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
1991	WS	MIN	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000

Playoff Career Pitching

Carl Willis — Playoff Career Pitching
W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
0	0	7	0	0	12.1	8	4	2	5	2.92

Playoff Pitching by Year

Carl Willis — Playoff Pitching by Year
Year	Round	Team	W	L	G	GS	SV	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
1991	ALCS	MIN	0	0	3	0	0	5.1	2	0	0	3	0.00
1991	WS	MIN	0	0	4	0	0	7.0	6	4	2	2	5.14

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (534 games) →

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

Batting — Home / Away

Carl Willis — Batting — Home / Away
Split	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	AVG
Home	138	4	0	1	0	0	.250
Away	129	0	0	0	0	0	—

Pitching — Home / Away

Carl Willis — Pitching — Home / Away
Split	G	IP	H	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Home	138	209.2	229	108	55	120	4.64
Away	129	180.1	195	76	60	102	3.79

Last 10 Games — Pitching

Carl Willis — Last 10 Games — Pitching
Date	Tm	Opp	Dec	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
1995-05-03	MIN	KCR	—	0.1	2	2	2	2	0
1995-04-28	MIN	BAL	—	0.0	1	0	0	0	0
1995-04-26	MIN	BOS	—	0.1	2	5	5	3	0
1994-08-10	MIN	BOS	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	1
1994-08-08	MIN	BOS	—	1.0	1	0	0	0	0
1994-08-06	MIN	NYY	—	1.2	1	0	0	1	1
1994-08-05	MIN	NYY	—	0.2	4	4	4	1	0
1994-07-30	MIN	KCR	—	0.2	1	0	0	0	0
1994-07-26	MIN	TEX	—	1.0	2	1	0	0	1
1994-07-24	MIN	MIL	W	1.2	3	0	0	0	1

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Carl Willis — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
P	267	2	22	41	3	5

Season-by-Season Fielding

Carl Willis — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year	Team	Pos	G	GS	PO	A	E	DP
1984	DET	P	10	2	1	2	0	1
1984	CIN	P	7	0	0	3	0	0
1985	CIN	P	11	0	0	1	1	0
1986	CIN	P	29	0	4	10	0	3
1988	CHA	P	6	0	3	0	0	0
1991	MIN	P	40	0	4	8	1	0
1992	MIN	P	59	0	6	6	1	1
1993	MIN	P	53	0	2	6	0	0
1994	MIN	P	49	0	2	5	0	0
1995	MIN	P	3	0	0	0	0	0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Carl Willis Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position	Games
Pitcher	267

Salary History

Carl Willis — Salary History
Year	Team	League	Salary
1994	MIN	AL	$500,000
1993	MIN	AL	$500,000
1992	MIN	AL	$325,000
1986	CIN	NL	$70,000
Total Career Earnings			$1,395,000

College History

Carl Willis — College History
School Name	City	State	Years Attended
University of North Carolina at Wilmington	Wilmington	NC	1980, 1981, 1982, 1983

Most Similar Players

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

Career Spans

Carl Willis (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

Carl Willis: the record in brief

Carl Willis played a first major league game on June 9, 1984 and a last one on May 3, 1995. The team column moves through the Detroit Tigers (1984), the Cincinnati Reds (1984 through 1986), the Chicago White Sox (1988), and the Minnesota Twins (1991 through 1995). At 6'4" and 210 pounds, Willis is listed as a pitcher. Willis threw right-handed and batted left-handed, per the bio block. The recorded birth is December 28, 1960, in Danville, VA, USA. The given name on file is Carl Blake Willis.

Willis pitched in 267 games, starting 2, and finished with a 22-16 record and 4.25 ERA. The totals include 222 strikeouts and 13 saves. Against a 4.01 league ERA for the same seasons, the 4.25 mark was 5.9% worse. The best win total was 8, in 1991. In 1991, one of the busiest seasons, Willis posted a 2.63 ERA; the league figure that year was 3.91. Pitcher PIV, the site's era-adjusted run-prevention measure, totals 4,775.2 for Willis's career.

Frequently Asked Questions about Carl Willis

What years did Carl Willis play?: Carl Willis played in Major League Baseball from 1984 to 1995.
Was Carl Willis a pitcher?: Yes. Carl Willis pitched in the major leagues, recording 22 wins and 222 strikeouts.
How many home runs did Carl Willis hit?: Carl Willis hit 0 career home runs with 1 hits.
What was Carl Willis's career batting average?: Carl Willis batted .250 over his career, with 1 hits in 4 at bats.
What was Carl Willis's career ERA?: Carl Willis finished with a 4.25 career ERA, going 22-16 with 222 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did Carl Willis have?: Carl Willis recorded 222 career strikeouts.