I continue my countdown of all the starting rotations in baseball. Yesterday I unveiled the bottom ten according to myself. Today I unveil the middle of the pack. Tomorrow I will post the best of the best in the Top 10. I devised a formula for figuring out the best rotation and the number they generated in my formula is next to their name. Once again, these are the pitchers I expect will spend the most time this season in the rotation & the five names mentioned are not particularly in order.
Here’s the next ten in my countdown:
#20 – New York Mets (30)
Projected Rotation – Colon, Niese, Wheeler, Gee, Familia
Bartolo Colon is the new man on site as the soon to be 41-year old signed a two-year deal in the offseason. He’s coming off a fantastic year with Oakland. He’ll take the reins as the ace while future star Matt Harvey sits out the year from Tommy John surgery. Jon Niese is not a flashy pitcher but he gets the job done & he does it effectively. Zack Wheeler is another young star that Mets fans hope to cheer for a long time to come. Dillon Gee is the likely fourth starter but needs to continue the improvement he showed in 2013. Jeurys Familia will battle Jenrry Meija for the final spot. Familia is the likely winner as he tries to overcome the elbow tendonitis that forced him to miss much of last season.
#19 – Toronto Blue Jays (30)
Projected Rotation – Dickey, Buerhle, Morrow, Happ, Drabek
The Blue Jays have a lot of starting pitching to choose from. Their problem is that none of them are over the top elite. Dickey is a former Cy Young winner and will likely improve on a sub-standard 2013 as he now knows the ropes of the American League. Mark Buerhle is a perennial 200-inning, 10-win pitcher. Brendon Morrow is a big question mark. Can he go an entire season without getting injured? J.A. Happ took a liner off the head last year but he has a lot of upside. Kyle Drabek returns from a year off due to Tommy John surgery and the Jays have a lot of stock in him as he was the key piece they got from the Roy Halladay trade. Esmil Rogers, Drew Hutchison & Todd Redmond are all possibilities to fill in if needed. Hutchison has the most upside.
#18 – Colorado Rockies (31)
Projected Rotation – De La Rosa, Chacin, Chatwood, Nicasio, Anderson
The Rockies also have extra pitching talent but no elite starters. De La Rosa led the Rockies to a terrific 21-9 record in his starts last year, a solid record for an ace. Jhoulys Chacin needs to improve on his K/BB ratio. Tyler Chatwood impressed me last year as he only gave up two or fewer runs in sixteen of his twenty starts. Juan Nicasio wore down as the season progressed. He’ll likely be better this year but don’t be surprised to see him on an innings count. Brett Anderson missed most of last season due to a stress fracture in his foot. He’ll battle with Jordan Lyles for the last rotation spot.
#17 – Oakland Athletics (32)
Projected Rotation – Gray, Parker, Kazmir, Griffin, Straily
There are huge expectations for Sonny Gray. The kid who got the nod for game 5 of the ALDS will be expected to take Colon’s spot in the rotation. Jarrod Parker got fatigued at the end of the season, he should be good for a solid 200 innings this year. Scott Kazmir hit a huge payday with Oakland, which is not something you hear all that often. Kazmir will be expected to be the veteran presence in the rotation. A.J. Griffin pitched exactly 200 innings before coming down with elbow tendonitis. Another young arm with huge potential. Dan Straily is the unheard name in Oakland but his numbers are just as charming as the others. This is a talented, young rotation with lots of upside but also lots of injury concerns.
#16 – Baltimore Orioles (33)
Projected Rotation – Tillman, Norris, Chen, Gonzalez, Yoon
The Orioles needed to work on this rotation this winter but failed many times to land a big name. Until Wednesday. Tillman emerged as the ace of the staff putting up stellar numbers across the board. Bud Norris came over from Houston and continued his lackluster pitching. He has tremendous upside and hopefully it flourishes in Baltimore. Wei-Yin Chen Is an effective five inning pitcher but falls apart after that. Miguel Gonzalez shows some promise as a late bloomer and is a very good fourth option. Suk-Min Yoon was signed Wednesday. He is a superb addition to this rotation and he could end up being the staff ace.