Los Angeles Dodgers: Top starting staffs in LAD history

The Los Angeles Dodgers made it official Thursday afternoon, introducing Trevor Bauer to the media as he joined the reigning 2020 World Series Champions.

With the free agent signing now official, Bauer joins a staff that includes Clayton Kershaw and David Price, meaning the Dodgers will have three Cy Young winners on their starting staff, something not seen since the 2014 Detroit Tigers rolled with starters Price, Justin Verlander, and Max Scherzer.

Throw in Walker Buehler and his 2020 postseason 1.80 ERA and any combination of Julio Urias, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin, and, on paper, the Dodgers have the best starting staff in Major League Baseball.

With a rich pitching history, the Dodgers have never had 3 Cy Young winners on their staff, alongside a collection of young pitchers who cut their teeth in lengthy playoff season to help win a World Series. If everything goes right, the Dodgers may have a staff that could be the greatest since moving to Los Angeles in 1958.

Well, what shall we compare it to? Let’s look at what staffs the 2021 Dodgers will be contrasted with as the season approaches. These are the best rotations in LA baseball history.

1965 Los Angeles Dodgers

Starter Wins: 72

Starter ERA: 2.81

In 1965, in the years before modern bullpens and five-man rotations, the Dodgers’ starting staff carried them to 97 wins and their third World Series title in the seven years since they’d moved to Los Angeles from Brooklyn.

As a staff, the starters’ 2.81 ERA is the fourth best for the franchise since their move to Los Angeles, and they produced 107 quality starts (starts lasting six innings with three or fewer earned runs given up).

The starting staff was carried by their two workhorses, Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Drysdale, the 1962 Cy Young Award winner, and Koufax, who would win his second in the offseason, combined for 47 complete games and 49 wins in 83 starts. This pair carried the headlines, as they both won 20 games.

It was not just a two-man show, as newcomer Claude Osteen won 15 games and had a 2.79 ERA, giving the Dodgers three starters with below-3.00 ERAs. In the World Series that year, the three starters combined for all of the Dodgers’ four wins against the Minnesota Twins in a tough seven-game series win.