ESPN.com: Page 2 – The greatest pitching rotations
They did it by single seasons, and came up with the 1998 Braves #1, the 1993 club #4. It’s basically random chance — you could pick any Braves team from 1993 to 2002 and not go wrong. Maddux and Glavine were otherworldly in 1995, though the back of the rotation wasn’t as strong as in other years.
Here’s hoping that 2005’s rotation is on the list next year. Hudson, Smoltz and career years for Hampton and Thomson should do it. Provided everyone is healthy all year, of course. And then Kolb and company has to keep the W’s intact. We’ll see.
While it is great to see some great Braves saffs recognized, I can’t help but think that a whole lot of great pitching staffs over the years are being overlooked.
The staffs mentioned are skewed toward the last 10-15 years of baseball. Lots of balls were thrown in the other hundred years also.
1998 was a great staff; 1997 was, IMO, pretty darned close too. I go back and forth as to which of the two I rank better. But 1998 had more gaudy w/l numbers to cap it all off.
If we can get Thomson to pitch as well as he did last year, the 2005 rotation will be unmatched.
I doubt that. I mean, we are talking about a 37 year old John Smoltz here, pacing himself again instead of throwing all out for just one inning. This rotation, if healthy, should be good, but there’s no way it matches the top rotations of the 90s.
Best full-season ERA+ of career:
Hudson – 158
Smoltz – 149 (best year as a starter)
Hampton – 139
Thomson – 116
Ramirez – 104
If you go with partial seasons, Thomson’s best is 129, Horacio is at 181, but that 181 was way, way out of line with his peripherals.
Compare to rotation of 1998:
Greg Maddux – 191
Tom Glavine – 171
Denny Neagle – 119
John Smoltz – 146
Kevin Millwood – 104
In other words, if assume the 2005 rotation will match the best they’ve ever done in a full season, the 1998 fifth-best starter beats the 2005 model; the 1998 fourth-best starter beats the 2005 model; the third-best starter beats the 2005 model; and the top two starters both beat the staff ace of the 2005 model. To see any minor edging, you’d have to assume Horacio could continue his 2004 numbers, Thomson could do as well as he did in one 90 inning season, and smoltz can match in a full season what he did in relief.
And all that if they stay healthy.
The 2005 rotation will be good, but not among the best Braves rotations of recent years.
I agree that you can’t compare the Braves rotations of the 90’s with the 2005 version, but you aren’t going to see very many more like that on any team. I bet the A’s probably came closest, and they only had 3-1/2 quality starters. Arizona never had more than Johnson and Schilling.
The 2005 staff should be better than the 2004 staff, and it took the Braves to a division title.