The 5 Best Pitching Rotations of the Last Decade

2015 Chicago Cubs

19.2 WAR (7th)
3.24 xFIP (2nd)
3.36 SIERA (2nd)

The 2015 Chicago Cubs benefited greatly from Jake Arrieta, who put together one of the best single-season pitching performances of all time. Arrieta threw 229 innings and went 22-6 with a minuscule 1.77 ERA. He also owned just a 0.87 WHIP and a 219 ERA+ while posting 8.7 WAR for the season.

Jon Lester was the second man up in the Chicago rotation, and he put together a solid season, his first in Chicago. Lester threw 205 innings over 32 starts and finished the year with 3.1 Wins Above Replacement, a 2.92 FIP, and a 116 ERA+.

The two players filling in the middle of the Cubs’ 2015 rotation, Kyle Hendricks and Jason Hammel, had remarkably similar seasons.

Hendricks logged 180 innings with a 1.16 WHIP and a 3.36 FIP while Hammel threw 170.2 innings, with a 1.16 WHIP and a 3.68 FIP. Both pitchers finished the season with 1.8 WAR each.

Like the 2012 Tigers and 2008 D-Backs, last year’s Cubs team had a few different pitchers make starts as a fifth starter throughout the year.

Chicago acquired Dan Haren at the trade deadline last year, and he made 11 starts, posting a 97 ERA+. Tsuyoshi Wada also made seven starts for the Cubbies, with a 108 ERA+. They combined for 0.6 WAR over just 90.2 innings pitched.