5 Greatest Dodgers Pitchers of All Time

Is this a cheat? Yes. Yes, it is. It’s our list, though, so we’re going to do it and we’re going to do it with a pair of Dons (one more Don is upcoming, too).

Sutton earned his ticket to the Hall of Fame in 1998 after pitching 23 seasons in the majors, 16 of which came with the Dodgers. During his time in Los Angeles, Sutton earned four All-Star nods and racked up a 50.5 WAR thanks to a 3.09 earned-run average and 1.123 WHIP. He’s the franchise leader in starts, wins, shutouts, and innings.

Newcombe doesn’t quite have that resume and isn’t in the Hall of Fame. For our money, he should be. Newcombe began his professional career in the Negro Leagues in 1944 and joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1949, two years after teammate Jackie Robinson broke MLB’s color barrier. 

Newcombe was the first pitcher to win Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and the Cy Young Award in his career, a distinction that wasn’t matched again until Justin Verlander did it in the 2000s. Newcombe won the first-ever Cy Young Award and was the first black pitcher to start a World Series game.

4. Dazzy Vance

Vance had the unfortunate timing to play in the era immediately after the dead-ball era of the 1900s through about 1920. He joined the Dodgers in 1922 at the ripe, young age of 31 and led the National League in strikeouts seven times, shutouts four times, and ERA three times. 

Vance won MVP in 1924 and 10 years later, at the age of 34, he finally captured his first World Series, though it came with the St. Louis Cardinals. He ranks fourth in Dodgers history in wins and is the only Dodgers pitcher to rank in the top 10 in team history in strikeouts who pitched before 1950.

RELATED READ: 5 Greatest Dodgers Hitters of All Time

3. Don Drysdale

Imagine facing the Dodgers in the mid-1950s into the mid-1960s and having to face Drysdale one game and the No. 2 pitcher on this list perhaps the next. Good luck, hitters.

Drysdale, like the next two pitchers, spent his entire career with the Dodgers, playing two seasons in Brooklyn before the team moved to Los Angeles. It was in L.A. where he became a star, earning All-Star Game appearances in nine of his 12 seasons out West. 

Drysdale won the Cy Young Award in 1962 and ultimately recorded 209 victories over his career en route to a Hall-of-Fame induction in 1984.

2. Sandy Koufax

Had Koufax been medically able to pitch beyond age 30, there’s little question he would top this list. As it stands, Koufax carries the greatest career of a pitcher in their 20s in the history of the sport.

Koufax was a fair pitcher for the first six years of his MLB career from 1955 to 1960. He never won more than 11 games in a season and his best ERA during a full season was just 3.88. But in 1961, Koufax became a superstar.

He led the Major Leagues in strikeouts that season and would do the same three more times. He led the National League in ERA in five seasons, WHIP in four, hits-per-nine innings in four, and won three Cy Young Awards and one MVP. In all, Koufax was a seven-time All-Star, two-time World Series winner, and World Series MVP before an arthritic elbow cut his career short.

1. Clayton Kershaw

Injuries have stifled Kershaw, too, in the late stages of his career, but somehow the man who will be 38 when the 2026 season begins has kept plugging away.

A debate is to be had, but Kershaw is in the conversation as the greatest pitcher of the 21st century. He’s won three Cy Youngs, a Gold Glove, the pitching triple crown, five ERA titles, an MVP, and two World Series.

From 2011 to 2017, Kershaw was the most dominant pitcher in the game, recording six seasons with an ERA below 2.50. He led the National League in strikeouts three times during the stretch and WHIP four times in the period.

And while Kershaw may not have many years left, he showed in 2025 that he still had it, going 11-2 over 22 starts with a 3.36 ERA as the Dodgers won their second World Series during his stint.