Best Rotations in the Game

[OutlawImmortal]

IMHO, in order to be considered a top rotation, you need AT LEAST 3 solid pitchers with few question marks.

The Mets have a legit Ace with DeGrom, a returning Ace with Harvey and two emerging STUDS in Thor and Matz. I dont think there are many who argue they are not the best in the game right now.

The Diamondbacks have a legit Ace in Greinke, a sold #1 in Miller and an emerging stud in Corbin.

The Giants have a legit Ace in Bumgarner, possibly the best #2 in all of baseball not named "Harvey" in Cueto, and a questionable stud in Scrabble.

The Cubs have a legit Ace in Arrietta, and two aging solid starters in Lester and Lackey. I personally think their top 3 is slightly over-rated, but still solid and in this discussion.

The Indians have a legit Ace in Kluber and two rising studs in Carasco and Salazar.

The Nats have a legit Ace in Scherzer and two questionable top-of-the-rotations guys in Strasburg and Gonzalez.

The Astros have a legit Ace in Keuchel, a young stud in McCullers and a solid 3 in McHugh.

The Dodgers have a legit Ace in Kershaw, and... A bunch of question marks.

The only thing keeping the Dodgers in any kind of consideration for top 10 is Kershaw and his brilliance. Past him, they got zero, zip, zilch.

Shouldn't be too long until Bumgarner goes the way of Lincecum, Vogelsong and Cain and falls off the face of the earth.

By the way, a rotation involves more than just the top 3 pitchers, depth should also be apart of the discussion.

 

[calsnowskier]

Shouldn't be too long until Bumgarner goes the way of Lincecum, Vogelsong and Cain and falls off the face of the earth.

By the way, a rotation involves more than just the top 3 pitchers, depth should also be apart of the discussion.

Bum will fall apart eventually. Just as Kershaw will. Just as Maddux did. Just as Johnson did. Just as Gibson did. Your point?

Agree about the depth issue. No question. That was discussed in this thread.

 

[Clayton]

Does a rotation of Julio Teheran, Matt Wisler, Williams Perez, Bud Norris and Mike Foltynewicz/Aaron Blair/Ryan Weber/Manny Banuelos/Sean Newcomb/Tyrell Jenkins not scare you?

Yeah, me neither, carry on.

Sounds more like a list of guys Clint Eastwood has shot in a movie and less like a pitching rotation.

 

[romeo212000]

Texas might make this list with Hamels, Darvish, Holland, and Perez.

 

[dredinis21]

Texas might make this list with Hamels, Darvish, Holland, and Perez.

You killed this thread with your nomination. Great job.

 

[Arizona_Sting]

St. Louis has a deep rotation now with Waino-Wacha-Martinez-Leake-Garcia

 

[dredinis21]

St. Louis has a deep rotation now with Waino-Wacha-Martinez-Leake-Garcia

True, although they have to have Wainwright "right" before this rotation is considered upper echelon. But I agree, it's definitely formidable in it's depth. To me, it's an ace and 4 #3's. That ain't half bad.

 

[calsnowskier]

St. Louis has a deep rotation now with Waino-Wacha-Martinez-Leake-Garcia

I dont follow the Cards in any detail...

Isnt Wainwright coming off major elbow surgery? Penciling him in as Ace level is a bit risky. He looked good in his brief action last year, but is he still a 200 IP pitcher?

Garcia came out of relative nowhere last year, and still only represented approx a half season. Is he for real?

Wacha MAY be an Ace.

Martinez also looks like a stud.

Wacha / Martinez / Leake / Garcia / Waino

Yup, that is a solid rotation. Much stronger than I gave it credit for when I started this thread. I think I may rank it as #2 behind the Mets.

 

[romeo212000]

You killed this thread with your nomination. Great job.

Sorry nobody could top that.

 

[Clayton]

Garcia came out of relative nowhere last year, and still only represented approx a half season. Is he for real?

He has been good for awhile. He was 3rd place for ROY in 2010 behind Posey and Heyward. He is also known as a home cooking pitcher and generally pitches lights out in STL.

He has had 2 weird issues where he pretended that he wasn't injured in one playoffs and got the flu last playoffs so I dont know if he is someone that can be counted on when it counts but he can absolutely pitch a lot of quality games in a year.

 

[calsnowskier]

He has been good for awhile. He was 3rd place for ROY in 2010 behind Posey and Heyward. He is also known as a home cooking pitcher and generally pitches lights out in STL.

He has had 2 weird issues where he pretended that he wasn't injured in one playoffs and got the flu last playoffs so I dont know if he is someone that can be counted on when it counts but he can absolutely pitch a lot of quality games in a year.

I am genuinely asking...

What happened to him in '13, '14 and '15? A grand total of 36 starts in 3 seasons.

Give me a season of 180+ IP and I will crown him legit. Until them, he is a spot-starter.

 

[Clayton]

I am genuinely asking...

What happened to him in '13, '14 and '15? A grand total of 36 starts in 3 seasons.

Give me a season of 180+ IP and I will crown him legit. Until them, he is a spot-starter.

The cliffnotes version: 3 shoulder surgeries/injuries. Also, the Cards starting pitching rotation was generally pretty strong those years.

I think its fair to question his consistency, though.

The Cards staff order is definitely up in the air. I wouldn't rule out the team throwing either Wainwright or Martinez into the bullpen if they make the playoffs and one of them isn't up to their full potential.

 

[calsnowskier]

Regardless, the Cards have a solid top 3 and the question marks at 4 and 5 look to be on the solid side of question.

Mets, Cards, Giants, DBacks and Rangers I think are the top 5 with the Indians, Cubs, Nats and Astros all having legit arguments to be included as well.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

A lot of question marks for the Mets rotation this year though. How do Harvey and deGrom come back after logging a ton of innings? Will Syndergaard keep it up for an entire season? Can Matz stay healthy an entire season and will Wheeler return to form after Tommy John? I have faith but it's not as much of a slam dunk as most would assume.

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Didn't smardjia just get his face pounded in for a full season?

I mean it is the NL but if anyone is a ? It's him. I also love Cueto but he's gotta prove he's back to form this year.

Give me Arrieta, Lester and Lackey over that right now. Bum come playoff time is god. But Lester and Lackey have good track records too.

I'd go Mets, cards(depth), Cubs, dbacks, Giants in NL

 

[obxyankeefan]

1 Japan star that just had elbow surgery
2 Aging ex ace that lost 5 MPH on his fastball and is just pitching out his contract
3 Explosive fastball but injury problems and some rule bending keep him from pitching a full season
4 Explosive fastball but no movement on it
5 His best work might be a song by a group with the same name, but BK is his biggest supporter


The best part of the Yankees starting rotation is our bullpen.

 

[calsnowskier]

Didn't smardjia just get his face pounded in for a full season?

I mean it is the NL but if anyone is a ? It's him. I also love Cueto but he's gotta prove he's back to form this year.

Give me Arrieta, Lester and Lackey over that right now. Bum come playoff time is god. But Lester and Lackey have good track records too.

I'd go Mets, cards(depth), Cubs, dbacks, Giants in NL

Samardzija IS a big question mark. But there is solid evidence that points to that being an issue that has been fixed. If Cueto had not been traded, no one would have noticed his slump last year. His playoffs were solid. Over the last 5 years, he has been the #2 pitcher in all of baseball.

Who are the Cubs' 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 starters? The Giants have two former Aces meaning the 4 and 5 slots (Peavy and Cain) and 4 pitchers who should be ready to crack a MLB rotation this season (Heston, Stratton, Blackburn, and Blach) with 2 others that could step in if needed (Beede and Mejia).

 

[mr.hockey4242]

Samardzija IS a big question mark. But there is solid evidence that points to that being an issue that has been fixed. If Cueto had not been traded, no one would have noticed his slump last year. His playoffs were solid. Over the last 5 years, he has been the #2 pitcher in all of baseball.

Who are the Cubs' 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 starters? The Giants have two former Aces meaning the 4 and 5 slots (Peavy and Cain) and 4 pitchers who should be ready to crack a MLB rotation this season (Heston, Stratton, Blackburn, and Blach) with 2 others that could step in if needed (Beede and Mejia).

Well I think Peavy is dog shit and wouldn't even take him on the Twins(not that I would take Hammel and Hendricks if it's those two). Cain used to be awesome but who the hell knows anymore I don't even remember when I last saw him.

If Heston moves in for Peavy that's an upgrade forsure

Cueto had 2 gems and 2 bad games in playoffs. But again, I do think highly of him.

Honestly I just go Mets and Cards far above the rest right now depth wise. I just like the Cubs top 3 with that lineup comes playoff time(when Hammel and Hendricks are an issue).

 

[dredinis21]

Well I think Peavy is dog shit and wouldn't even take him on the Twins(not that I would take Hammel and Hendricks if it's those two). Cain used to be awesome but who the hell knows anymore I don't even remember when I last saw him.

If Heston moves in for Peavy that's an upgrade forsure

Cueto had 2 gems and 2 bad games in playoffs. But again, I do think highly of him.

Honestly I just go Mets and Cards far above the rest right now depth wise. I just like the Cubs top 3 with that lineup comes playoff time(when Hammel and Hendricks are an issue).

I can see why you would say that, but when healthy, Peavy has been solid. He just can't go deep into ballgames like he used to. Which was why the signings of Scrabble and Cueto were so important. Our bullpen can take over after 5-6 innings with Peavy without being taxed the way they were last season with Huddy and a mending Cain with the same issues.