Bum/To rated top starter duo

[Rog]

Jacob Shafer has rated  Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto as the top pitching duo on baseball.  Given the many great duos, that's a heck of an honor.  Here are the top 10 duos in reverse order:

10. Aaron Sanchez/Marco Estrada -- Blue Jays

9.  Cole Hamels/Yu Darvish -- Rangers

8.  Chris Archer/Jake Odorizzi -- Rays

7.  Kyle Hendricks/Jake Arrieta -- Cubs    Note:  I would probably have listed it as Lester/Arrieta and ranked it higher.

6.  Noah Syndergaard/Jacob DeGrom -- Mets

5.  Korey Kluber/Carlos Carrasco -- Indians

4.  Max Scherzer/Stephen Strasburg -- Nationals

3.  Clayton Kershaw/Kenta Maeda -- Dodgers

2.  Chris Sale/David Price -- Red Sox

1.  Madison Bumgarner/Johnny Cueto -- Giants


Quite an honor, and they certainly would be my pick.

[klaiggeb]

And for what my opinion is worth, I find that point Hard to argue.

boly

[Rog]

One could argue that aside from Clayton Kershaw, Johnny Cueto -- even though he would be considered the second of the Giants' pair -- has been the best pitcher of the decade, at least beginning with 2011. Bumgarner has been right there too, and if one includes the postseason, Madison would hold the honor rather than Johnny.

At any rate, quite a duo. Despite that, the odds are that there will be a new top duo a year from now. Not even necessarily because the Giants' pair doesn't pitch well. There are a lot of fine duos, and one of them might pitch even better.

Another reason lurks: Johnny can opt out after the 2017 season, so a year from now he might not be a Giant. I think the odds are that he will be, but it is far from a sure thing.

Meanwhile, let's just enjoy it. This may be the Giants' best duo in their SF history, although Marichal and Perry would have been if they both simultaneously enjoyed a great season, as they must have, and the Lincecum/Cain duo was also exceptional.

From 2010 through 2015 the Giants likely had their best overall trio of SF Giants pitchers, although only Bumgarner pitched well over all of those seasons, and both Lincecum and Cain had fallen apart by the end.