Does every other team have at least one starting pitcher that is better than anyone on the Angels?

[mmc]

I was just thinking about this.  I feel like every other team has at least one starting pitcher better than anyone on the Angels, which, to me, is flat out unacceptable.  Let's break it down:

AL West:

Astros (Verlander and Greinke, possibly McCullers too)

Athletics (Montas)

Mariners (Marco Gonzale)

Rangers (Lynn, Minor, and Kluber)

 

AL Central:

Indians (Bieber, Clevinger, and Carrasco)

Royals (they're the only team that's debatable to me, but I could see Brad Keller being better than any Angels starter next season)

Tigers (Boyd and possibly Mize)

Twins (Berrios and Odorizzi)

White Sox (Giolito)

 

AL East: 

Blue Jays (Ryu)

Orioles (Means)

Rays (Snell, Glasnow, and Morton)

Red Sox (Rodriguez, Sale, and Price)

Yankees (pretty much everyone in their rotation)

 

NL West:

Diamondbacks (Bumgarner, Ray, and possibly Gallen)

Dodgers (Buehler, Kershaw)

Giants (Samardzija, Cueto if he's healthy)

Padres (Paddack)

Rockies (Gray, Marquez)

 

NL Central: 

Brewers (Woodruff)

Cardinals (Flaherty and possibly Mikolas)

Cubs (Hendricks, Darvish, possibly Lester and Quintana)

Pirates (Musgrove, and if healthy, Taillon)

Reds (Gray, Castillo, Bauer)

 

NL East:

Braves (Soroka)

Marlins (Alcantara)

Mets (deGrom, Syndergaard, Stroman)

Nationals (Strasburg, Scherzer, Corbin)

Phillies (Nola, Wheeler)

[Second Base]

Fire Eppler?

[Second Base]

[mmc]

3 minutes ago, Second Base said:

I'm not sure either, but I think the fact that this is even a question is outrageous.  We have Trout and Rendon in their primes.  We shouldn't be wondering if ****ing rebuilding teams all have a better starter than anyone we have.

[Angelsjunky]

Ohtani is better than a lot of those guys. If you want to say "more reliably good," then my answer would be "maybe." 

[Lou]

 

7 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

We shouldn't be wondering . . . 

We?

[mmc]

3 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Ohtani is better than a lot of those guys. If you want to say "more reliably good," then my answer would be "maybe." 

I'm very high on Ohtani's pitching ability, but I'm also not expecting very much from him next season.  He'll be on limited innings and it'll be his first full season as a starter.

[Lou]

This is a long-winded way of saying we have the worst #1 starter in baseball. Knowing what we do about our staff, of course the top starter on another team is going to be better than our 2-5

[Second Base]

17 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

I'm not sure either, but I think the fact that this is even a question is outrageous.  We have Trout and Rendon in their primes.  We shouldn't be wondering if ****ing rebuilding teams all have a better starter than anyone we have.

Ohtani night have the highest upside in all of baseball as far as pitchers go.

Triple digit fastball, great slider, big bending curve and an absolutely lethal splitter. Fully recovered from surgery, only 25 years old and he was the best pitcher in the NPB. 

Edited January 11, 2020 by Second Base

[greginpsca]

We will know the answer around the first of October.

[Dick B Back]

59 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Ohtani is better than a lot of those guys. If you want to say "more reliably good," then my answer would be "maybe." 

[UndertheHalo]

Looks like we’ve got an earlier contender for stupidest AW thread 2020. 

[Justin]

In 2019? Yes, I think so. 

But I am prepared for Ohtani and Canning to be really, really good in 2020. 

[mmc]

13 minutes ago, UndertheHalo said:

Looks like we’ve got an earlier contender for stupidest AW thread 2020. 

Lol.

[Chuck]

My rebuttal to this take is that I would argue that our offense and defense are top 5 in both leagues and while we may not have a true #1 outside of Ohtani who will pitch once a week, our 2-5 is solid enough to win 90 games, perhaps more. 

Also, I believe we'll eventually add an arm that we can pair up with Ohtani that would give us an electric 1-2 punch from the top of the rotation. 

I really believe that Teheran, Bundy, Canning, Heaney and Sandoval can provide us a really solid rotation that can keep us in games, unlike last season. With our offense, keeping us in games in monumental as it allows our lineup to give us a chance to win and comeback in games we get behind early in.....and yes I'm going to say it, just like 2002 when our rotation didn't have a true #1, and was really just a rotation of #3's. 

[Angelsjunky]

1 hour ago, mymerlincat said:

I'm very high on Ohtani's pitching ability, but I'm also not expecting very much from him next season.  He'll be on limited innings and it'll be his first full season as a starter.

Yes, true -- but then you're not talking about "better" but  "more reliable" or "less question marks."

Ohtani has significant question marks: Will he stay healthy, how many innings can he pitch, how well can he balance being a two-way player.

But one thing that is not a question is how good he is. Or rather, the question is whether he is "really good"--like Garret Richards at his best--or "fantastically good"--like peak Clayton Kershaw. As Scotty pointed out, his stuff is as good as anyone's in the major leagues. 

[Lou]

Boyd > Ohtani

[Second Base]

If Ohtani is as good as I think he will be, I think the Angels biggest issue is they have NOTHING in the middle, unless Canning pitches up to his potential.

Ohtani, three backend starters, and a couple of question marks with potential. 

Now normally, this wouldn't be as big of a problem, except the Astros feature two aces, a mid rotation starter and a couple backend guys with huge potential, the A's have a series of young #2/3 starters and the Rangers sport a collection of mid rotation starters that also cover innings and a potential ace if he's healthy.

People like to quote the 2002 rotation, but the problem with that is that the Angels only competition was the A's.

[Angelsjunky]

3 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

My rebuttal to this take is that I would argue that are offense and defense are top 5 in both leagues and while we may not have a true #1 outside of Ohtani who will pitch once a week, our 2-5 is solid enough to win 90 games, perhaps more. 

Also, I believe we'll eventually add an arm that we can pair up with Ohtani that would give us an electric 1-2 punch from the top of the rotation. 

I really believe that Teheran, Bundy, Canning, Heaney and Sandoval can provide us a really solid rotation that can keep us in games, unlike last season. With our offense, keeping us in games in monumental as it allows our lineup to give us a chance to win and comeback in games we get behind early in.....yes I'm going to say it, just like 2002 when our rotation didn't have a true #1, and was really just a rotation of #3's. 

Yes, this is my feeling going into 2020. But if you're a 5 out of 5 on the "Chuck's Rosy Glasses Scale," I'm probably a 4.

[mmc]

3 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Yes, true -- but then you're not talking about "better" but  "more reliable" or "less question marks."

Ohtani has significant question marks: Will he stay healthy, how many innings can he pitch, how well can he balance being a two-way player.

But one thing that is not a question is how good he is. Or rather, the question is whether he is "really good"--like Garret Richards at his best--or "fantastically good"--like peak Clayton Kershaw. As Scotty pointed out, his stuff is as good as anyone's in the major leagues. 

Well if you’re talking purely talent I agree with you but I’m focusing on production here

[UndertheHalo]

5 minutes ago, Lou said:

Boyd > Ohtani

You’re not doing it right.  
 

Insert any random major leaguer pitcher not on the Angels > Ohtani. 

[mmc]

7 minutes ago, Chuckster70 said:

My rebuttal to this take is that I would argue that are offense and defense are top 5 in both leagues and while we may not have a true #1 outside of Ohtani who will pitch once a week, our 2-5 is solid enough to win 90 games, perhaps more. 

Also, I believe we'll eventually add an arm that we can pair up with Ohtani that would give us an electric 1-2 punch from the top of the rotation. 

I really believe that Teheran, Bundy, Canning, Heaney and Sandoval can provide us a really solid rotation that can keep us in games, unlike last season. With our offense, keeping us in games in monumental as it allows our lineup to give us a chance to win and comeback in games we get behind early in.....and yes I'm going to say it, just like 2002 when our rotation didn't have a true #1, and was really just a rotation of #3's. 

That really isn’t a rotation of #3s though, Bundy is ideally a #5, Teheran a #4 (he didn’t even make the initial playoff roster last year), Canning might be a #3 if he progresses, but there’s also the possibility of him and Sandoval having Barria-esque sophomore slumps.  Heaney can be a #3 if healthy, but will he be?

[Chuck]

5 minutes ago, Angelsjunky said:

Yes, this is my feeling going into 2020. But if you're a 5 out of 5 on the "Chuck's Rosy Glasses Scale," I'm probably a 4.

That's fair. 

[UndertheHalo]

And Andrew Heaney and Griffin Canning could be both be better then a bunch of these guys.  Never mind Ohtani.  

[mmc]

1 minute ago, UndertheHalo said:

You’re not doing it right.  
 

Insert any random major leaguer pitcher not on the Angels > Ohtani. 

You seem awfully upset about this topic, so how about you offer something productive to the thread?