MLB / Players

Jimmy Key

HandednessBats Right · Throws Left

Listed at6 ft 1 in · 185 lb

BornApril 22, 1961 · Huntsville, AL, USA

MLB debutApril 6, 1984

Final gameSeptember 20, 1998

Seasons15 (1984–1998)

Toronto Blue Jays 1984–1992; New York Yankees 1993–1996; Baltimore Orioles 1997–1998

Percentile snapshot

1997 season — qualified pitchers

74.4

81.7

79.3

46.3

14.6

SHO

48.8

210

30.5

64.6

12.2

141

51.2

29.3

212.3

70.7

ERA

3.43

74.4

WHIP

1.375

35.4

K/9

5.98

43.9

FIP

4.52

30.5

FIP-

102.0

34.1

ERA+

128.9

75.6

sWAR

4.3

74.4

of 83 qualified 1997 pitchers (min 162 IP)

Career, era-adjusted

ERA+

121.6

91.1

sWAR

47.1

98.6

ERA+ measured against qualified careers (1,000+ IP), 1,334 of them; sWAR measured against every career in history, 24,011 of them. Only era-adjusted career stats carry a percentile — a raw career total gets a rank instead, because pooling the 1890s with the 2020s is a choice, not a measurement.

Season by season

Batting

Season	G	PA	AB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	wRC+	OPS+	wOBA	sWAR
1984	63	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.2
1985	36	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5.0
1986	36	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.0
1987	36	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	7.5
1988	21	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.2
1989	33	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.0
1990	27	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.0
1991	33	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.8
1992	33	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	3.5
1993	34	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	5.5
1994	25	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	4.0
1995	5	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	0.0
1996	30	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	2.1
1997	34	3	2	2	.000	.000	.000	.000	-119.9	-100.0	.000	4.3
1998	25	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	1.1

Pitching

Season	G	GS	W	L	SV	CG	SHO	H	ER	BB	SO	HR	IP	ERA	WHIP	K/9	FIP	FIP-	ERA+	sWAR
1984	63	0	4	5	10	0	0	70	32	32	44	8	62.0	4.65	1.645	6.39	4.60	112.8	87.8	0.2
1985	35	32	14	6	0	3	0	188	71	50	85	22	212.7	3.00	1.119	3.60	4.02	95.8	139.7	5.0
1986	36	35	14	11	0	4	2	222	92	74	141	24	232.0	3.57	1.276	5.47	3.92	92.9	118.1	4.0
1987	36	36	17	8	0	8	1	210	80	66	161	24	261.0	2.76	1.057	5.55	3.62	80.3	163.3	7.5
1988	21	21	12	5	0	2	2	127	48	30	65	13	131.3	3.29	1.195	4.45	3.92	100.8	118.2	2.2
1989	33	33	13	14	0	5	1	226	93	27	118	18	216.0	3.88	1.171	4.92	3.26	85.1	98.7	2.0
1990	27	27	13	7	0	0	0	169	73	22	88	20	154.7	4.25	1.235	5.12	3.80	96.6	92.5	1.0
1991	33	33	16	12	0	2	2	207	71	44	125	12	209.3	3.05	1.199	5.37	3.13	74.9	137.0	4.8
1992	33	33	13	13	0	4	2	205	85	59	117	24	216.7	3.53	1.218	4.86	4.02	99.3	114.7	3.5
1993	34	34	18	6	0	4	2	219	79	43	173	26	236.7	3.00	1.107	6.58	3.53	83.8	140.1	5.5
1994	25	25	17	4	0	1	0	177	61	52	97	10	168.0	3.27	1.363	5.20	3.80	81.9	141.8	4.0
1995	5	5	1	2	0	0	0	40	19	6	14	3	30.3	5.64	1.516	4.15	4.10	88.1	82.5	0.0
1996	30	30	12	11	0	0	0	171	88	58	116	21	169.3	4.68	1.352	6.17	4.55	92.2	105.6	2.1
1997	34	34	16	10	0	1	1	210	81	82	141	24	212.3	3.43	1.375	5.98	4.52	102.0	128.9	4.3
1998	25	11	6	3	0	0	0	77	37	23	53	5	79.3	4.20	1.261	6.01	3.69	81.0	108.4	1.1

sWAR is the season TOTAL for a player who both hit and pitched: the record book carries one figure per season, not a split, so the same number appears on both lines rather than being counted twice.

Career totals

Batting

471

RBI

.0000

OBP

.0000

SLG

.0000

OPS

.0000

Pitching

G (P)

470

389

153rd-most career GS

186

157th-most career W

117

364th-most career L

SHO

478th-most career SHO

2,592

230th-most career IP

SO (P)

1,538

219th-most career SO (P)

BB allowed

668

438th-most career BB allowed

ERA

3.507

453rd-lowest career ERA

WHIP

1.2293

253rd-lowest career WHIP

K/9

5.34

A total is called out only where it ranks in the all-time top 500; hover a figure for its rank and the size of the field it was ranked in. Ranks are absolute facts and carry no percentile — the population for "career home runs" would be an editorial choice, and the rank is not.

Best games

Batting

Date	Game	AB
1985-08-28	TOR @ MIN Gameday	0
1992-10-24	TOR @ ATL Gameday	1
1997-06-13	BAL @ ATL Gameday	2

Pitching

Date	Game	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR
1989-04-24	TOR @ ATH Gameday	8.0	9	3	3	0	10	1
1986-07-07	SEA @ TOR Gameday	7.0	8	4	4	2	10	0
1993-09-18	BOS @ NYY Gameday	6.0	9	3	3	2	10	1
1987-07-11	KC @ TOR Gameday	9.0	3	2	2	2	9	1
1993-05-28	CWS @ NYY Gameday	9.0	3	0	0	1	9	0

Ranked from our own play-by-play game log, which begins in 1901 — not from the record book, so a career played outside it shows nothing here rather than a short list.

Honors

4× All-Star

Major awards only — the awards table also records Player of the Week, and forty of those would bury seven MVPs. Hover for the years.