LossesL

L stands for losses in baseball. A loss is charged to the pitcher who allowed the run that put his team behind for good — even if he pitched well and the offence scored nothing behind him.

How L is calculated

Awarded by the official scorer, one per game, to the pitcher responsible for the go-ahead run.

The record is Cy Young’s 316 losses, alongside his 511 wins; both totals say more about pitching 7,356 innings than about how good he was.

What counts as a good L?

Half of the 312 qualified MLB players in 2026 were at or below 5. The tenth with the most were above 10, which is where the number stops being a good sign.

Median: 5
Top 10%: 10
Leader: 15

By position, the median was 8 for SP and 3 for RP.

Qualified: 50+ IP, non-zero, 2026 regular season.