The Heaviest Pitcher-Batter Matchups In MLB History

Watching a recent plate appearance featuring Livan Hernandez

vs. Carlos Lee got me to wondering which batter-pitcher matchup has produced the heaviest combined weight. Being me, I had to do the research. The results are below.

First off, a bit about my methodology. In past

posts on weight, I just used a player’s listed weight on Baseball-Reference. However, many of these weights are comically awry , presumably because a player’s weight can get locked in early in his career, even if he subsequently gains a ton of weight and pitches most of his career at the higher number. So I decided to add a second source–the Lahman database .

I looked at a player’s weight in both databases and used the higher of the two figures. The reason for this is simple. Given teams’ motivation to make players sound less fat than they are, nearly all listed weights are going to be underestimates. By taking the higher number, we get as close as we can to a player’s heaviest weight. Weights vary over time, obviously, but that can’t be helped; this is the best we can do if looking for a single value.

You’ll notice that the heaviest combinations are all from recent seasons. While a few very hefty players appeared in MLB before the 1990s–Jumbo Brown

, for instance–they were few and far between, and the true scale-busters never faced each other. Once the ’90s hit, though, the average size of players shot up–thanks to more emphasis on weight training, not to mention a trend toward taller players, and yes, steroids.

On to the list. Here are the 10 (and then some) heaviest pitcher-batter combinations in MLB history:

1. 585 pounds: Jonathan Broxton

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(300) vs. Adam Dunn

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(285)

This is no surprise, I suppose, as Broxton is the heaviest pitcher listed in both databases (tied with the aforementioned Mr. Brown in Lahman) and Dunn is the heaviest hitter on Baseball-Reference (3rd-heaviest in Lahman). Both are very tall, of course; you almost have to be tall if you want to push 300 pounds and play in MLB regularly.

Broxton and Dunn have faced each other 6 times total, from 2007 to 2010. The results

: 3 walks, 2 strikeouts, and a groundout. I guess that’s pretty much what you’d expect from these guys.

T-2. 575 pounds: Broxton (300) vs. Prince Fielder

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(275)

Fielder is a notable exception on this list for not being very tall (he’s only listed at 5’11″). He and Bartolo Colon

are the only players to play significantly in MLB at under 6 feet tall and a listed weight above 250 pounds. Like Dunn, Fielder faced Broxton 6 times between 2007 and 2010. The end results were 3 singles, 2 groundouts, and a strikeout.

T-2. 575 pounds: CC Sabathia

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(290) vs. Dunn (285)

Dunn has faced Sabathia 35 times dating back to 2003, and he hasn’t fared too well

. Dunn managed just 5 hits (3 singles & 2 doubles) and 1 walk in that span, with 12 strikeouts. That’s a .156 / .200 / .219 line.

T-2. 575 pounds: Jon Rauch

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(290) vs. Dunn (285)

Rauch gets his weight more from his extraordinary height (he’s listed at 6’11″) than any tendency to plumpness, but heavy is heavy, so he’s on the list. He faced Dunn

6 times between 2005 and 2009, with 2 strikeouts, 2 singles, and 2 popouts to shortstop.

T-5. 570 pounds: Broxton (300) vs. Carlos Lee (270)

Lee has faced Broxton 7 times, between 2006 and 2010, and he’s hit him very well

, smacking a homer, a double, and 2 singles to go along with 2 groundouts and a strikeout.

T-5. 570 pounds: Jeff Fulchino

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, Chad Paronto

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, and Jeff Niemann

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(285) vs. Dunn (285)

Dunn has faced each of these 285-pound pitchers exactly 3 times in his career. He faced Fulchino in 2009 and 2010, and reached base each time

: intentional walk, double, single. In Dunn’s PAs against Paronto, he grounded out, flew out, and hit an RBI single. This was in 2006 and 2007. Finally, Dunn faced Niemann for the first (and so far, only) time on April 21st of last year, going 1/3 with a single, foulout, and strikeout.

T-9. 565 pounds: Carlos Zambrano

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(275) vs. Brad Eldred

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(290)

Eldred, the second-heaviest MLB hitter of all time, faced Zambrano

3 times in a 2005 game. He struck out and hit two flyouts.

T-9. 565 pounds: Sabathia (290) vs. Tommy Everidge

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(275)

Everidge has not had much of a career, but he did well

in his one game against Sabathia, hitting a homer, drawing an intentional walk, and grounding out. The homer was one of only 2 in Everidge’s MLB career; the other was off of another impressive pitcher, Joakim Soria .

T-9. 565 pounds: Fulchino (285) vs. Carlos Maldonado

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(280)

Maldonado and Fulchino faced off twice in 2010, resulting in

a single and a groundout.

T-9. 565 pounds: 4 Pitchers (280) vs. Dunn (285)

Dunn has faced 4 pitchers who has listed weights of 280 pounds: Seth McClung

, Chris Young , Tommy Hunter , and Renyel Pinto .

He faced McClung 4 times, all in the 2008 season, and pulled off

a typical Adam Dunn line: 1/3 with a homer, 2 strikeouts, and a walk. He faced Young twice back in 2006 and struck out both times. Dunn got his 3 PAs against Tommy Hunter last August 10th, striking out twice and grounding out.

Pinto, who is a lefty, has been brought in to face the lefty-swinging Dunn very often (16 times in all

), from 2006 to 2010. He’s handled Dunn well in that time, striking him out 7 times compared to just 1 walk (and 1 HBP) while allowing just two hits, a single and a double. Dunn’s line vs. Pinto is ugly: .143 / .250 / .214.

T-9. 565 pounds: Sabathia and Rauch (290) vs. Fielder (275)

Until the 2012 season, Sabathia and Fielder spent most of their careers in separate leagues (and when they were in the same league briefly, they were teammates). So they have only faced each other

in one game, an interleague affair in 2011. Fielder went 0/3 with 2 strikeouts and a flyout.

Fielder faced

Rauch 4 times between 2007 and 2010, drawing 2 walks, grounding out, and flying out.

T-9. 565 pounds: Sabathia and Rauch (290) vs. Zambrano (275)

That’s right, Big Z has faced both of these guys once as a hitter. He struck out against Sabathia

in 2008 and doubled off Rauch in 2009. These are the only pitcher-vs.-pitcher matchups on the list. Zambrano has not pitched with Sabathia or Rauch batting.

Honorable Mentions

These might not be comprehensive, but I’ve done my best to find as many 550-pound-or-higher combinations as I could.

560-pound combinations:

• Jesus Colome
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  (240 pounds) vs. Walter Young
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  (320 pounds–heaviest in MLB history)
• Rauch (290) vs. Kyle Blanks
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  (270)
• Sabathia (290) vs. Wily Mo Pena
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  (270)
• Sabathia and Rauch (290) vs. Lee (270)
• Zambrano and Sean West
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  (275) vs. Dunn (285)
• Fulchino, Paronto, and Niemann (285) vs. Fielder (275)

555-pound combinations:

• Broxton (300) vs. Ryan Howard
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  (255)
• Sabathia and Rauch (290) vs. Landon Powell
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  (265)
• Paronto and Niemann (285) vs. Lee (270)
• Felipe Paulino
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  and Andy Sisco
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  (270) vs. Dunn (285)
• Young, Pinto, and Jose Ceda
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  (280) vs. Fielder (275)
• Hunter (280) vs. Everidge (275)–an all-Tommy matchup

550-pound combinations:

• Dustin McGowan
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  (230) vs. Young (320)
• Broxton (300) vs. Jim Thome
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  , Scott Rolen
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  , and Elijah Dukes
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  (250)
• Aaron Harang
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  (260) vs. Eldred (290)
• Rauch (290) vs. Brad Nelson
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  (260)
• Sabathia (290) vs. Harang (260) and vice-versa
• Michael Pineda
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  , Carl Pavano
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  , and Bartolo Colon (265) vs. Dunn (285)
• McClung and Pinto (280) vs. Peña (270)
• McClung, Young, Pinto, and Hunter (280) vs. Lee (270)
• Hunter and Ceda (280) vs. Blanks (270)
• Zambrano and West (275) vs. Fielder (275)
• Bobby Jenks
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  (275) vs. Everidge (275)

Surprisingly, I couldn’t find any other combinations for Walter Young, whose 320-pound listed weight in the Lahman database is 20 pounds more than any other player in history. Colome and McGowan are the only two pitchers he faced in his brief career who have listed weights above 225 pounds.

One player who missed the list and honorable mentions entirely is Calvin Pickering

, who is listed at 283 pounds, the 4th-highest figure for a hitter in either database. Unfortunately, he never faced anyone heavier than Bartolo Colon, whose listed weight is 265. That gives them a combined weight of 548 pounds, just below by cutoff.

A few hefty pitchers didn’t have any combinations of 550 pounds or more, including Chris Britton

(278) and Heath Phillips (275).

I hope you enjoyed this tour of the heaviest PAs in history. Let me know if you find any that I may have missed, particularly ones from earlier in baseball history. Thanks for reading.