FanPost

Very, VERY Interesting Article

Hey Everone, here is a very interesting article:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/another-look-at-starting-rotations/

I didn't read his previous ones and I do think his system of ranking the starts is...odd.  But, if you can get past that, he makes a couple of really good points.

First, almost two thirds of the league uses TEN TO TWELVE starters last year (19/30) and all but 3 teams used at least 9!  This was shocking to me.  I realized the importance of trying to have a good 6th or even 7th starter, but I didn't realize you would get lucky just to use 7.  Granted, there's no team that has 7 great guys.

Second, you're going to need (on average) 30-40 starts a year from pitchers who don't start the year in the starting rotation.  Again, I knew that teams don't really have 5 guys make all of the starts anymore (unless you're the '03 Mariners), but I didn't realize it was this high.  

Third, in one of his previous articles, he shows how every team did for each of their sets of 32 (Link at bottom).  It's interesting to note which of the teams made their difference in the Worst 32 category (Oak, Det) and which made it in the Best category (Min, Hou).  It goes to show you that depth can be just as valuable as having the star ace.

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/how-good-is-your-4-starter/