How the Los Angeles Dodgers stack up against MLB’s greatest teams
By Bill Felber
ERA+
Like OPS+, ERA+ is naturally normalized, so no adjustment on our part is necessary. It is also probably the synoptic number for assessing pitching performance, particularly at a staff level.
The strength of the 2022 Dodgers is the team’s pitching staff, which for the moment grades out at a 152 ERA+. If that holds up through season’s end, it will top all 10 of the staffs of the .700 teams, exactly one point better than the 1906 Cubs.
Three other teams, the 1907 Cubs, 1954 Indians, and 1939 Yankees, rode dominant pitching staffs that scored above a 130 OPS+.
Here is how the 11 teams ranked.
1 2022 Los Angeles Dodgers 152
2 1906 Chicago Cubs 151
3 1907 Chicago Cubs 143
4 1954 Cleveland Indians 133
5 1939 New York Yankees 132
6 1931 Philadelphia Athletics 129
7 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates 125
8 1927 New York Yankees 122
9 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates 118
10 2001 Seattle Mariners 117
11 1998 New York Yankees 116
The relatively poor pitching rating of both the 2001 Mariners and 1998 Yankees undermines the overall ordinal ranking of the two most recent .700 teams.
Through four categories, the 2001 Mariners remain in a tenuous first place, but their ordinal average sinks to 3.75. Hot on their heels are the two Yankee teams of 1939 and 1927, both at 4.75.
With an average ordinal score of 5.50, the 2022 Dodgers rank fifth among the 11 teams.
And that means that the final rank will hinge on adjusted run differential.