2022 Starting Rotation Thread

[dgalehouse]

I like Hill more than I liked Richards or Perez, at this time, last year.

 

I like Wacha about the same as Richards and more than Perez.

 

Neither is by a lot.

 

Having Houck for a full season will help, and maybe more innings from Whitlock can make up the difference.

 

As of now, I'm expecting more innings fro Sale, but maybe Eovaldi gives us less.

 

I think our starters look about the same as they did, last March. (Remember, ERod was a huge question mark.)

 

Rich Hill may or may not be an asset this season. Time will tell. One thing I would not do is place too much importance on his spring training results. Veteran players have their own way of going about things in spring training. Let's wait and see how he does once the season starts.

[notin]

Rich Hill may or may not be an asset this season. Time will tell. One thing I would not do is place too much importance on his spring training results. Veteran players have their own way of going about things in spring training. Let's wait and see how he does once the season starts.

 

Spring training for vets is for two goals:

 

1. Get loose

2. Don’t get hurt

 

Nothing else matters, especially for players who know they’re already on the team

[Swiharts Ghost]

Rich Hill is depth to me .I hope a minor league pitcher or two graduate by July to the big team .

[moonslav59]

Rich Hill may or may not be an asset this season. Time will tell. One thing I would not do is place too much importance on his spring training results. Veteran players have their own way of going about things in spring training. Let's wait and see how he does once the season starts.

 

I'm optimistic on Hill. My only worry is his about his health.

[Larry Cook]

I'm optimistic on Hill. My only worry is his about his health.

 

Can hill stay healthy until sale returns?

[moonslav59]

Can hill stay healthy until sale returns?

 

His health is always the biggest question mark, and nobody ever knows the answer to that Q.

[Larry Cook]

His health is always the biggest question mark, and nobody ever knows the answer to that Q.

 

Do you think hill can stay healthy and be effective until sale returns?

[moonslav59]

Do you think hill can stay healthy and be effective until sale returns?

 

Yes, he can, but he likely won't.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Do you think hill can stay healthy and be effective until sale returns?

 

The bigger question may be can Sale even stay healthy and effective at all when he returns?

 

2022 ERA projections (source BB-Ref) -- Hill 3.93, Sale 4.11.

[jacksonianmarch]

White Sox sign Cueto to a MiLB deal with a $4.2 mil MLB deal if he gets called up by May 15.

 

Why didn’t the Sox do this? He actually had a pretty good 2021 and showed good velocity, low walk rate and a reasonable HR rate. FIP was solid right around 4. Heck, I’m surprised the Yanks didn’t get him at this price.

[mvp 78]

White Sox sign Cueto to a MiLB deal with a $4.2 mil MLB deal if he gets called up by May 15.

 

Why didn’t the Sox do this? He actually had a pretty good 2021 and showed good velocity, low walk rate and a reasonable HR rate. FIP was solid right around 4. Heck, I’m surprised the Yanks didn’t get him at this price.

 

Statcast did not like his season last year. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/johnny-cueto-456501?stats=statcast-r-pitching-mlb

 

His velo looks unchanged from previous years?

[notin]

White Sox sign Cueto to a MiLB deal with a $4.2 mil MLB deal if he gets called up by May 15.

 

Why didn’t the Sox do this? He actually had a pretty good 2021 and showed good velocity, low walk rate and a reasonable HR rate. FIP was solid right around 4. Heck, I’m surprised the Yanks didn’t get him at this price.

 

 

I’m surprised a lot of teams didn’t. Unless he is a physical wreck…

[dgalehouse]

White Sox sign Cueto to a MiLB deal with a $4.2 mil MLB deal if he gets called up by May 15.

 

Why didn’t the Sox do this? He actually had a pretty good 2021 and showed good velocity, low walk rate and a reasonable HR rate. FIP was solid right around 4. Heck, I’m surprised the Yanks didn’t get him at this price.

The pale hose lost Lance Lynn for a stretch. They needed to do something to fill out the rotation.

[harmony]

FWIW FanGraphs ranks the Red Sox starting rotation 12th in Major League Baseball:

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-positional-power-rankings-starting-rotation-no-1-15/

[mvp 78]

FWIW FanGraphs ranks the Red Sox starting rotation 12th in Major League Baseball:

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-positional-power-rankings-starting-rotation-no-1-15/

 

What a motley crew the Sox have assembled. They have Eovaldi at the top of the rotation after a mid-career breakthrough in both durability and effectiveness. Sale might be incredible – he usually is – but how many innings he’ll throw is an open question. He’s starting the season on the 60-day IL with a fractured rib. And those two are the safe options!

 

Can Pivetta and Houck pitch to their talent level, giving the Sox two innings-eating mid-rotation arms? Can Hill spin curveballs past batters yet again? Is Wacha better than the 5-ERA, 5-FIP pitcher he’s looked like for the past three years? Is Paxton’s elbow intact? I couldn’t tell you the answers to any of those questions, and I doubt Boston’s coaching staff could either.

 

I can talk myself into this group cobbling together a good performance in aggregate, particularly if Whitlock chips in a few starts when he’s not excelling in relief. But that assumes health and effectiveness from five of the seven pitchers I just named, and the reason that the Sox were able to acquire many of them is that either their health or effectiveness is in doubt. It could be another long season of early pitching changes in Boston, but if they spike some injury luck, it could also be an excellent year.

 

I think you could talk me into taking teams 13-15 ahead of the Sox (Marlins, Angels, Rays).

[moonslav59]

FWIW FanGraphs ranks the Red Sox starting rotation 12th in Major League Baseball:

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/2022-positional-power-rankings-starting-rotation-no-1-15/

 

Sounds about right. Many teams have more questions and concerns than we do.

 

[vegasbob]

Going on a limb to say that the extension contract Chris Sale got from the Sox has all the potential of being another drain on the budget with little contribution from Chris. Granted he has had excellence and success over a good career until the TJ surgery, but how could you not look at his anatomy , body type combined with the arm/shoulder stressful delivery mechanics and not reach the conclusion he would wear out in his 30's.

 

The stress fracture in the rib is very unpredictable but the overall endurance/durability is seriously questionable from here on out. Oh well, every team needs someone to pitch to the Orioles, so Sale remains our guy.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

 

I think you could talk me into taking teams 13-15 ahead of the Sox (Marlins, Angels, Rays).

 

Welp, maybe I'm biased against New York, but I'd bet there are close to 30 GMs that would take the rotations from the Brewers, Mets, Blue Jays and White Sox over the Yankees. As for depth, who's better than Houston: Framber, Garcia, Verlander, Urquidy, Javier and McCullers?

[mvp 78]

Welp, maybe I'm biased against New York, but I'd bet there are close to 30 GMs that would take the rotations from the Brewers, Mets, Blue Jays and White Sox over the Yankees. As for depth, who's better than Houston: Framber, Garcia, Verlander, Urquidy, Javier and McCullers?

 

I'm not sure the Yanks have a top 10 rotation.

[harmony]

What a motley crew the Sox have assembled. They have Eovaldi at the top of the rotation after a mid-career breakthrough in both durability and effectiveness. Sale might be incredible – he usually is – but how many innings he’ll throw is an open question. He’s starting the season on the 60-day IL with a fractured rib. And those two are the safe options!

 

Can Pivetta and Houck pitch to their talent level, giving the Sox two innings-eating mid-rotation arms? Can Hill spin curveballs past batters yet again? Is Wacha better than the 5-ERA, 5-FIP pitcher he’s looked like for the past three years? Is Paxton’s elbow intact? I couldn’t tell you the answers to any of those questions, and I doubt Boston’s coaching staff could either.

 

I can talk myself into this group cobbling together a good performance in aggregate, particularly if Whitlock chips in a few starts when he’s not excelling in relief. But that assumes health and effectiveness from five of the seven pitchers I just named, and the reason that the Sox were able to acquire many of them is that either their health or effectiveness is in doubt. It could be another long season of early pitching changes in Boston, but if they spike some injury luck, it could also be an excellent year.

 

I think you could talk me into taking teams 13-15 ahead of the Sox (Marlins, Angels, Rays).

This biased poster likes the 16th-ranked Seattle rotation (and depth).

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I'm not sure the Yanks have a top 10 rotation.

 

They could be good, but not number one ranked going into the season.

[mvp 78]

This biased poster likes the 16th-ranked Seattle rotation (and depth).

 

I'm not a Robbie Ray believer.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Sixto Sanchez, 6th on the Marlins' list, would be Boston's #2... until Nate got hurt.

[mvp 78]

Sixto Sanchez, 6th on the Marlins' list, would be Boston's #2... until Nate got hurt.

 

Sanchez is less durable than Eovaldi.

[notin]

Sixto Sanchez, 6th on the Marlins' list, would be Boston's #2... until Nate got hurt.

 

The only reason anyone ranks Sanchez as sixth on that staff is the injuries. It’s like calling Sale the Sox sixth starter.

 

(Also, “Sox sixth starter” is a nasty, nasty tongue twister. Try saying it 10 times fast. Go ahead. I dare you.)

[notin]

I'm not a Robbie Ray believer.

 

What are you saying? That players who have career years right before free agency aren’t consistent performers?

[Bellhorn04]

The only reason anyone ranks Sanchez as sixth on that staff is the injuries. It’s like calling Sale the Sox sixth starter.

 

(Also, “Sox sixth starter” is a nasty, nasty tongue twister. Try saying it 10 times fast. Go ahead. I dare you.)

 

Just imagine if our sixth starter was Sixto.

[mvp 78]

Just imagine if our sixth starter was Sixto.

 

He'd be 7th behind Sale.

[mvp 78]

What are you saying? That players who have career years right before free agency aren’t consistent performers?

 

He was pretty good in 16 and 17. I'm not sure how he learned to get his bb% that low last year, but we'll have to see if he can repeat it. His fastball was harder last year than it had been since 2016.

 

Per statcast, his HR numbers should get worse playing in Seattle.

 

I don't know. I'm just a little skeptical because of how bumpy he's been at times. I think he's a good 2 or 3 starter, but not as an ace.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

He'd be 7th behind Sale.

 

Sale is a non-starter, all puns intended. His name should be banned from the forum until June, or at least relegated to a separate thread; we could call it "If ifs and buts were candied nuts..." All we can do as fans for now is hope team nutritionists develop a healthy diet for the poor guy, so he won't crack another rib during any other bodily functions. And no jokes -- don't make him laugh. Or sneeze. And paste those sticky foot grips in his tub, so he won't slip in the shower.