Depth Chart Analysis: Pitching in the AL West

Angels		A’s		Rangers		Mariners
John Lackey**	B+	Dallas Braden	C-	Kevin Millwood	C+	Felix Hernandez	A-
Ervin Santana**	B+	Dana Eveland	D+	Vicente Padilla	C	Erik Bedard	B-
Joe Saunders	B	Brett Anderson	D+	Brandon McCarthy	D+	Carlos Silva	D
Jared Weaver	C	Trevor Cahill	D+	Kris Benson	D-	Jared Washburn	B-
Kelvim Escobar**	C	Josh Outman	D-	Matt Harrison	D	Chris Jakubauskas	D
Full Rotation Grade	B		D+		C-		C

 

The Anaheim Angels- You may have noticed that I have analyzed an Angel’s future rotation and not the current one. I chose to go this route because the three injured starters in this rotation are all very close to making their returns, and the Angels are well on their way to a top 5 rotation. John Lackey may be one of the most underrated pitchers in the game. Ervin Santana is well on his way to becoming one of the league’s best pitchers after posting a 3.49ERA, 16 wins, and 214 strikeouts in 2008. Joe Saunders, still a young pitcher coming off a 17 win season in 2008. Jared Weaver was a very serviceable #4 option over last season. Though Kelvim Escobar is coming off a near career ending injury, he is a proven effective pitcher in the majors, and isn’t much of a risk in the 5 spot.

The Oakland A’s- Here is another one I do not understand. Many ‘professional predictions’ had Oakland beating out the Angels to win this division. If you have read my articles in the past, you know that I believe that good pitching beats good hitting, good pitching wins baseballs games, winning baseball games brings playoff appearances. There really isn’t much more to say about this rotation, its awful.

The Texas Rangers- It’s hard to get decent pitchers to throw in the Ballpark in Arlington, but I believe that Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla are much underrated pitchers; however the ballpark that they pitch in will never allow them to have great seasonal stats. The rest of the Ranger rotation is nothing to brag about. The possibility of Kris Benson throwing to an ERA less than 5.50 is about as likely as John Rocker closing for the Yankees.

The Seattle Mariners- I think that the Mariners have a very underrated pitching staff. Felix Hernandez may be at the point in his career that he is ready to jump to the next level. When healthy, Erik Bedard is a top 10-15 pitcher in the entire game. Carlos Silva could bounce back to decency. Jared Washburn is going to give you his normal season…. a respectable ERA and very few wins.