Mets: Where does their rotation stack up against the rest of MLB?

Where does the New York Mets starting rotation stack up against the rest of their MLB foes?

With baseball season just around the corner and the New York Mets ready to open the year, we can begin to see a clearer outlook of what teams rosters will look like. While baseball is by far the most challenging sport to predict, everyone does their best to make predictions for the upcoming season. One thing I can guarantee is that there will not be Cleveland vs. Golden State part 5.

Across the landscape of baseball, however, there is a vastly talented pool of pitching and while the game may be shifting towards a towards an all-out bullpen war (ie. Yankees), there is still an abundance of talented starting pitching throughout the major and minor league levels.

Strikeouts are at an all-time high; there were 41,207 strikeouts during the 2018 season, greater than the total number of hits this past season. As we take a look at the starting pitching from all 30 teams (even though the Rays only have one), there is an impressive pool of young arms, as well as veterans that age like fine wine. There was even a mythical character (not naming names) who pitched in his 21st big league season age the age of 45.

Several big names will move this offseason including Patrick Corbin who signed with the Nationals, while free agency will cause certain rotations to take a hit (Houston Astros in particular, with Charlie Morton signing with the Tampa Bay Rays and Dallas Keuchel expected to leave town as well).

All that being said, let’s rank the top 5 pitching rotations in Major League Baseball. There were legitimately 8 or 9 teams that were considered for only 5 spots. Some criteria for the rankings included 2018 performance, health, major and minor league depth, track record, break-out candidates, and the ceiling/floors of certain pitchers.

Honorable Mentions: Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros