Regardless if you believe in Quality Starts (QS) or not, the term is used now days in MLB. A QS is defined as pitching six innings or more while allowing three or fewer earned runs. I would be happier if a QS was seven innings and two or fewer earned runs but that is just my age showing. The new “opener” strategy could put a kink in QS but I don’t think the opener strategy is a fit for most teams and will not be a big deal down the line.
Today we are taking a look at consecutive QS for Minnesota Twins starters and we have one pitcher that stands head and shoulders above the rest of the Twins pitchers in QS and that is Johan Santana who had 21 QS in a row in 2004. Impressive or not? You bet your bippy it is, no American League pitcher between 1961-2018 has thrown that many QS in a row. In the National league only four pitchers have thrown that many QS in a row since 1961, Bob Gibson leads with 26 in 1967, Jacob deGrom (2018) and Jake Arrieta (2015) have 24 and Chris Carpenter has 22 in 2005.
The closest to Santana’s streak of 21 in Minnesota is Bert Blyleven who had 12 in 1972 and Jim Merritt who also had 12 in 1967. The biggest surprise on this list to me is Rick Aguilera with 10 QS in 1989. I certainly remember Aggie starting for Minnesota when they first traded for him but I don’t remember him as pitching that well, maybe it was the fact that his record was only 3-4 during the streak.
| Rk | Name | Strk Start | End | Games | W | L | GS | CG | SHO | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johan Santana | 2004-06-09 | 2004-09-24 | 21 | 18 | 2 | 21 | 1 | 1 | 154.1 | 77 | 23 | 30 | 199 | 1.34 |
| 2 | Bert Blyleven | 1972-08-19 | 1973-04-06 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 99.0 | 82 | 19 | 24 | 87 | 1.73 |
| 3 | Jim Merritt | 1967-06-25 | 1967-08-18 | 12 | 5 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 1 | 101.1 | 77 | 18 | 8 | 64 | 1.60 |
| 4 | Frank Viola | 1987-06-26 | 1987-08-16 | 11 | 8 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 87.0 | 69 | 19 | 21 | 70 | 1.97 |
| 5 | Dick Woodson | 1972-07-11 | 1972-08-28 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 90.1 | 61 | 14 | 26 | 43 | 1.39 |
| 6 | Eric Milton | 2000-09-23 | 2001-05-13 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 68.1 | 67 | 20 | 16 | 45 | 2.63 |
| 7 | Scott Erickson | 1990-09-23 | 1991-05-17 | 10 | 8 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 2 | 77.1 | 53 | 10 | 28 | 36 | 1.16 |
| 8 | Rick Aguilera | 1989-08-08 | 1989-09-26 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 71.2 | 61 | 22 | 16 | 55 | 2.76 |
| 9 | Roger Erickson | 1980-08-01 | 1980-09-17 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 80.0 | 71 | 18 | 16 | 42 | 2.03 |
| 10 | Lee Stange | 1963-08-06 | 1963-09-15 | 10 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 5 | 1 | 83.0 | 65 | 16 | 19 | 55 | 1.73 |
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The Minnesota Twins longest streak of QS as a team is 13 QS in a row in 1969. The pitchers in that streak were Dean Chance, Dave Boswell, Jim Perry, Dick Woodson, Tommy Hall and Jim Kaat.