Phillies history: Franchise’s top five rotations since the 1970s
The Phillies have had issues with the starting rotation this season, but that hasn’t always been the case. Here are the top five Phillies rotations.
The Phillies have struggled to find consistency in the starting rotation beyond Aaron Nola, contributing significantly to their inability to make a serious playoff run so far this season.
Starting pitching hasn’t always been an issue for the franchise. We take a look back at the top five starting rotations.
Note that this list goes back to the late 1970s and is based solely on performance, not on expectations.
No. 5: 1993 (Curt Schilling, Danny Jackson, Tommy Greene, Terry Mulholland, Ben Rivera)
Predicted to finish last by many major baseball publications following a dismal 1992 season, the Phillies stunned the baseball world by winning the NL Championship and taking the Blue Jays to six games before falling in the World Series.
The offense was a significant part of the success, but the starting pitching was consistent and deserved recognition. The starters threw a league-high 24 complete games, and the pitching staff as a whole led the league in strikeouts.
A big part of that was Curt Schilling. Despite a relatively mediocre ERA of 4.02, Schilling led the staff in games started, complete games, innings, strikeouts and tied for the club lead with 16 wins. A ten-year veteran when arriving in Philadelphia in 1993, Danny Jackson was second in the rotation. The lefty won 12, logged 210 1/3 innings, and posted a solid 3.77 ERA.
Tommy Greene won 16 against just four losses. Although third in the rotation, he arguably had the best season of the starters. Greene posted an ERA of 3.42, threw 200 innings and was second in strikeouts with 167. The top three in the rotation were remarkably consistent, each completing seven games and shutting out two.
Terry Mulholland was steady with 12 wins and a 3.25 ERA in the number four spot, earning his only All-Star selection. Ben Rivera had a high ERA of 5.02 but added 13 wins as the number five starter.
As a unit, the starting five posted a 69-40 record with 23 complete games and eight shutouts.
No. 4: 1984 (Steve Carlton, Jerry Koosman, Charles Hudson, John Denny, Shane Rawley, Kevin Gross)
The 1983 Phillies won the NL Championship and finished a run of six playoff appearances in eight seasons for the franchise. Finishing a somewhat disappointing fourth with an 81-81 mark, there were still some bright spots. One of which was a starting rotation featuring 39-year old Steve Carlton and 41-year old Jerry Koosman, which helped make them the oldest pitching staff in baseball.
Carlton was a game under .500 at 15-16 in 1983, but lead the league in innings and strikeouts. Although not the same pitcher as in his prime, the big lefty posted a 13-7 record with a respectable 3.58 ERA in 1984, leading the team in strikeouts with 163.
Jerry Koosman won 14 with a 3.25 ERA in 224 innings in his 18th Major League season, which was highlighted by a four-hit shutout against the Braves in July.
Charles Hudson won nine games with a 4.04 ERA, while John Denny posted a 2.45 ERA a season after winning the Cy Young Award. Shane Rawley rounded out the rotation with ten wins and a 3.81 ERA in 18 starts, covering 120 1/3 innings.
Also adding to the mix was 23-year old Kevin Gross. He spent much of the season in the bullpen, appearing in 44 games total, 14 of them as a starter. Gross showed promise with an 8-5 record with a 4.12 ERA.
Although only two starters struck out more than 100 for the 1984 Phillies, the team ranked sixth in strikeouts during an era where hitters were less apt to strikeout than in today’s more power-laden game.
No. 3: 1983 (Steve Carlton, John Denny, Charles Hudson, Marty Bystrom, Kevin Gross, Larry Christenson)
Three seasons after the first World Series title in franchise history, the “Wheeze Kids,” made up of veterans near the end of their careers made an incredible run to win the NL Championship. While Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Mike Schmidt, Gary Matthews, Garry Maddox, Tony Perez, Ron Reed, and other wily vets lead the team on the field, the pitching staff more than held its own. A Cy Young Award came from the starting rotation, and it wasn’t from a man named Carlton.
John Denny, in his second season with the Phillies, lead the league in wins with 19, posted a 2.37 ERA and had a career-high 242 2/3 innings pitched. His previous high in wins was 14 with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1978. Denny was a very unlikely, but well-deserving Cy Young Award winner, earning 20 of 24 first-place votes.
Steve Carlton, coming off a Cy Young Award season in 1982, won 15 games, completed eight, had three shutouts, led the league in innings pitched with 283 2/3 and strikeouts with 275. Carlton’s strikeout total nearly doubled that of Denny, ranked second on the team.
Charles Hudson posted an 8-8 mark with a 3.35 ERA and 101 strikeouts in 169 1/3 innings. Marty Bystrom and 22-year old Kevin Gross combined to win 10 in 40 starts with an ERA near four. Injury-prone Larry Christenson struck out 42 in 44 1/3 innings with a 3.91 ERA in his final Major League season at the age of 29.
As a staff, the 1983 Phillies led the NL in strikeouts and second in ERA, while ranking fifth in fewest home runs allowed.
No. 2: 1982 (Steve Carlton, Larry Christenson, Mike Krukow, Dick Ruthven, Marty Bystrom)
After five playoff appearances over the previous six seasons, the 1982 Phillies finished just two games over .500 at 82-80. Much was due to a sluggish offense in which only Mike Schmidt hit over 20 home runs, and no player reached 90 RBI. Without some top-notch pitching, this squad would have finished well below .500. Four of the five starters logged over 200 innings and had ERA’s below four.
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The staff which was first in strikeouts and complete games, was led by Steve Carlton, who won his fourth and final Cy Young Award. He led the league in wins (23), games started (38), complete games (19), shutouts (6), innings (295 2/3) and strikeouts (286).
Number two starter Larry Christenson, who had his first injury-free season since 1978 in which has posted 13 wins and a 3.24 ERA.
Although he won only nine, Christenson logged 224 innings, struck out a career-high 145 and posted an ERA of 3.47.
Mike Krukow won only ten games in a season once in his first five Major League seasons with the Cubs before his lone season in Philadelphia. He proved to be a dependable member of the rotation in 1982, pitching 208 innings, winning 13 games with an ERA of 3.12. He logged more innings and won more games only once during a 14-year career.
Dick Ruthven completed the top four with 204 innings, eight complete games, 11 wins, and a 3.79 ERA. Marty Bystrom, a 23-year old, rounded out the rotation, pitching in 19 games with 16 starts, winning five.
A distinguishing feature of the 1982 rotation was that four of the five starters logged at least 200 innings, completing 38 games with ten shutouts.
No. 1: 2011 (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, Roy Oswalt, Vance Worley, Kyle Kendrick)
The 2011 Phillies set a franchise record in wins with 102 and on paper, had the best team in their most recent era of dominance. However, the team’s loss to the Cardinals in the NL Division Series three games to two resulted in a disappointing and underachieving season. The starting rotation was looked at before the season as the best in the league. They didn’t disappoint, as three of the starters finished with an ERA under three.
Roy Halladay dominated in his first season with the Phillies in 2010. Not only did he win his second Cy Young Award, but Halladay also led the league in wins, innings, complete games and shutouts. Also, he hurled a perfect game against the Marlins and a no-hitter in the playoffs against the Reds. Halladay’s 2011 season was almost as impressive, finishing second in the Cy Young Award voting while leading the league in complete games with eight and 220 strikeouts in 233 2/3 innings.
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Cliff Lee finished right behind Halladay in the Cy Young Award vote after winning 17 with an ERA of 2.40 and 238 strikeouts in 232 2/3 innings. Lee went on to two All-tar teams in five seasons with the Phillies, posting a record of 48-34 with a 2.94 ERA.
Cole Hamels was in his seventh season with the Phillies in 2011. The 2008 World Series MVP won 14 as the number three starter with an ERA of 2.79, the lowest of his career at that point. Hamels also struck out 194 with only 44 walks in 216 innings.
Roy Oswalt rounded out the “Big Four” with nine wins and a 3.69 ERA despite being limited to 23 games due to injury. Vance Worley surprised as a 23-year old, going 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA and Kyle Kendrick posted a 3.22 ERA in 34 games, which included 15 starts.
The staff dominated, ranking first of 16 NL teams in ERA, complete games, and shutouts while ranking second in strikeouts.