The 5 Best Pitching Rotations of the Last Decade

2012 Detroit Tigers

19.8 WAR (4th)
3.57 xFIP (5th)
3.66 SIERA (5th)

After winning the AL Cy Young and AL MVP awards the year before, Justin Verlander was leading the charge again for this 2012 Tigers rotation.

Verlander went 17-8, with a 2.94 FIP, and registered 7.8 WAR over 238.1 innings for the 2012 season. He narrowly missed a second consecutive Cy Young award, finishing second.

Max Scherzer was the number-two guy for this team, and he put together quite the season. Scherzer went 16-7, with a 3.27 FIP, and struck out 11.1 batters per nine innings. He finished the year with 4.2 Wins Above Replacement.

Doug Fister and Rick Porcello filled the third and fourth spots in the Tigers’ 2012 rotation and combined to win 20 games. Fister owned a 3.42 FIP and 3.3 WAR, while his ERA+ of 123 was actually the second-best on the team.

Porcello was the “weak link” of this rotation, with just 1.5 WAR, but he ate up innings (176.1), and his FIP of 3.91 was respectable.

Anibal Sanchez and then-rookie Drew Smyly each filled in as the fifth starter, as they combined for 2.8 WAR over 30 starts and 174 innings pitched.