It’s easy to talk about what a disaster the Nationals bullpen has been at times, and yes, it has been. Despite those issues, they’re 33-19 and cruising in the National League. A big part of that is one of baseball’s best rotations.
The Nationals have a top four that can stack up against anyone. Tanner Roark is the worst of the foursome with a 3.86 ERA, while the other three would be at the top of any team’s rotation. Gio Gonzalez has an ERA of 2.90. Stephen Strasburg continues to put up excellent numbers with a 2.94 ERA. The best of the bunch is Max Scherzer, whose 2.56 ERA isn’t as impressive as his 100 strikeouts in 77.1 innings. If Koda Glover can solve their closer riddle — which it looks like he might — this Nationals team will remain very hard to beat, because they have an outstanding rotation.
It stands to reason that we haven’t even seen the best of the Red Sox yet. That is despite Chris Sale pitching at an incredibly high level, with already over 100 strikeouts on the season at just 78 innings pitched. Eduardo Rodriguez, long a highly-touted pitching prospect, has taken a major step forward and has comfortably been the team’s second best starter, posting a 2.77 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 55.1 innings. Reigning Cy Young winner Rick Porcello has solid underlying numbers but has been homer-prone. If he can correct that, he should return to a high level, and we haven’t even seen much of David Price yet.
Joe Kelly has been excellent out of the bullpen, but it’s Craig Kimbrel who has really returned to stardom, with an ERA under 1 and hardly any hits allowed this season.
Right-handed batters are 0-for-45 against Kimbrel this season. That is just ridiculous.
— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) June 1, 2017
Boston’s placement on this list may seem high, but they have so much room to grow and a fairly high ceiling. If Porcello rights the ship and Price returns from injury to pitch like he’s capable of, watch out.
Some in Chicago may be panicking about the Cubs’ slow start, but manager Joe Maddon isn’t one of them, and for good reason.
Chicago still has the fifth-best ERA in the National League, and that’s in spite of underperformance from some of their star hurlers — underperformance that should turn around as the season goes on.
Jake Arrieta, for instance, is still putting up the peripheral numbers that would indicate ace-quality production, but he’s been homer-prone and that has taken his ERA to 4.60. John Lackey has had the exact same problem. Jon Lester and Kyle Hendricks have been fairly productive, and Wade Davis has not disappointed at the back end of the bullpen, with Carl Edwards, Koji Uehara, and Pedro Strop looking capable of getting him the ball.
The Cubs definitely have underwhelmed early in the season, but the pitching staff still has the talent to be among the best in the game.
2. Cleveland Indians
Yes, Cleveland’s ERA is only good for sixth-best in the American League, and yet they come in at No. 2 on this list. The amount of players in the rotation not performing up to their usual standard is, frankly, amazing.
Only Carlos Carrasco, whose ERA is 2.89, has looked like himself so far. Corey Kluber hasn’t, with an ERA around 5. Danny Salazar’s ERA is sitting at 5.50 and he may well be ticketed for the bullpen with Mike Clevinger pitching well. Trevor Bauer had been downright awful until his recent 14-strikeout game. None of them should be as bad as they have been, and one has to wonder if the back issues that currently have Kluber on the disabled list may have hindered him early in the season.
Nobody can say the bullpen has disappointed, though. Andrew Miller has given up one run in 26 innings. Cody Allen and Bryan Shaw both have ERAs under 3. Boone Logan has been a valuable lefty specialist. This team can shorten games with the best of them. If their rotation gets right, they should have the best staff in the American League.
The best ERA in baseball by some margin belongs to the Dodgers, who are loaded with depth. Clayton Kershaw has been his usual dominant self, off to a 7-2 start, but the depth in the rotation has been pivotal amid some injuries.
Alex Wood has a 1.69 ERA and has been nothing short of incredible, striking out batters at a higher rate than even Kershaw. Brandon McCarthy has brought some much-needed stability with a 3.28 ERA, and all this success has come with Julio Urias on the DL and Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda still searching for their best form.
The bullpen has been incredible, though. Kenley Jansen has a 1.42 ERA, and his setup man, Pedro Baez, is at 1.21, giving the Dodgers a lights-out combination in the back of their bullpen. Even the middle relievers have been remarkable, with Josh Fields posting a sub-1 ERA, while Luis Avilan, Chris Hatcher, and Ross Stripling have all been able to eat innings solidly. All of it combines for the best pitching staff in baseball right now.
