Pitching Quartets

Just a month after the 1987 World Series, the Royals traded P Danny Jackson and SS Angel Salazar to the Cincinnati Reds for SS Kurt Stilwell and P Ted Power. That trade broke up a quartet that had pitched together for three years and won a World Championship in 1985. Danny Jackson, Bret Saberhagen, Mark Gubicza and Charlie Leibrandt combined to win 165 games over three seasons for the Royals. They represented rotation stability that seems unheard of today, particularly for Royals fans.

Jackson, Saberhagen, and Gubicza were all products of the Royals farm system and all got their feet wet in 1984. They were all under 22 years of age, but still combined for 22 wins and a 3.88 ERA while vets like Bud Black, Larry Gura, and newly acquired lefty Charlie Leibrandt led them to the 1984 AL West Division title. Leibrandt had been a swing man in the Reds pitching staff who had struggled with a 5.10 ERA in 1982 and missed all of 1983. There was little reason to believe Leibrandt would be very valuable, and he was acquired for a journeyman minor league pitcher named Bob Tufts. Leibrandt would bloom in Kansas City and with the trio of young pitchers would give the Royals the stability they would need to win the World Championship.

How good was the quartet of Leibrandt, Jackson, Gubicza, and Saberhagen from 1985-1987? I wanted to see how they stacked up to their contemporaries. I picked out pitching quartets in the 1980s that were together for at least three consecutive seasons. My criteria were that each pitcher was among the top five in games started for his team for each season. This means that there could have been a pitcher not part of the quartet that might have been the ace, but I did not count him if he was not part of the quartet. The Royals could have had a five man rotation of stability, but Bud Black was sent to the pen in 1986 to make room for Dennis Leonard's comeback.

Here are the pitching quartets ranked by raw ERA, with no adjustments made for park factor or league. The "average" is what the average quartet member did during that time.

1. New York Mets (1985-1987)
Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Rick Aguilera

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1985      59 - 26   817     224    300     689    2.47
1986      58 - 25   833     294    288     688    3.18
1987      50 - 27   658.33  275    249     526    3.76
Totals   167 - 77  2308.33  793    837    1903    3.10
Average 13.9 6.42   192.36   66.08  69.75  158.58

A truly impressive staff that was remarkably consistent and excellent in its first two seasons. Bob Ojeda was picked up in 1986 and made a great fifth wheel. In 1988, Rick Aguilera was hurt, so a young pitcher named David Cone took his place in the quartet and the Mets had another three year stretch of excellent pitching in their rotation (see #4).

2. Los Angeles Dodgers (1981-1983)
Fernando Valenzuela, Bob Welch, Burt Hooton, Jerry Reuss

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1981      43 - 22   633.66  182    162     393    2.58
1982      57 - 42   896     321    247     564    3.22
1983      51 - 41   844.33  315    280     575    3.36
Totals   151 - 105 2374     818    689    1532    3.10
Average 12.08 10.92 197.83   68.17  57.42  127.67

This staff was obviously helped out by the pitching friendly confines of Dodger Stadium, but you'll find most staffs on this list had some assistance from their home field. That 1981 club had three future Cy Young Award winners - Valenzuela (1981), Welch (1990) and Sutcliffe (1984) as well as Jerry Reuss who finished second in Cy Young balloting in 1980, Burt Hooten who finished second in Cy Young balloting in 1978, and Dave Stewart who finished second in Cy Young balloting in 1989. In 1984, Orel Hershiser and Rick Honeycutt would replace Hooton and Reuss and being another four year stretch of stability (see #3).

3. Los Angeles Dodgers (1984-1987)
Fernando Valenzuela, Bob Welch, Orel Hershiser, Rick Honeycutt

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1984      46 - 47   813     277    265     591    3.07
1985      58 - 29   821.33  225    253     528    2.47
1986      53 - 47   907.33  342    271     678    3.39
1987      47 - 51   883     350    329     668    3.57
Totals   204 - 174 3242.66 1194   1118    2465    3.14
Average  12.75 8.75 197.83   68.17  57.42  127.67

Note the staff had a losing record in 1984 despite a 3.07 ERA. That should be an indicator of the era and the park effects, although it didn't help that the lineup was populated with the likes of Mike Marshall, Candy Maldonaldo, and Greg Brock. The quartet was broken up when Rick Honeycutt and Bob Welch were dealt in separate trades to Oakland where they would go on to win three straight AL pennants and the 1989 World Championship.

4. New York Mets (1988-1990)
Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, David Cone

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1988      67 - 34   908.33  295    267     738    2.92
1989      51 - 31   774.66  278    266     642    3.23
1990      49 - 40   749.33  307    246     736    3.69
Totals   167 - 105 2432.33  880    779    2116    3.26
Average  13.9  8.75 202.69   73.33  64.92  176.33

With David Cone replacing Rick Aguilera, you'd think this staff would be better than the 1985-1987 version. However Ron Darling suffered a slight drop in performance and Dwight Gooden was not nearly as dominant as he was in 1985. Despite the strong pitching staff, this club only one one division title (1988) and wasn't able to repeat the championship performance of 1986. By 1991, Ron Darling had been dealt, Dwight Gooden was pretty mediocre and the Mets began a dark decline.

5. Houston Astros (1986-1988)
(Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Bob Knepper, Jim Deshaies)

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1986      59 - 35   855.33  276    275     771    2.90
1987      43 - 52   789     336    277     683    3.83
1988      51 - 38   820.66  287    279     648    3.15
Totals   153 - 125 2465     899    831    2102    3.28
Average 12.75 10.42 205.42   74.92  69.25  175.17

This was actually a quintet with Danny Darwin being the extra man. The numbers might have been better were it not for awful seasons by Knepper and Deshaies in 1987. Only the 1988-1990 Mets struck out more hitters than this group. This quartet is just a slight deviation from an earlier Astros quartet (see #7)

6. Montreal Expos (1981-1983)
Steve Rogers, Bill Gullickson, Charlie Lea, Scott Sanderson

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1981      33 - 28   519.66  188    132     310    3.26
1982      55 - 44   915.33  318    240     607    3.13
1983      56 - 42   818.66  318    241     458    3.50
Totals   144 - 114 2253.65  824    613    1375    3.29
Average   12   9.5  187.81   68.67  51.08  114.58

Ray Burris was also in the rotation for these three years, but spent enough time in the pen to not be included in the quartet. These were the Expos glory years, but unfortunately they were only able to parlay this pitching staff into one post-season appearance (1981). Olympic Stadium was a pretty neutral park during this time.

7. Houston Astros (1983-1985)
Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Bob Knepper, Joe Niekro

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1983      45 - 42   808     299    319     533    3.33
1984      48 - 44   819.66  309    256     547    3.39
1985      52 - 45   907.66  362    328     594    3.59
Totals   145 - 131 2535.33  970    903    1674    3.44
Average 12.08 10.92 211.28   80.83  75.25  139.5

Note the win-loss record compared to the ERA. Again, the Astrodome was a huge factor. This was the only quartet on this list to not make the post-season at all.

8. Kansas City Royals (1985-1987)
Bret Saberhagen, Danny Jackson, Charlie Leibrandt, Mark Gubicza

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1985      65 - 37   858.33  305    259     453    3.20
1986      44 - 41   753.66  316    255     479    3.77
1987      56 - 57   963     394    356     632    3.68
Totals   165 - 135 2575    1015    870    1564    3.55
Average 13.75 11.25 214.58   84.58  72.5   130.33

The Royals are the highest American League team on this list. Despite its reputation for being a pitchers park, in the mid 80s, Royals Stadium was a pretty neutral park. This quartet excelled in 1985, capped by Saberhagen's Cy Young, but bounced back a bit the subsequent years as the team suffered through mediocrity. This quartet logged the most innings per season than any other group on this list. Since Danny Jackson was traded in the fall of 1987, the Royals have only had a quartet survive two consecutive seasons just once - the memorable rotation of Jeff Suppan, Dan Reichert, Blake Stein and Chad Durbin from 2000-2001.

9. Baltimore Orioles (1979-1981)
Jim Palmer, Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan, Steve Stone

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1979      57 - 28   782     291    209     434    3.35
1980      77 - 38   978     397    304     505    3.65
1981      33 - 26   466     197    150     219    2.90
Totals   167 - 92  2226     885    663    1158    3.58
Average 13.92 7.67  185.5    73.75  55.25   96.5

This club twice won 100 games over this time. Dennis Martinez was also part of this rotation, and was probably their best pitcher in 1981, and their second best pitcher in 1979. But he was in the pen for 1980 and made just 12 starts. Baltimore would have another quartet beginning in 1983 with the young arms of Storm Davis and Mike Boddicker replacing the injured Jim Palmer and Steve Stone.

10. Toronto Blue Jays (1983-1985)
Dave Stieb, Doyle Alexander, Jim Clancy, Luis Leal

Year       W - L     IP      ER     BB      SO     ERA
1983      52 - 41   835     346    245     448    3.73
1984      59 - 37   970.66  396    312     589    3.67
1985      43 - 35   721.66  270    224     408    3.37
Totals   154 - 113 2527.33 1012    781    1445    3.60
Average 12.83 9.42  210.61   84.33  65.08  120.42

For those expecting Jimmy Key, he didn't come up until midway through 1984. I had never heard of Luis Leal. Turns out he was a pretty adequate starting pitcher for about four seasons before falling off the face of the earth. He was pretty terrible in 1985 and only made fourteen starts with a 5.75 ERA. This staff is even more impressive when you take into account that Exhibition Stadium was a hitters park.

The rest:
11. Chicago Cubs (1984-1986) 105 - 92 3.66 ERA
Rick Sutcliffe, Dennis Eckersley, Steve Trout, Scott Sanderson

12. Oakland Athletics (1979-1982) 184 - 181 3.80 ERA
Rick Langford, Matt Keough, Mike Norris, Steve McCatty (Brian Kingman could also be included)

13. Boston Red Sox (1984-1986) 149 - 111 3.85
Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst, Dennis Boyd, Al Nipper

14. Baltimore Orioles (1983-1985) 158 - 134 3.92 ERA
Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker, Storm Davis

Top ten quartets by winning percentage:
1. New York Mets (1985-1987) .684
Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, Rick Aguilera
2. Baltimore Orioles (1979-1981) .645
Jim Palmer, Scott McGregor, Mike Flanagan, Steve Stone
3. New York Mets (1988-1990) .614
Dwight Gooden, Ron Darling, Sid Fernandez, David Cone
4. Los Angeles Dodgers (1981-1983) .590
Fernando Valenzuela, Bob Welch, Burt Hooton, Jerry Reuss
5. Toronto Blue Jays (1983-1985) .577
Dave Stieb, Doyle Alexander, Jim Clancy, Luis Leal
6. Boston Red Sox (1984-1986) .573
Roger Clemens, Bruce Hurst, Dennis Boyd, Al Nipper
7. Montreal Expos (1981-1983) .558
Steve Rogers, Bill Gullickson, Charlie Lea, Scott Sanderson
8. Houston Astros (1986-1988) .550
Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Bob Knepper, Jim Deshaies
9. Kansas City Royals (1985-1987) .550
Bret Saberhagen, Danny Jackson, Charlie Leibrandt, Mark Gubicza
10. Baltimore Orioles (1983-1985) .541
Dennis Martinez, Scott McGregor, Mike Boddicker, Storm Davis

After the 80s, four man rotations sticking together were pretty much an aberration. The Braves were easily the best organization at developing pitching talent during this time and by no surprise they appear on this list twice. The other post-80s quartets are pretty mediocre. They didn't stick together because they were good, but because their organizations were too lazy to go find someone better.

Since then, the only quartets to last three consecutive seasons
Atlanta Braves (1990-1992)
Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery, Charlie Leibrandt

Atlanta Braves (1993-1996)
Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Steve Avery

Montreal Expos (1998-2000)
Javier Vazquez, Carl Pavano, Dustin Hermanson, Mike Thurman

San Francisco Giants (1999-2001)
Russ Ortiz, Shawn Estes, Kirk Rueter, Mark Gardner

Minnesota Twins (2001-2003)
Brad Radke, Rick Reed, Joe Mays, Kyle Lohse

Seattle Mariners (2002-2004)
Jaime Moyer, Freddy Garcia, Joel Pineiro, Ryan Franklin