Dee_4_Three_83
- Mahomet, IL
Pallante is not stretched out enough to be a starter at this point. But, you are probably right, my worst case scenario may be a little optimistic. Wainwright's velo was about where it needed to be in his last WBC start, so I am not worried. PHYSICALLY, Flaherty looks good, but he didn't get results in Spring.Agree on the bullpen, but this is way too optimistic a take on the rotation. Mikolas and Monty are #3 starters. Waino was a #3 last season, but his velocity issues in ST and WBC may put him in the #5 camp this year. Matz is a 4/5. I'm high on Woodford, Libby and Pallante but so far haven't seen anything to suggest they're anything more than good #4s. Flaherty has #1 upside but based on how he looked in ST I think he's closer to AAA than to he is to that ceiling. Hudson is probably that classic AAAA guy pitches when needed but may never establish himself as a long term member of the 26-man roster.
If you look at the really good rotations out there, like the Dodgers, Mets, Padres, I feel like Mikolas and Monty are the only ones who even have a chance to make the rotation, and probably on the back end.
But for fun, let's look at the rotations for a second and where each starter is projected for ERA, according to Baseball Reference.
Dodgers | Mets | Padres | Cardinals | ||||
Julio Urías | 2.77 | Max Scherzer | 2.86 | Joe Musgrove | 3.57 | Miles Mikolas | 3.60 |
Clayton Kershaw | 3.11 | Justin Verlander | 2.55 | Yu Darvish | 3.57 | Adam Wainwright | 3.61 |
Tony Gonsolin | 2.86 | Kodai Senga | Unlisted? | Blake Snell | 3.74 | Jordan Montgomery | 3.71 |
Dustin May | 3.67 | David Peterson | 4.02 | Seth Lugo | 3.86 | Jack Flaherty | 3.84 |
Noah Syndergaard | 3.93 | Carlos Carrasco | 4.12 | Michael Wacha | 4.06 | Steven Matz | 4.31 |
Mets and Dodgers clearly have an advantage based on projections, but Padres or Cardinals could slug (and trade) their way past them.