MLRanked - Every MLR Pitching Staff #20-16 (2018-19 Edition)
#20 - Texas Rangers
2017-18 Ranking: #12
We're a long way from Superbone Threefinger's Cy Young winning season. The workhorse pitcher, who won from his now-unbreakable IP record last season, has been struggling this season. His concerning 230.07 D/BF is one of many factors currently contributing to a -0.507 pWAR. His ERA is close to 4, which is not awful, but his peripherals do not carry it.
With a thin roster comes a thin pitching staff, with only one other arm in the rotation. This arm happens to be pretty serviceable, the young rookie Caleb Miller, but at only 2 pitchers, 1 positive-WAR arm is not enough to propel Texas far on this list. There's simply too many competitive rotations to see this one as anything but below-average.
Caleb Miller / Superbone Threefinger
Innings Pitched: 29.2 / 41.1
Earned Runs Allowed: 12 / 27
ERA: 2.43 / 3.92
WHIP: 1.52 / 1.43
Strikeouts: 18 / 30
D/BF: 243.46 / 230.07
pWAR: 0.713 / -0.507
#19 - Chicago Cubs
2017-18 Ranking: N/A
Todd Bonzalez is a stud. This much is known. The rest of the Cubs staff is either too unproven or struggling too hard to say nearly the same. Atlas Quin, the veteran on the staff, is not having an ideal season. He is currently sporting a 4.58 ERA with a -0.347 pWAR and a 233.70 D/BF, which are not fantastic stats. His saving grace is his K/6, sitting above 9 at the moment, but unless he turns this around it will be a season to forget.
Whorpus Whiff is comparably below average. With a -0.194 pWAR and an ERA closer to a run-per-inning than not, he and Quin hamper this rotation of 4. A bright spot is Nick Tit and his ERA only a hair over 1, but his innings pitched makes it possible this is only rookie luck.
The ups and downs of this rotation makes it a trashcan fire instead of a dumpster fire. It certainly is more complete than many of the aforementioned staffs, and has the ability to approve. We know Atlas can do better, and this Tit fellow can show himself to be a real gem.
Atlas Quin / Nick Tit / Todd Bonzalez / Whorpus Whiff
Innings Pitched: 19.2 / 5.2 / 20.2 / 21.0
Earned Runs Allowed: 15 / 1 / 9 / 18
ERA: 4.58 / 1.06 / 2.61 / 5.14
WHIP: 1.73 / 0.71 / 1.26 / 1.62
Strikeouts: 32 / 3 / 12 / 32
D/BF: 233.70 / 300.19 / 233.57 / 236.48
pWAR: -0.347 / 0.420 / 0.632 / -0.197
#18 - Cleveland Indians
2017-18 Ranking: #13
This pitching staff has a lot of potential that they have yet to deliver. Whitt Bass has been a consistent All-Star contender in the past, but is having a rather poor season for the struggling Indians. Dane Konrad has yet to give up a run in his career, but also has less than 10 innings pitched in said career. He is not used very much and perhaps has dipped in activity because of that.
Artanis Jones is the only pitcher to deliver on this potential. After a rough start with the Yankees, he has been electric for Cleveland and has anchored the slacking rotation. His 0.917 pWAR is higher than most pitchers. Go look up your favorite pitcher; there is a good chance Artanis is quietly having a better season than him in Cleveland.
If I saw this rotation in the preseason, I would probably have rated it in the Top 5. There needs to be more performance here, however, more evolution. And until that's shone, this is the highest that we can realistically see the Indians.
Artanis Jones / Dane Konrad / Whitt Bass
Innings Pitched: 30.1 / 3.2 / 21.1
Earned Runs Allowed: 18 / 0 / 17
ERA: 3.56 / 0.00 / 4.78
WHIP: 1.45 / 1.36 / 1.55
Strikeouts: 34 / 4 / 23
D/BF: 247.01 / 255.87 / 222.60
pWAR: 0.917 / 0.299 / -0.473
#17 - Houston Astros
2017-18 Ranking: #10
The Astros are a team with a few solid arms, but no real ace. Willoughby Hoose is a classic Houston mainstay and has been having an okay season in Houston, brandishing a 3.71 ERA. Gone are the days of Con Copper, but Hoose is rocking a sexy strikeout rate in his place: 8.86 per 6. Bongiovanni has a lower ERA, but less than half this K/6.
Where the Astros have problems is Jerome Garcia and Thomas Beowulf Jr. Garcia has a positive pWAR, but just barely and I am not sure why. His D/BF is under 250 and his WHIP is closer to 2 than not. This doesn't help an ERA that's practically 5. Beowulf Jr. has struggled supremely in his small sample size, but I don't want to bust his balls too hard. With 6.2 innings pitched to his career, there's plenty of time to turn this around.
If Hoose can keep the ERA down and Beowulf can fix his rough start, this could be a staff flirting with the top 10. Nothing on this team's rotation screams that of a contender, though perhaps I'm being too hard on them. We're getting to the point where each rotation has a good amount of talent, even if there's still a long way to go.
Derek Bongiovanni / Jerome Garcia / Thomas Beowulf Jr. / Willoughby Hoose
Innings Pitched: 18.0 / 15.2 / 6.2 / 21.0
Earned Runs Allowed: 10 / 13 / 8 / 13
ERA: 3.33 / 4.98 / 7.20 / 3.71
WHIP: 1.17 / 1.79 / 2.10 / 1.24
Strikeouts: 10 / 15 / 7 / 31
D/BF: 266.49 / 244.21 / 202.21 / 245.99
pWAR: 0.129 / 0.021 / -0.419 / 0.600
#16 - Los Angeles Angels
2017-18 Ranking: #3
The Angels staff is a lot like the Rangers, but with more depth. The Angels have one ace with some average-to-below-average auxiliaries. Dipper is very much the former, having a great sophomore season. It isn't Pitcher of the Year contending, but the 0.753 pWAR helps. Where this staff falters is in the less-than-fantastic Daniel Collins, who is having a poor season in his 5.54 ERA and negative pWAR. Pickle Rick is okay, but not enough to boost this staff much. His 244.30 D/BF is slightly below average, as is his 1.80 WHIP.
This staff could rise through the ranks by the end of the season, either through improvement by Dipper or the club's lesser assets. The league pitching is incredibly deep, however, and this staff is shallow at best.
Chipper Dipper / Daniel Collins / Pickle Rick
Innings Pitched: 29.1 / 21.2 / 15.0
Earned Runs Allowed: 14 / 20 / 8
ERA: 2.86 / 5.54 / 3.20
WHIP: 1.33 / 1.75 / 1.80
Strikeouts: 25 / 36 / 13
D/BF: 253.36 / 217.55 / 244.30
pWAR: 0.753 / -0.621 / 0.236
