Blue Jays: All Time Drafted and Developed Starting Pitchers

#1A Dave Stieb

After going undrafted in High School, Dave Stieb attended Southern Illinois University and played as an outfielder.  After not excelling as a top prospect as a fielder, scouts started to take notice of Stieb as a pitcher when he started coming in relief in games.  The Blue Jays took a chance on him and selected him in the fifth round of the 1978 draft and what they got was arguably the best pitcher in team history.

Post Draft, Stieb reported to the Dunedin Blue Jays where he made four starts before the season ended, to say he did well would be an understatement.  Stieb posted a 2.08 ERA and 0.923 WHIP and the Blue Jays put more pressure on Stieb the following season.  In 1979, Stieb would make just eight more starts for Dunedin and the club jumped him straight up to AAA Syracuse.  Once he got to Syracuse he made seven more starts where he had a 5-2 record with a 2.12 ERA and 1.04 WHIP.

Stieb was drafted in June 1978, and on June 29, 1979, he made his major league debut and finished the season in Toronto.  By 1980, Stieb had become an All-Star and ace of the Blue Jays pitching rotation.  He would pick up at least 11 wins in 10 of his 11 final full seasons in a Toronto uniform.  He is arguably a top-five pitcher in the 1980s in all Major League Baseball.  He was named an All-Star seven times, received Cy Young Votes five times and AL MVP votes three times.  He is the only Blue Jays pitcher to throw a no-hitter and finished his career with 176 wins which is first in team history.

If you look back at the video of the 1992 World Series celebration, Stieb is one of the first players on the field running to the pitchers mound, however, he was not used in the playoffs that year and is not credited with a World Series title.  What he does have is the all-time WAR leader among team pitchers, tied with Jimmy Key in ERA, and leads all pitchers in hit batters with 129 which is more than double than the next closest pitcher.

What order did you have?  Is there someone you thought was more deserving?  Is Marcus Stroman #5?