It's mind-bottling how dominant the Cubs starting rotation was in 2016.
When the reigning National League Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta goes 18-8 with a 3.10 ERA and he's considered the No. 3 option, you know it's been a special season for the starting staff.
CSN resident stat guru Chris Kamka compiled some of the most eye-popping statistics from Kyle Hendricks and Co.:
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- 2.96 ERA by starters (better than AL leader Aaron Sanchez - 3.00)
- 2.96 Starter ERA by Cubs in 2016 is their best since 1963 (2.90)
- 2.96 starter ERA is best in baseball since the 2011 Phillies (2.86)
Best Cubs career ERA (1920-present); minimum 50 starts
2.52 Jake Arrieta 98 starts
2.84 Lon Warneke 190 starts
MLB
2.89 Jon Lester 64 starts
2.92 Kyle Hendricks 75 starts
2.96 Claude Passeau 234 starts
2016 Cubs are one of 5 teams in MLB history with four pitchers with at least 170 K
1969 Astros Larry Dierker (232) Tom Griffin (200) Denny Lemaster (173) Don Wilson (235)
1990 Mets David Cone (233) Sid Fernandez (181) Dwight Gooden (223) Frank Viola (182)
2015 Indians Trevor Bauer (170) Carlos Carrasco (216) Corey Kluber (245) Danny Salazar (195)
2016 Nationals Gio Gonzalez (171) Tanner Roark (172) Max Scherzer (284) Stephen Strasburg (183)
2016 Cubs Jake Arrieta (190) Kyle Hendricks (170) John Lackey (180) Jon Lester (197)
[RELATED - Cubs unveil NLDS rotation]
Jon Lester (NLDS Game 1 starter)
- First pitcher in Cubs history with 8 straight starts allowing 1 or 0 runs (Aug 17-Sep 25)
- First Cubs player (whose primary position is pitcher) with a walkoff plate appearance (July 31) since Les Lancaster 7/20/1989
- First Cubs lefty to strike out 9 without a walk in consecutive starts during the modern era (since 1900)
- First Cubs lefty with a Complete Game and NO Walks (June 1) since Steve Wilson (10 K, 0 BB) 7/15/1990 vs Dodgers
- First Cubs pitcher to allow leadoff HR and no other runs in a Complete Game (June 1) since Larry French 7/26/1940 (14-1 win at Giants)
Most starts in a season by a Cubs pitcher with 5+ innings and 1 or fewer runs
20 Jon Lester 2016
20 Jake Arrieta 2015
20 Hippo Vaughn 1919
19 Dick Ellsworth 1963
Best ERA by a Cubs lefty (min 150 ip) since 1920
2.11 Dick Ellsworth 1963
2.40 Ray Prim 1945
2.44 Jon Lester 2016
Most strikeouts in a season by a Cubs lefty
207 Jon Lester 2015
202 Ken Holtzman 1970
197 Jon Lester 2016
Kyle Hendricks (NLDS Game 2 starter)
- First Cubs pitcher to lead NL in ERA since Ray Prim in 1945
- First Cubs pitcher to lead MLB in ERA since Bill Lee in 1938
Best ERA at Wrigley Field in a season (Cubs history; minimum 10 starts)
1.11 Grover Cleveland Alexander 1920
1.32 Kyle Hendricks 2016
1.38 Mike Morgan 1992
- 2016 Post All-Star Break
Jon Lester 14 starts, 1.76 ERA
Kyle Hendricks 14 starts, 1.68 ERA
Only Cubs teammates with 10+ starts and sub-1.80 ERA after the All-Star break (since 1933 - first All-Star game)
- Cubs finishing 1-2 in MLB in ERA (since 1900)
1906 Mordecai Brown (1.04) & Jack Pfiester (1.51)
1907 Jack Pfiester (1.15) & Carl Lundgren (1.17)
1938 Bill Lee (2.66) & Charlie Root (2.86)
2016 Kyle Hendricks (2.13) & Jon Lester (2.44)
- Cubs teammates with 150+ K and sub 2.50 ERA
1909 Mordecai Brown 1.31 ERA, 172 K Orval Overall 1.42 ERA, 205 K
2016 Kyle Hendricks 2.13 ERA, 170 K Jon Lester 2.44 ERA, 197 K
- Most consecutive starts allowing 3 or fewer ER (Cubs, 1913-present)
29 Jake Arrieta 6/21/2015-5/20/2016
27 Mike Morgan 4/21/1992-9/7/1992
23 Frank Castillo 7/31/1994-8/19/1995
22 Kyle Hendricks 5/22/2016-9/26/2016
22 Hippo Vaughn 5/11/1916-8/21/1916
Jake Arrieta (NLDS Game 3 starter)
- Cubs won 23 straight Arrieta starts (last 13 of 2015, first 10 of 2016). They are 10-11 in his 21 starts since.
- First Cubs starter to allow 5 R & 5 BB, hit HR AND get a Win since Pat Malone 6/28/1929 (July 27)
- Last 6 starts in California (dating back to 2015): 6-0, 0.20 ERA, 45.0 IP, 15 Hits, 9 BB, 44 K, 0.533 WHIP
- First Cubs pitcher with 2+ HR and 4+ Walks at the plate in a season since Jim Bullinger in 1996
- First Cubs pitcher to start season 9-0 since Ken Holtzman in 1967
John Lackey (NLDS Game 4 starter)
- Two 10-K starts in 2016. At age 37 y, 196 d (his most recent - on May 6th), he's oldest Cubs pitcher with a 10-K game since Greg Maddux (age 39 y, 26 d) 5/10/2005
- Oldest Cubs pitcher to reach 180 K in a season (age 37 season). Previous oldest was Ryan Dempster (191 K in age 34 season, 2011)
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Oh and if the Cubs actually do make it to the promised land and face an AL team in the World Series...
Cubs pitching in interleague play in 2016
W-L 15-5
ERA 1.90
IP 180.1
Hits 111
K/BB 161/43
WHIP 0.854 (MLB season record for interleague)
Opp BA .176
Best interleague ERA in a season MLB History (interleague play started in 1997)
1.80 Mariners 2011
1.90 Cubs 2016
2.06 Tigers 2013
2.09 Athletics 2011
2.23 Pirates 2013