Where will the Halos pitching staff ultimately rank in 2013?

[Grigori]

Hubs, that wasn't directed at you or anyone, though I did think it odd that anyone (not you) would think the Angels rotation ranks in the top three of anything. 

 

The Rangers are top three. Bank on it.  Tepesch is a stop-gap until Colby Lewis is ready.  Or, if Tepesch sticks, he'll be available to replace anyone who falters. Don't forget that Holland lost 20 pounds suddenly in the middle of the season last year because of a stomache virus and even missed some starts. He's 100% now and was strong in the WBC, so look at 2011 numbers, not 2012.  Reports are he's made huge improvements with his changeup in Spring Training.

 

Anytime you have Derek Holland and Colby Lewis in your numbers four and five spots you got a pretty darned good pitching rotation.  Or, even three and four with Ogando as your number five. Either way, that is on tough rotation.

 

The Angels will have to hit a ton and win a lot of games 12-10 or 10-9. That sorta thing. 

 

Look around... the AL West is becoming a pitching haven, too.  We all know about the A's young pitching, but like you say the Mariners are overlooked.  They have Ramirez and three really good prospects in the minors, too, should anything go awry with their starting five.

 

Think the Angels can swing the bats good enough against AL West pitching? We shall see.

[Bashbrothers]

Nationals are NL dude. I ranked the AL only.

 

The A's have a top five in the AL staff. I don't like Texas' staff as much as the Fangraphs article does, after Darvish and Harrison, they have a bunch of question marks. I said in my comments that you could move NY and Texas up and Oakland could fall. 

 

Mariners got no love in this piece. Last year the staff allowed 651 runs. They no longer have Vargas, and yes they moved the fences in. They no longer have Millwood. But Hernandez, Iwakuma, Beavan, Maurer, Saunders, is a great rotation. Not to mention that they have Hultzen, Paxton, Walker on the horizon. They love the Tigers, who I had listed fourth. Okay. maybe they're top three and the Mariners/A's/Rays move down.

 

Still, the Fangraphs rankings for the AL teams: 1) Tigers, 2) Rangers 3) Yankees (Really?) 4) White Sox 5) A's 6) Red Sox (Really?) 7) Jays 8) Rays...

 

I'd imagine then that the Mariners &  Angels would beat out Minnesota, Houston, Cleveland, Orioles, & Royals…but maybe they like the last two.  They probably put Royals ahead of the Angels…but worst they are 11th. 

 

I also want to state that this was supposedly a ranking of the entire staff, not the rotation. 

 

Oakland's pen is awesome. Pushes them into my top three instead of Detroit who moves down since they are struggling with a Closer decision. Pen issues are well documented here in Anaheim, but I think when all is said and done, the Angels will have a top 5 pen. Yeah I know that sounds crazy.

 

Last season, Tampa, New York, Seattle, Oakland, and the Rangers had top five pen's. Including the pen makes my rankings make a little more sense. I had the Angels 9th as a staff. Best Guess on the Fangraphs rankings would put the Angels 9th to 11th.

 

Nah, Mariners staff isn't that good.  They played elite defense in an extreme pitchers park.  It was a pretty average rotation. 

 

Yeah, I thought you were just doing rotation, I didn't realize you factored in bullpen.

[ineedanap]

EDIT: Didn't realize this probably included bullpen, I was just talking about starters because I just read the other thread and didn't pay close enough attention.

 

I'm a bit more optimistic than most people with our starting pitching. Weaver should perform like one of the top pitchers in the league, I think Wilson will rebound similarly to after the last time he had this elbow surgery and be ace caliber, giving us one of the best 1-2 punches. Vargas will be pretty good with our defense and at least be an average middle of the rotation starter. Blanton will be no worse than he has been in his career, possibly better given our defense/ballpark/being in better shape. Hanson is a huge question mark but I think Richards could be a decent #5 right now if Hanson has problems. Of course 2+ injuries could make this staff significantly worse, unless Williams steps up.

 

As it stands in the AL I only see Oakland, Tampa Bay, and Toronto being better than us for sure when healthy (1-2 others you could argue for) and will almost certainly outperform our staff. I predict they'll finish between 5-8th in ERA, right around the middle of the pack.

 

What about Detroit? They have a good rotation. 

[ineedanap]

I will say this.   Talent wise, the pitching staff is a lot better than 9th.

 

BUT, there are a ton of question marks.

Can Wilson FINALLY trust his stuff and stop nibbling?

Can Vargas improve on the road?

Can Blanton avoid becoming Blantana with the gopher balls?

Can Hanson even stay healthy for a full season?

Can Madson be ready by May?

Can Jepsen prove that one half of a season of being good wasn't a fluke, as it was after 2009?

Can Frieri have enough command?

Can Burnett stay healthy?

 

Too many cans!

 

 

Madson may be ready by May, but it might still be a while before he returns to form.

 

Look at Joe Nathan, when he came back from his surgery he was terrible for most of the season. The Twins released him. The next year the Rangers picked him up and he was back to being Joe Nathan.

 

Hopefully, Madson can return to being the effective closer we know by mid-season.

[Angel Oracle]

Holland has always had brilliant starts followed by poor ones.

He has yet to show any consistency throughout the season, and is generally still a 4.00 ERA pitcher.

 

He has to change that soon, in order to be considered a true #2/#3 starter.