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...
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.
2018 was really good. Two cy young winners + Cole + Charlie + McCullers. They were all plus starters. I think Miley + Brad is not as good.
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?
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.
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
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.
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.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...w-pitching-coach-brings-wealth-of-5175803.php Shane Reynolds owes his career to Brent Strom. Not sure why more guys don't throw the splitter off of the fastball and then forkball as a changeup.
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.
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