Back in June 2010, I looked at the season that Jamie Moyer, then 47, was having. A month later, he suffered a season-ending (and seemingly career-ending) injury that resulted in Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2011 season, but managed to make the Rockies rotation this year. Six starts into the season, I would say that he's not bad for his age, but that wouldn't be entirely accurate; he hasn't been bad for any MLB pitcher of any age.
Granted, he is only 1-2, and he's averaging only 5.2 innings per start, but his ERA is 4.01, and his ERA+ is a respectable 111, putting him safely above the league average. To put that in perspective, that's better than any member of the 2012 Red Sox rotation so far.
At the age of 49, Moyer is now the fourth oldest pitcher in MLB history, behind Satchel Paige (59), Jack Quinn (50), and Hoyt Wilhelm (49). Each of the three of them only pitched one season at an age older than what Moyer is right now, and here's how it adds up for the three of them. In MLB history, pitchers older than Moyer have pitched a total of:
31 games
1 start
44 innings
0 wins
2 losses
Moyer was already the oldest pitcher to pitch a shutout, and this year became the oldest ever to win a game, and the second oldest ever to start a game (a record set by Satchel Paige that is unlikely to be broken), the oldest to pitch more than three innings in a start, the oldest to start multiple games in a season, and the oldest to pitch more than 30 innings in a season (he's currently at 33.2 innings). He's also the oldest MLB player at any position in the majors since 1980, surpassing Julio Franco, who played less than a month past his 49th birthday in 2007.
I would say that this is probably Moyer's last season, but I'm sure people were saying the same thing 21 years ago, when he was released by the Cardinals. Not that I can blame them; he has a lower ERA+ so far this year than he had in any season in his 20's.
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