Ranking the staff ace of every NL team
By Eric Treuden
10. RHP Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs)
One of the more puzzling free agent signings of this past offseason, Marcus Stroman finds himself atop the rebuilding Chicago Cubs rotation for at least this season and next.
One of the more exciting and flashy players in the game, Stroman can and likely will inject some life into the clubhouse in Chicago but hasn’t been off to the best of starts and is just two seasons removed from missing the entirety of 2020 (opting out during COVID, not injured).
The 31-year old sinkerballer has seven starts under his belt to begin 2022 and has just an 89 ERA+ through his first 36+ innings. His 8.9 SO/9 is nothing to write home about but is higher than where he’s typically been at over the course of his career.
9. RHP Chris Bassitt (New York Mets)
One of the many pieces dealt during the Oakland Athletics’ firesale over this past offseason, Chris Bassitt has found himself a new home with the Mets. He makes this list in place of Jacob deGrom and then Max Scherzer who each would likely take the top spot over the other in these rankings if they were able to stay healthy.
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Long a steady, reliable starter in Oakland, Bassitt joined New York with two-consecutive top-10 finishes in the AL Cy Young voting and a 12-4, 3.15 ERA showing in 2021.
Bassitt, 33, has made nine starts for the Mets and has looked just a hair worse than he was with Oakland. In 53 innings, the right-hander has a 3.91 ERA but a FIP of 4.51, suggesting that he’s gotten lucky with the defense behind him.
8. RHP Aaron Nola (Philadelphia Phillies)
For years now, Aaron Nola has looked like a pitcher that’s been right on the cusp of super-stardom. While he has been a great arm on the Phillies’ staff for the past eight years now, he has never quite taken that next step.
A two-time top-seven finisher in the NL Cy Young voting and 2018 NL All-Star, Nola has been the face of durability over the course of his career, making 27 or more starts in four of the eight seasons including 12 in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign and nine so far in 2022.
Through 52+ innings, Nola has 64 strikeouts against just 10 walks, posting an ERA+ of 100 and an ERA of 3.96. Playing on a sub-.500 Phillies team, his 1-4 record is to be taken lightly when measuring his overall value. While he may never win a Cy Young Award, Nola has been a reliable pitcher for these Phillies and is very much capable of dominating the opposition.
7. RHP Adam Wainwright (St. Louis Cardinals)
Adam Wainwright, one of three ageless wonders on this Cardinals club, continues to be an absolute stud atop the Cardinals rotation. The soon-to-be-41-year old finished seventh in the NL Cy Young voting last season at 39-years of age and while he may not be the 200+ strikeout threat he once was, he is still getting it done.
There’s no hiding from the fact that injuries have been a serious issue for Wainwright (he missed significant time in 2011, 2015 and 2018) but he is coming off of a season in which he made 32 starts and he is still as steady and durable as they come.
Through his first eight starts of 2022, Wainwright has a 2.87 ERA and has allowed home runs at a rate of 0.8 through 47 innings, what would be his lowest since 2015 if the season ended today.
6. RHP Yu Darvish (San Diego Padres)
35-year-old Yu Darvish is already pitching in his tenth season since coming over to the States back in 2012 with the Rangers. Three top-nine Cy Young finishes and five All-Star Game selections later, he is still striking out batters at an insane rate and is showing little signs of slowing down.
Last season, Darvish made his fifth career ASG and posted a 10.8 SO/9, his fourth-straight season of a SO/9 of 10.0+. To begin 2022, Darvish has made nine starts and has struck out 44 batters against just 13 walks. Notably, he has only surrendered four home runs so far, good for a 0.7 HR/9, the second-lowest rate of his entire big league career.