Around baseball, there’s been a lot of talk about the Diamondbacks’ dynamic duo of Brandon Webb and Dan Haren. Both have had fantastic seasons, both were National League All-Stars and both are in the discussion for the National League Cy Young Award. There are other very good pitching combinations in the big leagues though. Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster of the Cubs, and the old guys Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina from the Yankees. There’s a couple of great young combos too. Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain of San Francisco, and Edinson Volquez and Johnny Cueto of the Reds.

Do any of these duos come close to matching the numbers posted thus far by Webb and Haren. I did a little research to find out…

Total Victories

Webb/Haren (ARZ) - 32

Halladay/Burnett (TOR) - 30

Mussina/Pettitte (NYY) - 29

Winning Percentage

Matsuzaka/Lester (BOS) - .818

Webb/Haren (ARZ) - .761

Sheets/Sabathia (MIL) - .731

ERA

Webb/Haren (ARZ) - 2.98

Matsuzaka/Lester (BOS) - 3.00

Lincecum/Cain (SF) - 3.07

Strikeouts

Lincecum/Cain (SF) - 349

Halladay/Burnett (TOR) - 337

Webb/Haren (ARZ) - 305

Walks

Webb/Haren (ARZ) - 71

Mussina/Pettitte (NYY) - 81

Saunders/Santana (LAA) - 88

Strikeout/Walk Ratio

Webb/Haren (ARZ) 4.30

Sheets/Sabathia (MIL) - 3.94

Halladay/Burnett (TOR) - 3.30

The D-Backs twosome is the only one to appear in the top 3 in all major catgories, and they lead 4 of them outright.

The old adage says that pitching will carry you to a World Series win, and many of us here in the Valley have experienced just that, back in 2001. Which got me thinking, how do Webb and Haren stack up against World Series Co-MVPs Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling in their magical season of 2001? Full season projections will be used for Webb and Haren’s numbers.

Total Victories

Johnson/Schilling (2001) - 43

Webb/Haren (2008) - 41

Winning Percentage

Johnson/Schilling (2001) - .782

Webb/Haren (2008) - .759

ERA

Johnson/Schilling (2001) - 2.74

Webb/Haren (2008) - 2.98

Strikeouts

Johnson/Schilling (2001) - 665

Webb/Haren (2008) - 392

Walks

Webb/Haren (2008) - 81

Johnson/Schilling (2001) - 110

Strikeout to Walk Ratio

Johnson/Schilling (2001) - 6.05

Webb/Haren (4.84)

Not as big a difference as I would have expected. Who knows, maybe this duo can share a World Series MVP Award come October too.

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