September 7, 1986. I traveled that day to Cincinnati on business and had the good fortune of having the Reds in town that night to play the Cubs. In a reversal of roles, I took my parents to see the game. While I had heard that Chicago was starting a rookie pitcher, I didn’t know much about him. Turns out that it was the first start of Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux’s career. Maddux was just twenty years old. I must admit that I have only faint recollection of the game, but the record books show that the Cubbies won 11-3 and Maddux pitched a complete, 9-inning game, giving up just 3 hits. He would go on to pitch 108 more complete games in his career. This one though was not “a Maddux”.

So what is “a Maddux”? When a pitcher throws a 9-innings or more shutout with fewer than 100 pitches. Baseball writer Jason Lukehart started the statistic in 2012 and it was named after his favorite pitcher for good reason. Greg Maddux accomplished the feat thirteen times in his career, the most ever. It’s a fairly new stat, since actual pitch count data wasn’t available until 1988. In that year alone, there were 25 times when a pitcher threw one. The only time it was done in extra innings was in 2003 when Roy Halladay had “a Maddux” in a 10-inning game.

The pitching career of Greg Maddux is full of other remarkable records. Among them, he won the Cy Young four years in a row (1992-1995). During those years, his ERA was 1.98. Overall, he touted a 3.16 ERA, a record of 355-227, and had 3,371 strikeouts, one of only ten pitchers in MLB history to have over 300 wins and 300 Ks. He was truly a Gold Glover on the mound, winning the award the most times of any player in history (18). While he did pitch for the Dodgers and the Padres, his career success of course was with two teams, the Cubs and Braves. His jersey number 31 is retired by both clubs. Interestingly, in his last start in his maiden season (1986) he threw a complete game win over his older brother, Mike, and the Phillies. It happened to be Mike’s rookie season too.

Zane Smith, a lefty who pitched for four teams in 13 seasons (1984-1996), pitched “a Maddux” seven times, the second most ever. Smith is tied with Greg for the most in a single season with three. Zane’s early success was also as a Brave when he led Atlanta with 15 wins in 1987. I remember him mostly when he starred for the Pirates during their 1990 pennant drive. Pittsburgh rode Smith’s left arm down the stretch as he threw three complete game wins in September, including a one-hitter over the division rival Mets.

Complete games of under 100 pitches are a rarity nowadays. Max Fried, now a Yankee after eight seasons also with the Braves, is the leader among active pitchers in throwing “a Maddux” three times. Fried is one of the more dominant pitchers in this era, sporting an overall 83-38 record with an ERA of under 3. Like Maddux, Max is a Gold Glover on the mound, winning the award three consecutive seasons (2020-2022). Last season as a Brave, Fried threw “a Maddux”, one of only two in 2024. This year he has a record of 10-2 with an ERA of 1.92 which just might land him the starting job for the AL All-Stars in a few weeks.

In 2025 we have witnessed “a Maddux” on two occasions. This past Friday the Cardinals’ Sonny Gray threw a one-hit, complete game 5-0 shutout against the Guardians. Gray needed only 89 pitches, the first time since 2021 when “a Maddux” was recorded under 90 pitches. Max Fried hurled that one! The other was in the season’s first week. On April 1, Nathan Eovaldi of the Texas Rangers needed only 99 pitches to beat the Reds 1-0 in a complete game. The fun thing about his opening week performance is that Eovaldi is under the tutelage of the Rangers’ pitching coach, Mike Maddux. After the game, Eovaldi exclaimed, “When I heard it was 99 pitches, I was like (sweet), it’s great to throw a Maddux.” Mike Maddux joked, “I had a feeling this name would come up.”

When I think of low pitch counts and complete games today, my thoughts turn to the “the Professor”, Kyle Hendriks. He starred for the Cubs for eleven seasons (2014-2024) and now is on the hill for the Angels. Similar to Maddux, Kyle made his MLB debut against the Reds in Cincinnati somewhat late in the season (July). Hendriks finished 2014 with a 7-2 win-loss record and an ERA of 2.46. Hendriks’ most accomplished season has to be 2016, when he went 16-8 with an ERA of 2.13, the lowest in baseball. The Cubbies captured the world title behind his stellar pitching.

Just six seasons ago, on May 3, 2019, Kendriks threw one of the most masterful games ever, an 81 pitch, 4-0 complete game win over the Cardinals, a true “Maddux”. I happened to be at Wrigley that afternoon with my oldest daughter on a “catch up with each other’s life” outing. We didn’t have much time to chat though, since the game was completed so quickly. Sometimes, “a Maddux” gets in the way.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach