AJ & KK: Innings Don't Grow on Trees

Kendrick and Burnett were healthy rotation regulars in 2014

There has been a thought process floating around in some baseball circles that the more innings a team can get from it's starting rotation, the more likely the team will have success.

One school of thought has floated the number of 1,000 innings as a goal for a starting rotation. If a team's starters can accumulate 1,000 innings during a season, the team will usually win.

Most teams won't reach the mark. Per KC Royals writer Craig Brown, between 2003-2012 just 1 in 5 teams reached the mark. 34% of those teams reached the postseason. More importantly, those teams averaged 87.4 wins among them. Clearly, the more innings your rotation gives, the better your chance of contending.

In 2014, the World Series champion San Francisco Giants starting pitchers totaled 978 innings pitched. But remember, the Giants won 88 games in the regular season, finishing in 2nd place, 6 games behind the Dodgers and tied for the NL Wildcard spots. The Dodgers got 972.2 innings from their starters.

In 2014, in the NL East Division, among the Phillies rivals, the division-winning Washington Nationals had the best record in the entire National League, and totaled 1,019 innings from their starters.

The 2014 Phillies rotation, believe it or not, did indeed top the magic 1,000 mark. The Phils rotation members were able to go 1,014 innings for the team this season. That's with Cliff Lee injured and only able to make 13 starts, contributing just 81.1 innings himself to the effort.