Offense wins games, defense wins championships. That’s the age old mantra in baseball, and a team’s pitching staff is the beginning of their defense. A quick glance at postseason statistics from the last 10 years reveals that only once in the last decade has the eventual World Series champion not ranked in the top half of the eight playoff teams. And 50 percent of time, the World Series champ has been one of the two best pitching staffs in the playoffs. So what does this mean? It means that the title of “best pitching staff in the league” is an extremely important one to have. Today, I will take a look at the top three pitching staffs in the National League; the three teams that do the best job shutting opposing hitters down.
Important Players: Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Santiago Casilla
Important Numbers: 4th in NL in ERA, 5th BAA, 6th in QS, 6th in WHIP
The Giants have been a perennial name on any “top rotation” list since 2009 when Lincecum and Cain established themselves as top-tier MLB starters. Now, with Bumgarner beginning to hit his prime, Ryan Vogelsong pitching at an elite level, and Barry Zito enjoying his best season since the early 2000s, the San Francisco Giants have an elite pitcher taking the mound every single night.
Lincecum is off to a terrible start, but he has a reputation for excellence and deserves the benefit of the doubt with regards to whether or not he will improve in the rest of the season. The loss of Brian Wilson seemed like a big hit to the bullpen, but Wilson was not an elite level closer last season, and Casilla has out performed him thus far in the season.
San Francisco needs more offense to be true contenders, Lincecum needs to start to pitch like the ace he is, and it remains to be seen if Vogelsong and Zito can continue their success for a whole season, but the Giants have a reputation of excellence on the mound, and should continue that for the rest of this season.
2) Washington Nationals
Important Players: Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmermann, Tyler Clippard
Important Numbers: 1st in NL in ERA, 4th in QS, 1st in BAA, 3rd in Ks, 1st in WHIP
This may be the last time for a long time that the Washington Nationals are not number one on this list. Statistically speaking, they have been the best rotation in baseball this season, and their league-leading ERA is more than .20 better than any other team in the NL.
There are only two factors that combine to prevent them from having a number one next to their name. First, their youth raises questions about whether they are yet at a level where their success is sustainable. Strasburg almost always looks dominant, but Zimmermann is prone to an occasional bad start, and Gonzalez and Edwin Jackson have struggled with control issues in the past. Before anointing this staff as the best in the league, we will have to wait to see if they can sustain this level of production for an entire year.
The second factor is Strasburg’s innings limit this season, looming over the Nationals organization and their playoff hopes. Strasburg is set to end his season after 160 innings, a mark that would prevent him from finishing the season, and could seriously weaken this staff at the end of the year.
Next season, provided they sustain their early season success through this year, they will sit at number one on this list. This season, still with a couple of uncertainties, they will have to settle for the number two spot, and must be content with making me look like an idiot by continuing to dominate the NL for the rest of the season.
1) Philadelphia Phillies
Important Players: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Jonathan Papelbon
Important Numbers: 7th in NL in ERA, 1st in QS, 1st in K, 2nd in WHIP
Though the season has not started exactly how the Phillies wanted it, their pitching staff can still claim to be the best in the NL, with three of the best pitchers in baseball headlining a staff that regularly demands less bullpen work than any other team in the Majors.
In 2011, all three of those starters, Halladay, Lee, and Hamels, ranked in the top 10 in the NL in IP, CG, and QS. There are some worries this season with Halladay’s health (he is expected to be out 6-8 weeks) as well as relief pitchers not named “Jonathan Papelbon,” but this is a rotation that has a track record of excellence in the regular season (two Cy Young awards for Halladay, one for Lee, 5th place finish for Hamels in 2011) and postseason (3-2, 2.57 for Halladay, 7-3, 2.52 for Lee, 7-4, 3.09 for Hamels).
They have been the best rotation in the League since they established the “big three” starting rotation, and they deserve to at least be given a full season to work out the kinks before they lose their number one ranking.
