This time span includes Carlton's all-time best season, a 1972 season in which he went 27-10 with a 1.97 ERA for a Phillies club that won just 59 games. No other pitcher had more than seven wins in a season, and he was a reliever. In addition, he had six seasons where he had at least 150 innings pitched and averaged less than 6 ER per game. His career average is 4.7 ER/game, which is third highest among pitchers with at least 2,500 innings pitched. His inconsistency caused him to have several great years and many bad ones throughout his career. For example, in 1971 he had 28 victories against only 10 losses while finishing with a 3.32 ERA. The following year he had 23 wins against 43 losses with a 5.02 ERA. Another reason why he is considered one of the most inconsistent pitchers is because he had several injury-shortened seasons during his career. In 1964, he lost part of the season due to shoulder problems. Two years later, he missed nearly two months of action after breaking two bones in his left hand while hitting against a wall outside of his home stadium. In addition, he had three other seasons where he made 30 or more starts but did not finish the season due to injury. The last one occurred in 1979 when he made 31 appearances but only finished the season due to elbow surgery that same year.