No. 5- 1991 Starting Rotation
The 1991 Twins own one of the most storied seasons in team history as it went 95-67 during the regular season on its way to winning the World Series. Along with that, they had a starting rotation with several great individual pitching performances. Providing several historically great moments and stats in Twins history.
At age 36, Jack Morris led the team with 246.2 innings pitched. Morris completed 10 games and held a 3.43 ERA while going 18-12. Morris was also selected to the All-Star team and finished fourth in Cy Young voting that season. Of course, Morris also cemented his place in MLB history during Game 7 of the World Series. Not far behind Morris was Kevin Tapani with 244.0 innings pitched. Over the whole of the season, Tapani held the best ERA of the starters at 2.99 and also held a 16-9 record.
A 23 year-old Scott Erickson also contributed 204 innings as the third member of the staff to top the 200 inning mark. He held a 3.18 ERA and was a 20 game winner with a record of 20-8. That isn’t bad for a 2nd-year pitcher! The rotation was rounded out by contributions from Allan Anderson and David West.
Altogether this group of pitchers combined for a 15.9 WAR. They were led by Tapani’s 6.8 WAR, which sits at 9th all-time for a Twins starting pitcher. Close behind was Erickson’s career-best 4.5 WAR and Morris’ 4.3 WAR. This rotation that helped lead the Twins to one of their two World Series championships starts off our list as the Number 5 starting rotation all-time.