The 5 Best Pitching Rotations of the Last Decade

2011 Philadelphia Phillies

26.0 WAR (1st)
3.17 xFIP (1st)
3.23 SIERA (1st)

Now, the best rotation in baseball over the last decade: the 2011 Philadelphia Phillies.

Of the five players that combined to form this rotation, none had an ERA over 3.70 or a FIP over 3.45. Three members in this rotation (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels) finished in the top five in voting for the 2011 NL Cy Young.

Halladay and Lee led the way for the Phillies, and both put up absolutely dominant seasons. Halladay went 19-6 with a 2.35 ERA and a 2.20 FIP. He struck out 8.5 batters per nine innings and finished the year with a 163 ERA+, good for 8.9 WAR on the season.

Cliff Lee wasn’t far behind, going 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA and a 2.60 FIP. He posted 8.6 WAR for the season and 160 ERA+.

In the third spot was Hamels, a guy any other team would have loved to have as their ace. Hamels went 14-9 on the season with a 2.79 ERA and a minuscule 0.99 WHIP. He would finish the year with 6.6 WAR, a 137 ERA+, and a 3.05 FIP.

Halladay, Lee, and Hamels all threw at least 216 innings for the Phillies in 2011. They were dominant and durable.

Filling out the final two spots for Philly were Roy Oswalt and rookie Vance Worley.

This was Oswalt’s first full season in Philadelphia after being acquired at the deadline the year prior. He made 23 starts, registering a 3.69 ERA and a 3.44 FIP. Oswalt owned 2.2 WAR for the season and a 104 ERA+, which were lower than his career averages but still quite reliable for a back-end starter.

Worley was quite good in his rookie season, making 21 starts and owning a 3.01 ERA. His FIP was not much higher, at just 3.32, and he posted a 127 ERA+ and 3.4 WAR over 131.2 innings pitched.