Ranking the Seattle Mariners best seasons ever by Pitchers

Mariners Mike Moore — BALTIMORE, MD – CIRCA 1986: Mike Moore #25 of the Seattle Mariners pitches against the Baltimore Orioles during an Major League Baseball game circa 1986 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland. Moore played for the Mariners from 1982-88. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

#6: Mike Moore: 1985 w/6.3 WAR

Here it is. The first incredible season by a Mariners pitcher, at least from a WAR standpoint. Mike Moore would earn the first 6.0+ WAR season for the Mariners, and it would be the lone season until Randy Johnson in 1993.

He was just kind of there his first three years, never doing anything too impressive. A combined 5.02 ERA in ~480 innings. However, something changed in 1985. He would throw 247 innings, with a 3.46 ERA and a 3.28 FIP. He also exhibited his best control to date, with a walk rate of just 2.6BB/9.

He ended up 10th in Cy Young voting that year. It was a close year for the Cy Young, with the top 5 in WAR being between 7.1 and 6.3. Even though I don’t like the Wins stat, it is nice seeing that he finished with 17 of them that year, which would be the first of three seasons in which he would finish with 17. He also threw an incredible 14 Complete Games that year, which would be the start of three straight seasons with 10+ CG.

Consistency, going deep into games, and getting the Mariners win’s almost got Moore into the top 5, if not for a teammate of his that would have some good seasons later in the 80s.

#6: Mike Moore: 1985 w/6.3 WAR

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