Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter and Jaime Garcia are among MLB’s top pitchers this season.
With all the questions about the back end of the St. Louis Cardinals rotation, it seems worthwhile to remember just how successful the front end is.
Coming into Sunday’s action, the Cardinals are the only team in the Major Leagues with three starters with ERAs under three, minimum 12 starts. In fact, there are only 22 such pitchers in the league. They are listed below.
On the bad side, the Cardinals three starters with ERA under 2.55, Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright and Jaime Garcia, aren’t getting enough victories. The three have just 21 wins in their 38 total starts coming into Sunday.
Only 15 starting pitchers across MLB have ERAs under 2.55. The only team besides the Cardinals with more than one is the Tampa Bay Rays with two. Ten teams have one.
Starting pitchers (22) with ERA under 3.00, MLB, 2010 through June 12
| Pitcher | Tm | GS | ERA | Wins | Age |
| 3 SP with ERA under 3.00 | |||||
| Adam Wainwright | STL | 13 | 2.30 | 8 | 28 |
| Chris Carpenter | STL | 13 | 2.54 | 7 | 35 |
| Jaime Garcia | STL | 12 | 1.49 | 6 | 23 |
| 2 SP with ERA under 3.00 | |||||
| Johan Santana | NYM | 13 | 2.96 | 4 | 31 |
| Mike Pelfrey | NYM | 12 | 2.23 | 8 | 26 |
| Jon Garland | SDP | 13 | 2.81 | 6 | 30 |
| Clayton Richard | SDP | 12 | 2.72 | 4 | 26 |
| Jonathan Sanchez | SFG | 12 | 2.82 | 4 | 27 |
| Matt Cain | SFG | 12 | 2.11 | 5 | 25 |
| David Price | TBR | 12 | 2.23 | 9 | 24 |
| Jeff Niemann | TBR | 12 | 2.48 | 6 | 27 |
| 1 SP with ERA under 3.00 | |||||
| Tim Hudson | ATL | 13 | 2.43 | 6 | 34 |
| Clay Buchholz | BOS | 12 | 2.52 | 8 | 25 |
| Carlos Silva | CHC | 12 | 2.89 | 8 | 31 |
| Mike Leake | CIN | 12 | 2.68 | 5 | 22 |
| Ubaldo Jimenez | COL | 13 | 1.16 | 12 | 26 |
| Josh Johnson | FLA | 13 | 1.91 | 7 | 26 |
| Yovani Gallardo | MIL | 13 | 2.41 | 6 | 24 |
| Francisco Liriano | MIN | 12 | 2.90 | 6 | 26 |
| Andy Pettitte | NYY | 12 | 2.46 | 8 | 38 |
| Roy Halladay | PHI | 13 | 1.96 | 8 | 33 |
| Livan Hernandez | WSN | 12 | 2.28 | 5 | 35 |
Thanks to Tom Orf for his research on the subject of this article.
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I’m on the new page OK 57.
That was WEIRD! After sending me the confirmation link for password reset, WordPress wouldn’t even send the new password! When I attempted the third time, WordPress finally sent a confirmation link that worked (that granted the new password). In addition to wondering about THAT, I’m wondering why it was necessary to get a new password in the first place!
Oh, well… As they say, “C’est la vie”!
What a list. It must be driving Mo nuts. Mike Leake goes from Arizona State to elite performance in the majors, without a day in the minors. What do the Cards do? Draft Arizona State’s best pitcher this year, Blair, and another guy from ASU who is almost as small as Leake, Swaggerty.
Carlos Silva was a name fans used to laugh at, now Carlos is having the last laugh. Livan Hernandez was sitting there unwanted in the free agent market. Andy Pettite has found an undetectable PED.
blingboy: Getting back to the subject at hand; the “cosmetic” interview you had heard with Mo concerning the 5th Starter. I couldn’t agree more with the fact that the conversation obfuscates the real problem that Brian brings up on this page… The crying shame that three sub-3.00 ERA starters have the least amount of wins (combined)! A fifth starter does not speak to that problem.
Jumbo: As much as I respect your judgment and as valid an argument as you certainly present (concerning all the surprise pitchers), you will soon be assured that Suppan was/is neither a Silva nor a Hernandez.
Thank God, however, that Suppan is much too honorable to ever be suspected of using PED! Pettite caught the accusation only because he was “guilty by association” (with Roger Clemens).
Andy was a PED buddy with Rog, but had a better attorney who advised him to rat out his buddy. I dont know how Hernandez has improved so much from the last couple of years. I doubt it is sustainable for a season.
If Lohse gets healthy, he could excel like Silva. Suppan can make himself useful. The theory that the 4th or 5th starters do not matter is not true. We need 4s/5s to keep the bullpen fresh, win some games, and boost team morale. Its no fun to get blown out like last night. Duncan knows what Suppan needs to do. The first thing is to shed that Brewers uniform, that’s going to help right there.
By the way, Jumbo, Silva wasn’t laughing when the White Sox defeated him yesterday. After the final out, he marched off the field enraged, looking back and mad-dogging either his teammates or runners who were left on base…
Oh, we all know about the vital necessity of viable 4th and 5th starters. The crying shame, to which Brian points in his article, is that three sub-3.00 ERA starters have the least amount of wins (combined)! A fifth starter does not speak to that problem.
A rather humorous aside, Jumbo: The look on Pettite’s face in the Astros’ dug-out when Albert smacked Lidge’s slider! You could unmistakably read his lips, “Oh, my Lord!”, as he watched the ball soar to places no ball has ever gone before or since at Minute Maid Stadium. So profoundly affected was Lidge, that he was never the same. In fact, having never regained his effectiveness for the Astros, from that particular event, he was eventually traded to the Phillies…
57, the Lidge story is complicated. He had an off year in 06, was traded after 2007, and had a brilliant 2008 when the Phils won the WS. Lidge got it back together and reached the pinnacle.
Then in 2009, he gave up a homer every 5.7 innings and had a terrible season. This year, Lidge seems back on track. His career has been a roller coaster, but when on, he is tough.
http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/stats/individual_stats_player.jsp?c_id=phi&playerID=400058
There is no doubt that Lidge had returned to form after he was traded from the Astros and there is nothing complicated about my story. In fact, there is no point of it that you can successfully dispute. Do you argue needlessly (and senselessly) with everybody?
Sorry about the problems. I don’t control WordPress but need to upgrade to the current release. Will probably tackle that the week after next. May or may not help.
You’re a prince, Brian. Thank you!