Talk about an embarrassment of riches. You’re the world series champions. You’re getting the full Shohei Ohtani next season as he returns to the mound and now you’ve added a former Cy Young award winner, So how does this rotation stack up historically?
Yes the Braves front end with three hall of famers, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine is tough to beat. They also covered a lot of innings. Much much more than the workload of the starting model these days.
They were four deep several times, helped at times by Charlie Liebrandt, Steve Avery, Denny Neagle and Kevin Millwood starting in 1991. The most effective five deep rotation came in 1998 as Neagle and Millwood joined the big three.
Those five covered all but nine of the starts. Dennis Martinez (5) and Bruce Chen (4) the other nine. That starting five averaged two hundred and six innings. Only Millwood’s 4.08 ERA looking a little out of place. He did go 17-8!
Orioles had four 20 game winners
It’s tough to beat the 1971 Baltimore Orioles, Mike Cueller, Jim Palmer, Dave McNally and Pat Dobson all won twenty, the only time in MLB history. Cueller’s 3.08 ERA was the highest. Grant Jackson and Dave Leonhard combined for an under three ERA in 15 starts.
The ’72 champion Oakland A’s fivesome of Jim ‘Catfish’ Hunter, Ken Holtzman, John ‘Blue Moon’ Odem, Vida Blue and Dave Hamilton all had sub three ERAs.
In 1954 Cleveland won one hundred and eleven of a hundred and fifty-four with Early Wynn, Mike Garcia, Bob Lemon, Art Houtteman and Bob Feller. Houtteman’s 3.55 ERA the highest.
The 1988 New York Mets boasted Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, David Cone, Bob Ojeda and Sid Fernandez. Darling’s ERA highest here at 3.25.
1966 Dodgers only needed four
The only rotation that could go toe to toe with the 1998 Braves would be the 1966 Dodgers. They only had four starters and they covered every single start and like Atlanta included three hall of famers. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale and Don Sutton plus Claude O’Steen.
They averaged a ridiculous two hundred and forty innings each. Koufax with three hundred and twenty-three of them. He made one world series start and retired at thirty after winning his third Cy Young award.
The 2025 Dodgers however will be like none other in history, when healthy can run you seven, eight or nine deep. Word is they’ll go with six from day one. It starts with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell.
The defending world series champs will see several injured starters return with Shohei Ohtani, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May. That’s seven. Then there’s up and coming Landon Knack and former top prospect Bobby Miller who had a disastrous 2024.
Who knows maybe River Ryan and/or Gavin Stone can make it back from their injuries to help out by playoff time. They say you never have enough pitching. Sounds like enough to me. Oh, did I mention they’re also interested in Japanese star Roki Sasaki?
