Offense puts fans in the seats, but pitching wins championships.
As we’ve seen in recent years, that statement is all too true.
And it’s not specific to starting pitching, either, as the San Francisco Giants can attest.
The Cleveland Indians rode ace Corey Kluber and the bullpen trio of Andrew Miller, Bryan Shaw and Cody Allen to the World Series last year, while the Chicago Cubs trio of Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta and Kyle Hendricks was backed by deadline-addition Aroldis Chapman on their way to the title.
So who has the best stable of arms looking ahead to the 2017 season?
We’ve set out to answer just that, ranking all 30 teams’ pitching staffs.
A good starting rotation carried a bit more weight than a good bullpen, but you won’t see any team in the top 10 with a weakness in either area.