Consistent rotation?

I listened to a podcast show a while ago. In the show, an analyst mentioned a team’s rotation and indicated that the team has done a great job to maintain its pitchers’ health. So the team’s rotation has been quite steady over the last few years.

Indeed, injuries always bother many teams. Hence, an important thing is to avoid injuries and players’ health is quite important. After listening to the show, I was just thinking about this topic. The rotation, over the last several seasons, which teams had a rotation that pitched consistently?

To solve my doubt, I decided to check on the MLB website to see if there’s something worth thinking about.

Well, I don’t want to make things complicated. To evaluate the consistency of a rotation, I decided to check if there are some teams that are equipped with pitchers that can consistently make at least 20 starts in a single season. And I looked back at the last 5 seasons.

Firstly, the Cubs’ starters made at least 20 starts in a single season 23 times from 2021 to 2025. That means, on average, at least 4 starters made at least 20 starts for the Cubs each season. And, yes their rotation was quite consistent over the last 5 seasons. From 2021 to 2025, there were 4 times that 5 pitchers made at least 20 starts in a single season.

At the same time, the Royals starters made at least 20 starts in a single season 23 times over the last 5 seasons as well. However, the story was a bit different from the Cubs. Over the last 2 seasons, there were 5 pitchers who made at least 20 starts for the Royals. And in 2022, there were 6 pitchers who made at least 20 starts for the Royals.

In addition, the Brewers starters made at least 20 starts in a single season 22 times from 2021 to 2025. And the Mariners did so. For the Mariners side, things aren’t complicated. Over the last 5 years, at least 4 pitchers would make at least 20 starts in a single season.

Moreover, let’s look at the Braves, the Red Sox, the White Sox, the Astros and the Twins. These teams’ starters each made at least 20 starts in a single season 21 times over the last 5 seasons. The Twins’ case was similar to the Mariners, from 2021 to 2025, at least 4 pitchers made at least 20 starts in a single season. And the Red Sox’ situation was quite similar as well.

Finally, let’s look at 4 other teams. They are the Orioles, the Guardians, the Padres and the Blue Jays. For each team, their starters made at least 20 stats in a single season 20 times from 2021 to 2025.

When we look back at the last 5 seasons, it seems that the Cubs and the Royals each had a stable rotation. And of course, the Brewers and the Mariners did a good job at making its rotation consistent. Perhaps, that’s something which other teams can learn from managing starters’ workload or staying fresh in a long season.