Los Angeles Dodgers: Top starting staffs in LAD history

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 02: Displays are seen during the Dodgers Holiday Festival media night at Dodger Stadium on December 02, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 02: Displays are seen during the Dodgers Holiday Festival media night at Dodger Stadium on December 02, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images) /
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1985 Los Angeles Dodgers

Starter Wins: 73

Starter ERA: 3.00

Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers stares at home plate while in the middle of his wind up
Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers stares at home plate while in the middle of his wind up /

Some Dodgers fans may not agree, but it’s very likely the 1985 starting staff was their best staff of the 1980s, better than the World Series-winning staffs in 1981 and 1988 and the division-winning squad in 1983.

The 1985 staff was very balanced, getting at least 34 starts from Fernando Valenzuela, Orel Hershiser, and Jerry Reuss. Bob Welch and Rick Honeycutt rounded out the staff, helping to combine for 73 wins — good for sixth best all-time since the Dodgers’ move to Los Angeles.

The staff combined for 37 complete games to lead the league and they were number one in shutouts, too, with 16. Every starter but Honeycutt had double-digit wins, and they also had ERAs below 3.00.

Perhaps it was their workhorse attitude that did in the Dodgers in that fall when they blew 2-0 NLCS lead to the St. Louis Cardinals, ending their season without a World Series trip.