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A complete game (CG) is credited when one pitcher pitches the entire game for his team without being replaced.
It does not have to be a nine-inning win.
A complete game can be:
- A win or a loss
- A shutout or a game in which the pitcher allows runs
- Shorter than nine innings if the game officially ends early
- Longer than nine innings if the game goes to extras
The defining requirement is simple: the pitcher must be the only pitcher to appear for his team for the entire game. MLB’s official glossary uses that same standard.
Complete games were once a routine part of baseball. Today they are genuinely unusual. MLB recorded just 22 complete games in the entire 2024 regular season and 21 in the 2025 regular season.
What Counts as a Complete Game?
The easiest example is:
Starting pitcher throws innings 1 through 9 and records his team’s final defensive out.
That is a complete game.
But nine innings are not actually required.
MLB defines a CG according to whether the pitcher handled the entire game for his team, regardless of how long that game lasted.
That creates several important edge cases.
Can You Throw an Eight-Inning Complete Game?
Yes.
Suppose the visiting team trails after the top of the ninth inning.
The home team has already won, so it does not bat in the bottom of the ninth.
The visiting starter therefore pitched all eight defensive innings his team was required to play.
If no reliever appeared, that pitcher can receive a complete game despite throwing only eight innings.
This follows from MLB’s regulation-game structure: when the home team leads after the visitor makes three outs in the top of the ninth, the bottom half is unnecessary.
Can a Rain-Shortened Game Count as a Complete Game?
Yes.
MLB explicitly states that a game shortened by rain can still produce a complete game if the pitcher was the only pitcher to appear for his team.
So a CG does not automatically mean the box score must show 9.0 IP.
What About Extra Innings?
The same principle works in the opposite direction.
If a game lasts 10, 11 or more innings and the starter remains his team’s only pitcher throughout the entire contest, he earns a complete game.
That is exceptionally unusual in modern MLB, but the definition allows it.
Complete Game vs. Shutout vs. No-Hitter
These terms overlap, but they do not mean the same thing.
| Statistic | What it means |
|---|---|
| Complete Game (CG) | One pitcher pitches the entire game for his team |
| Shutout (SHO) | Pitcher completes the game without allowing a run |
| No-Hitter | Opponent records no hits under the applicable no-hitter criteria |
| Perfect Game | No opposing batter reaches base |
A pitcher can throw a complete game while allowing five runs.
That is still a CG.
A normal starting-pitcher shutout, however, requires the pitcher to complete the game without allowing the opposition to score. MLB therefore treats a conventional shutout as a more restrictive achievement than a complete game.
Likewise, a combined no-hitter involving several pitchers does not give any one of those pitchers a complete game.
How Rare Are Complete Games in Modern MLB?
This is where the modern numbers are striking.
MLB’s own season-by-season complete-game lists show:
| Season | Regular-season complete games |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 22 |
| 2025 | 21 |
| 2026 through Sept. 28 | 16 |
MLB’s 2024 list contains 22 complete games. Its 2025 list contains 21 regular-season complete games, plus two Yoshinobu Yamamoto postseason complete games listed separately. The 2026 list currently contains 16 through September 25.
For perspective, MLB teams collectively play 2,430 regular-season games in a normal 162-game schedule.
So in 2024:
22 ÷ 2,430 ≈ 0.9%
That doesn’t mean exactly 0.9% of starts were CGs—the denominator here is games, not individual starts—but it gives an intuitive picture of the rarity:
Across an entire MLB schedule, there was roughly one complete game for every 110 games played.
In 2025, the rate was similarly low:
21 ÷ 2,430 ≈ 0.86%
Complete games haven’t disappeared.
But they are clearly exceptional events.
What Do Recent Complete Games Look Like?
The actual pitch counts are useful because they show how modern starters reach the finish line.
Several 2024 complete games included:
- Bailey Ober — 89 pitches
- Joey Estes — 92
- Max Fried — 92
- Tanner Houck — 94
- Justin Steele — 95
- Keider Montero — 96
Others required more than 110 pitches, including Blake Snell’s no-hitter at 114 and Kevin Gausman’s complete game at 118.
The same pattern continued in 2026.
Braxton Ashcraft completed a game on 85 pitches, Bailey Ober did it in 89, Sandy Alcantara in 93, and Jacob Misiorowski in 95.
That provides a much more useful explanation than simply saying a CG requires “toughness.”
Efficiency matters.
Why Have Complete Games Become So Rare?
There isn’t one single cause.
Modern pitching strategy changed in several connected ways.
Bullpens Became More Important
MLB itself identifies the growing importance of bullpens as a major reason complete games have become increasingly rare.
Modern teams have specialized relievers who can enter fresh in the late innings.
A manager no longer has to choose between:
tiring starter vs. mediocre replacement.
The alternative may be a high-velocity reliever specifically built to dominate one inning.
That changes the value of leaving a starter in simply to finish the game.
Pitch Count Matters
MLB notes that pitchers who lead in complete games tend to be able to keep their pitch counts low and avoid walks.
Recent results illustrate the point.
Framber Valdez completed a game in 2025 on only 83 pitches, while Trevor Rogers needed 88 and Sonny Gray 89.
A starter sitting at 80 pitches after eight innings presents a very different managerial decision from one sitting at 115.
Managers Can Use Fresh Late-Inning Pitchers
The modern bullpen is constructed around shorter appearances.
That means a starter entering the eighth or ninth inning isn’t merely competing against his own fatigue.
He is being compared with a fresh reliever whose entire job may be to record three outs.
The strategic threshold for leaving the starter in has therefore changed.
How Much Have Complete Games Declined Historically?
The decline began long before today’s pitch clocks or current analytics departments.
Baseball-Reference examined historical complete-game rates and found that more than one-quarter of starts could end in complete games during parts of the earlier era, while by 2008 the annual rate had already fallen below 3%.
That historical trend is important.
It means the disappearance of complete games wasn’t caused by one recent rule or one generation of managers.
It developed over decades as pitcher usage and bullpen specialization changed.
Modern baseball simply pushed the trend much further.
What Is a “Maddux”?
A Maddux is a particularly efficient type of complete game:
A complete-game shutout thrown on fewer than 100 pitches.
The term is named after Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.
MLB notes that since accurate pitch-count data became available in 1988, Maddux himself recorded 13 such starts—the most in the Majors over that period.
This is a useful concept because it highlights what makes a modern CG easier to achieve:
quick outs + few baserunners + low pitch count.
Real Example: Braxton Ashcraft’s 85-Pitch Complete Game
On August 13, 2026, Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft completed a game against Miami using only 85 pitches.
His line:
9 IP 3 H 1 R 10 K 1 BB 85 pitches
That is an unusually efficient modern complete game.
It also demonstrates that strikeouts and efficiency don’t necessarily conflict: Ashcraft struck out 10 while still finishing nine innings on only 85 pitches.
Real Example: Dylan Cease Goes to 120 Pitches
Not every CG follows that model.
On July 25, 2026, Dylan Cease completed a game against Boston with:
9 IP 4 H 2 R 7 K 0 BB 120 pitches
Compare:
Ashcraft: 85 pitches
Cease: 120 pitches
Both count exactly the same in the CG column.
This illustrates an important point:
Complete game describes how long the pitcher stayed in the game—not how efficiently or dominantly he pitched.
Does a Complete Game Have to Be a Win?
No.
A pitcher can lose and still receive a complete game.
CG measures whether he pitched his team’s entire game, not whether his team won.
This also explains the unusual eight-inning complete-game loss.
If a visiting starter pitches eight innings, his team remains behind after the top of the ninth and the game ends, he has pitched every defensive inning available to his team.
Can a Reliever Earn a Complete Game?
For the normal CG statistic, the key requirement is that the pitcher be his team’s only pitcher in the game.
MLB’s statistical leaderboard describes CG as a pitcher starting and finishing the entire game without relief.
There is an unusual historical scoring wrinkle involving shutouts: MLB Rule 9.18 permits a relief pitcher under a very specific first-inning scenario to receive shutout credit without receiving a complete game.
That exception is another reason not to treat CG and SHO as perfectly interchangeable statistics.
Does a Seven-Inning Game Count as a Complete Game?
It can, if seven innings constitute the entire game and one pitcher handles all of his team’s pitching.
This became especially visible during the pandemic-era MLB seasons when some doubleheaders were scheduled for seven innings.
The important principle isn’t the number nine.
It’s:
Did one pitcher pitch the entire game for his team?
That’s the definition MLB uses.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does CG mean in baseball?
CG stands for complete game.
It means one pitcher handled the entire game for his team without being replaced.
Does a complete game have to be nine innings?
No.
Officially shortened games can produce shorter CGs, while extra-inning games can produce complete games longer than nine innings.
Can a pitcher lose a complete game?
Yes. Winning is not part of the definition.
Is every shutout a complete game?
For a starting pitcher, a shutout normally requires pitching the entire game without allowing a run. MLB rules contain a very rare relief-pitcher exception, so technically the two statistical categories are not absolutely identical in every historical scoring circumstance.
Is a no-hitter automatically a complete game?
Not necessarily.
A combined no-hitter uses multiple pitchers, so no individual pitcher receives a CG.
How many complete games were there in 2024?
MLB’s complete-game list records 22 during the 2024 regular season.
How many were there in 2025?
MLB’s list records 21 regular-season complete games in 2025. Its page also includes two Yoshinobu Yamamoto postseason complete games.
Are complete games disappearing?
They are extremely rare compared with earlier eras, but not disappearing entirely. MLB’s 2026 list already includes complete games ranging from an 85-pitch performance by Braxton Ashcraft to a 120-pitch performance by Dylan Cease.