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Best All-Time Astros Rotation?

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by lnchan, Jul 31, 2019.

  1. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard

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    1980 - Joe Niekro, Nolan Ryan, Ken Forsch, Vern Ruhle, JR Richard
    1998 - Randy Johnson, Shane Reynolds, Jose Lima, MIke Hampton, Sean Bergman
    2005 - Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, Brandon Backe, Wandy Rodriguez
    2018 - Justin Verlander, Dallas Keuchel, Gerrit Cole, Lance McCullers, Charlie Morton
    2019 - Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole, Zack Greinke, Wade Miley, Brad Peacock

    I think 2018 is the best 1 through 5.... 1998 and 2010 for 1 through 4 although playoff Backe would make 2005 worthwhile...
     
    #1 lnchan, Jul 31, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2019
  2. theimpossibles1

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    Stopped reading at "Roger Clements"
     
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  3. Buck Turgidson

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    "Clemens"

    No "t"
     
  4. lnchan

    lnchan Sugar Land Leonard

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    Dam* autocorrect
     
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  5. No Worries

    No Worries Contributing Member

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    1969 - Larry Dierker, Don Wilson, Tom Griffin, Denny Lemaster.
     
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  6. Nick

    Nick Contributing Member

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    The BBS loves this exercise... and it gets less and less fresh every time.

    For what its worth, statistically, the 2005 1-3 (during PED era) was very impressive. Really showed how to pitch well at MMP and carried not just a bad offense, but an AWFUL offense, all the way to the pennant.
     
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  7. Fulgore

    Fulgore Member

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    Nolan
    JR Richard
    Randy Johnson
    Roger
    Mike Scott
     
  8. Air Langhi

    Air Langhi Contributing Member

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    2018 was really good. Two cy young winners + Cole + Charlie + McCullers. They were all plus starters. I think Miley + Brad is not as good.
     
  9. Tomstro

    Tomstro Member

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    We just gonna ignore the 1986 staff?
     
  10. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    Scott and Ryan vs. JV and Cole. That is pretty even. Knepper vs Miley.. Hmm. After that. What Danny Darwin vs Zach? Going off memory. Was The Palamino part of that 86 staff?
     
  11. SuraGotMadHops

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    Not saying its the best but the 05 staff carried us all the way to the WS after we lost so much offense with Beltran's and Kent's departure. Backe was money in the playoffs too.
     
  12. Buck Turgidson

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    Here's how they rank in the league, historically:

    First in ERA: 80, 81, 15, 18
    Second?: 71, 77, 79, 86, 93, 98, 05, 06
     
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  13. CrazyJoeDavola

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    Ryan
    Scott
    Knepper
    Deshaies
    Darwin

    Definitely top 5 in Stros history IMO.
     
  14. Buck Turgidson

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    Doctor Death, Danny ****ing Darwin

    Thanks for mentioning him.
     
  15. CrazyJoeDavola

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    I always try to. My mom babysat him when he was a little Dr. Death.
     
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  16. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    Deshaies. I forgot about Jimmy. Didn’t he open a game against the Cubs with 8 k’s in a row. At the time a record. Can’t remember if it was with the cubs or not. I don’t think he pitched against the Mets in the playoffs if I recall. Scott Ryan and Knepper started in the playoffs. We won both of Scott’s starts and he was set to go game 7 if we could have just got one more win somewhere.
     
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  17. mkahanek

    mkahanek Member

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    How he didn’t make top 5 Cy Young in 1990 with his 11-4 and a 2.21 ERA in 162 innings boggles my mind.
     
  18. Buck Turgidson

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  19. Buck Turgidson

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    The Bonham Bullet. He and my dad sat around drinking and talking about cattle. I was only 7, so I didn't really catch much.
     
  20. J.R.

    J.R. Member

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    Ranking the Top 10 MLB rotations of all time

    10. 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers
    Hyun-Jin Ryu (11-2, 1.53 ERA)*
    Walker Buehler (10-2, 3.22 ERA)*
    Clayton Kershaw (11-2, 2.77 ERA)*
    Rich Hill (4-1, 2.55 ERA)
    Kenta Maeda (7-8, 4.37 ERA)

    9. 2010 San Francisco Giants
    Matt Cain (13-11, 3.14 ERA)
    Tim Lincecum (16-10, 3.43 ERA)*
    Jonathan Sanchez (13-9, 3.07 ERA)
    Madison Bumgarner (7-6, 3.00 ERA)
    Barry Zito (9-14, 4.15 ERA)

    8. 1972 Oakland Athletics
    Catfish Hunter (21-7, 2.04 ERA)*
    Ken Holtzman (19-11, 2.51 ERA)*
    Blue Moon Odem (15-6, 2.50 ERA)*
    Vida Blue (6-10, 2.80 ERA)
    Dave Hamilton (6-6, 2.93 ERA)

    7. 2011 Philadelphia Phillies
    Roy Halladay (19-6, 2.35 ERA)*
    Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40 ERA)*
    Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79 ERA)*
    Roy Oswalt (9-10, 3.69 ERA)
    Vance Worley (11-3, 3.01 ERA)

    6. 1971 Baltimore Orioles
    Mike Cueller (20-9, 3.08 ERA)*
    Pat Dobson (20-8, 2.90 ERA)
    Jim Palmer (20-9, 2.68 ERA)*
    Dave McNally (21-5, 2.68 ERA)

    5. 1954 Cleveland Indians
    Early Wynn (23-11, 2.73 ERA)
    Mike Garcia (19-8, 2.64 ERA)*
    Bob Lemon (23-7, 2.72 ERA)*
    Art Houtteman (15-7, 3.55 ERA)
    Bob Feller (13-3, 3.09 ERA)

    4. 1988 New York Mets
    Dwight Gooden (18-9, 3.19 ERA)*
    Ron Darling (17-9, 3.25 ERA)
    David Cone (20-3, 2.22 ERA)*
    Bob Ojeda (10-13, 2.88 ERA)
    Sid Fernandez (12-10, 3.03 ERA)

    3. 2019 Houston Astros
    Justin Verlander (15-4, 2.82 ERA)*
    Gerrit Cole (14-5, 2.87 ERA)*
    Zack Greinke (11-4, 3.08 ERA)*
    Wade Miley (11-4, 2.99 ERA)
    Aaron Sanchez (5-14, 5.60 ERA)

    Priding themselves on spin rate, pitching coach Brent Strom and the Astros' analytical team have taken many of their starting pitchers -- Verlander, Cole, Charlie Morton, Wade Miley -- and guided them to a whole new level of dominance in recent years. Whether Houston is able to take Greinke to another level is uncertain. Even if they don't, the Greinke we have seen today is still one of the most efficient pitchers of this era. The Astros have the of two likely future Hall of Famers in Verlander and Greinke. Cole is following the same path. While it's might be early to compare this squad to the others on our list, based on potential and individual past success, the Astros are without a doubt one of the most talented rotations to ever assemble.

    2. 1966 Los Angeles Dodgers
    Sandy Koufax (27-9, 1.73 ERA)*
    Don Drysdale (13-16, 3.42 ERA)
    Claude Osteen (17-14, 2.85 ERA)
    Don Sutton (12-12, 2.99 ERA)

    1. 1998 Atlanta Braves
    Greg Maddux (18-9, 2.22 ERA)*
    Tom Glavine (20-6, 2.47 ERA)*
    Denny Neagle (16-11, 3.55 ERA)
    Kevin Millwood (17-8, 4.08 ERA)
    John Smoltz (17-3, 2.90 ERA)

    Honorable Mention:
    2019 New York Mets
    2013 Detroit Tigers
    2003 Oakland Athletics
    2001 Arizona Diamondbacks
    1986 Houston Astros
    1985 Los Angeles Dodgers
    1968 St. Louis Cardinals
    1959 Chicago White Sox
    1948 Cleveland Indians
    1945 Detroit Tigers
     
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