Top 5 starting rotations in baseball
By Robby Sabo
1. Washington Nationals
Projected Rotation
- Max Scherzer RHP
- Stephen Strasburg RHP
- Jordan Zimmermann RHP
- Gio Gonzalez LHP
- Doug Fister RHP
If the Mets boast the best depth 10 deep, then the Washington Nationals easily have the best starting-five as a whole.
After the signing of 2013 AL Cy Young winner Max Scherzer, they clearly possess the top starting rotation in the game right now.
There is no doubt in my mind that the blockbuster seven-year, $210 million Scherzer contract will wynd up being a terrible one for the Nats. While it’s going to hamper them in a couple of years, the key here is that right now it makes them dangerous.
To throw out a one-two-three punch of Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann is just plain silly. Adding a lefty on top of it in Gio Gonzalez is unfair.
Scherzer fanned 252 batters last year; Strasburg nabbed 242 guys; Zimmermann got 183; and Gonzalez tallied 162. That’s a total of 839 strikeouts from your top-four pitchers. Number like that get you into rare-air.
Not only is the club adding a bonafide number-one starter, but their adding him to a pitching staff that led the majors in ERA last year with a 3.03 mark. The second best team was Seattle at 3.17.
The people on the beltway who don’t bleed orange have got to be licking their chops right now.
With spring comes warm and fuzzy feelings of one’s team contending in August and September for one of those 10 coveted playoff berths. In Washington DC though, they already know their team can contend, it’s just a matter of getting over that hump in the playoffs.
Both 2012 and 2014 saw very bitter and disappointing series losses to the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants.
While the normal spring training phrase is “hope springs eternal,” the Nats fan hope Scherzer will bring along with him very overdue October success.
Next: Who are the greatest starting pitchers in MLB history?