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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
7 of 7
Next

2017 Los Angeles Dodgers

Starter Wins: 72

Starter ERA: 3.38

CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 19: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Multiple exposures were combined in-camera to produce this image.) Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs during game five of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field on October 19, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, IL – OCTOBER 19: (EDITOR’S NOTE: Multiple exposures were combined in-camera to produce this image.) Clayton Kershaw #22 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the second inning against the Chicago Cubs during game five of the National League Championship Series at Wrigley Field on October 19, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

The 2017 starting staff is the best of the Clayton Kershaw era of Dodgers pitching, a modern staff where no player made more than 30 starts nor threw 200 innings. The starters’ 72 wins is good for eighth among LA starting staffs, and they did it on the strength of their depth.

Six starters made at least 15 starts and five had at least 24; those same five starters all threw at least 125 innings, while six starters had an ERA+ above 110 (100 being considered average). Kershaw was the ace, winning 18 games with a 2.31 ERA (both first in the NL), but he missed time with a back injury and the other starters picked up the slack, going 16-6 in his absence.

Trade deadline pickup Yu Darvish made the staff even stronger; he won four of his nine starts with a 121 ERA+. Dodgers starters would win five of their 10 postseason games, taking Los Angeles to the brink of the World Series title, but ultimately losing the series in seven against the Houston Astros.