Cleveland Indians: Locked and Loaded with Solid Starting Rotation

You may not even realize this, Tribe fans, but you are may be witnessing the best Indians starting rotation in decades.

Maybe even since the 1950’s when Early Wynn, Bob Lemon and Herb Score toed the rubber. Currently, the Indians stand first in the league in starting pitcher Earned Run Average (ERA), at 3.16 and show no signs of slowing down with the great depth at the position.

It has not only been this season, but for the past five years, the Tribe rotation has been developing into what it is today.

Since 2004, the Indians have never finished the season lower than fifth in the American League in starter ERA. Here’s a look at ERA’s of the Indians’ starting pitchers over this time frame.

• 2004 – 4.77 (5^th)

• 2005 – 3.96 (5^th)

• 2006 – 4.31 (3^rd)

• 2007 – 4.19 (1^st)

• 2008 – 3.16 (1^st)

Granted, the current ERA is likely to not be sustained at this rate, but what we are witnessing with C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, Cliff Lee, Paul Byrd, Aaron Laffey and Jake Westbrook has been remarkable.

So much so, that even with Sabathia’s historic poor start, the staff has still kept the ERA at such a low level. The rest of the rotation has been that terrific.

Cliff Lee, who has won 18 games in the past has pitched out of his mind and currently shows an ERA of 0.67 and has recorded six wins and no losses.

Fausto Carmona, who was the Indians “second ace” last year, has struggled with some command problems, but his great sinking action on his pitches has kept batted balls on the ground, getting double plays. This has kept his ERA down at 2.40 with a four and one record.

Jake Westbrook, and his newly developed change-up, before going on the Disabled List, had an ERA of 2.73.

Aaron Laffey has been called-up from Buffalo to replace Westbrook and he has filled in admirably with a 1.83 ERA.

Paul Byrd has been the weakest link of the staff, but still battles and keeps his team in games. His ERA is 4.28.

Let’s go back to Sabathia. After his terrible 13.50 ERA after four starts, he has gone two and two, with a 1.98 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 27 innings, regaining his previous Cy Young form.

Add all of that up and the Indians have six solid starters that all are capable of winning any given time that they are handed the baseball. Sure, some less likely than others, but when your fifth guy is a Paul Byrd or Aaron Laffey, that is a great problem to have. The only unfortunate thing about this, is that Laffey will eventually lose his job and go back to Triple-A when Westbook is activated from the DL.

Not included in this discussion yet is the fact that the Indians still have talented prospects, Jeremy Sowers and Adam Miller in waiting at Triple-A Buffalo. Each of whom are former first round picks.

Okay, lets go back a little bit to 1995-1996. This was the last time the Indians led the league in ERA in back to back seasons. Let’s take a look at this rotation.

1. Charles Nagy ’95: 16-6 4.55 ERA ’96: 17-5 3.41 ERA
2. Dennis Martinez ’95: 12-5 3.08 ERA ’96: 9-6 4.50 ERA
3. Orel Hershiser ’95: 16-6 3.87 ERA ’96: 15-9 4.24 ERA
4. Chad Ogea ’95: 8-3 3.05 ERA ’96: 10-6 4.79 ERA
5. Mark Clark ’95: 9-7 5.27 ERA
6. Jack McDowell ’96: 13-9 5.11 ERA

What made these rotations go were the veterans who were at the tail end of their careers. What they did lack was that one stopper as the current rotation has.

When at their best, these guys could stop you, but they were not dominant. There was no C.C. Sabathia or Fausto Carmona.

It was more like a bunch of Jake Westbrook’s and Cliff Lee’s who racked up wins when backed by the great offense of the era. There was no depth of young pitchers ready to step into the rotation, as guys like Bartolo Colon were still a few years away. This was a good rotation, but I’d still take the 2008 version.

Now let’s go back a little further to 1956. Yes that’s right, before 1995-1996 this was the last time the Indians pitching finished in the top three in ERA for at least a period of two seasons in a row. Let’s take a look at this rotation.

1. Bob Lemon 20-14 3.03 ERA
2. Early Wynn 20-9 2.72 ERA
3. Herb Score 20-9 2.53 ERA
4. Mike Garcia 11-12 3.78 ERA

Wow, three 20 game winners. Also, what this rotation includes that the current one does not and likely will not have is two Hall of Famers, Bob Lemon and Early Wynn.

You could make the argument that the current staff has two guys who one day may be considered for the Hall of Fame, but that is a long way away and not likely to happen with the limited amount of pitchers entering the Hall. So right now there is no debate when comparing the current staff to most likely one of the top rotations in history.

However, with the way Cliff Lee has been throwing in addition to Carmona and Sabathia, the current edition of the rotation could end up being comparable in the end. There is no way all three will win 20 games, but having three guys with 15 wins and ERA’s around 3.00 is a possibility.

Regardless, Indians fans need to enjoy this staff and the way they have been throwing the ball. It has been over 50 years since an Indians rotation has finished in the top three in ERA for three straight years. I know I’ve never seen this much success on the mound in an Indians uniform.

Whether or not this will turn into a run similar to what Atlanta did through the 90’s or the Indians even did in the late 40’s and early 50’s is yet to be seen, but with the amount of young pitching on the way, and the possibility of still resigning C.C. Sabathia you definitely like the Indians chances to continue this success and be an annual contender for the foreseeable future.