Best Pitching Staff based by this year's performance

[Rico The Retard]

Now most people would say the cubs overall but i was kind of wondering who everybody thinks has the best pitching staff based on the performance by them this year

[Tavish]

Cardinals





Dodgers
A's


Braves

[warrick95]

STL's pitchers (both SP and RP) lead the league with a 3.68 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. True, their RPs have been very good and bring those stats down, but these could be the best overall SPs by performacen this season:
Carpenter 3.51 ERA, 1.14 WHIP
Marquis 3.59 ERA, 1.4 WHIP
Suppan 3.98 ERA, 1.3 WHIP
W. Williams 4.06 ERA, 1.31 WHIP
Morris 4.4 ERA, 1.27 WHIP

They actually have five legit starters, unlike some teams that break down near the end of the rotation.

Houston is good, but has been inconsistent this season. Miller has been hurt. Oswalt is just coming around to past form. Clemens has been good, but the rest of the rotation...Munro, Hernandez, Backe, Redding, or whoever they've got filling it now? Ugh.

CHC is probably potentially the best rotation, but their performance this year doesn't exhibit that. Prior and Wood have been hurt a lot. Zam, Clement, and Maddux have been very solid, though. I'd put them up there, though, as the latter three have been absolutely superb. Wood has been good when pitching, too.

Lastly, Oakland:
Hudson 2.95 ERA, 1.21 WHIP
Harden 3.69 ERA, 1.32 WHIP
Mulder 3.79 ERA, 1.25 WHIP
Redman 4.5 ERA, 1.45 WHIP
Zito 4.58 ERA, 1.45 WHIP

Redman's weak and Zito's been surprisingly uneffective this season, although he's pitching well recently.

When it's all said and done, I think CHC's performance has still been the best this season, but only by a hair over the surprising Cardinals. Give them props for keeping their team in games with quality starts. With that sort of offense, all you have to do is keep the team in the game. You have no pressure to win it all for them.

[jsmith378]

good post warrick

i'd have to say the cardinals because they have consistently been good (and healthy) throughout the season

[GotowarMissAgnes]

I agree it's close between StL and ChC, but I'd give the nod to the Cubs. While the Cards actually have better stats, some significant share of that is due to the fact that the Cards have an OUTSTANDING defense. So, if we are talking just about the quality of the rotation, it's the Cubs. Put the Cards pitchers on a team with a poorer defense behind them and they become a lot less effective.

[Mookie4ever]

Dave Duncan has worked miracles. Can he win any awards? Coach of the year?

[thetongueofire]

i think the Cubs staff wouldve done better than the Cards even without the D but Prior and Wood were injured for the majority of the time. so in terms of pure performance so far, the Cards have the best pitching staff. even though the Cards rely on a lot of defense (Carpenter, Suppan, Marquis), the Cubs staff averages 8.15 K/9 which is pretty awesome considering that Prior and Wood werent even there for a large part of the season. and even without the D, Cubs pitchers are giving up .249 opp. BA which is better than the Cards.

and i agree with mook. Duncan deserves some kinda award for what hes done with Carpenter, Marquis and Suppan.

[Viper8437]

how about the mets

theyre hittign sucks
but take a look at the starting pitchers

[pomplona's finest]

The Cards probably don't have any true studs, but I think that with their depth they have earned the title of the most capable pitching staff.

[GotowarMissAgnes]

how about the mets

theyre hittign sucks
but take a look at the starting pitchers

Not even worth discussing. They're barely average, while playing in a pitcher's park. Leiter and Glavine are ptiching very well, but the rest of the staff is nothing to get excited about.