Colorado Rockies: Checking on their NL West foes' pitching rotations

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SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA – MARCH 07: Zack Greinke #21 of the Arizona Diamondbacks throws a warm up pitch during the spring training game against the Cleveland Indians at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick on March 07, 2019 in Scottsdale, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

A few weeks ago, I compared the Colorado Rockies’ starting rotation with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ but today, we will take a look at the Rockies other NL West rivals

I’ll leave my look at the Rockies’ and Dodgers’ starting pitchers in that analysis but for now, it’s time to dive into the other rotations in the evolving landscape that is the National League West.

Arizona Diamondbacks

2018 Starters: 3.83 ERA (9th), 3.82 FIP, 5.69 innings/game

Key additions: Merrill Kelly (from the Korean Baseball Organization), Luke Weaver

Key subtractions: Clay Buchholz, Patrick Corbin, Shelby Miller

Current depth chart: Zack Greinke, Zack Godley, Robbie Ray, Luke Weaver, Merrill Kelly

The D-Backs will regress in 2019 after the front office sucked some life out of the Chase Field dungeon and sent away Paul Goldschmidt and Patrick Corbin. With Clay Buchholz going to the Blue Jays, Arizona’s two best pitchers by ERA are gone, leaving Zack Godley, Robbie Ray and Zack Greinke as the foundation of this rotation.

Plenty of organizations would envy that trio. Ray had a 2.83 ERA in his final 13 starts of 2018 after a few months on the disabled list. Godley could be lethal if he recovers his 2017 form (when he had a 3.37 ERA and a 26.3 percent strikeout rate) , and Greinke continues to age gracefully and baffle everyone not named Trevor Story (you can check out his numbers against Greinke here).

But the rest of the rotation is where things get dicey. Luke Weaver struggled with the Cardinals in 2018 (4.95 ERA, 2.24 strikeouts-to-walk ratio) while Taijuan Wakjer is back on the 60-day IL. Merrill Kelly is the great unknown of this rotation – he posted a strong 3.80 ERA over three seasons in the hitter-friendly KBO but is having an uneven spring.

Matt Koch will probably get some starts, but the guy had an ERA of 4.68 as a starter last year and an abysmal FIP of 6.45 and an OPS of .872 against him.

Bottom line, the depth just is not there anymore for the Diamondbacks. Any injury to one of the key guys in the rotation and the Snakes will have a hard time slithering out of trouble.

San Francisco Giants

2018 Starters: 4.06 ERA (15th), 4.21 FIP, 5.50 innings/game

Key additions: Drew Pomeranz

Key subtractions: None

Current depth chart: Madison Bumgarner, Dereck Rodríguez, Derek Holland, Chris Stratton, Andrew Suárez, Jeff Samardzija, Drew Pomeranz

The same pitching staff from 2018 will return, with the addition of old friend Drew Pomeranz who hopes to bounce back to his All-Star form. But the quality of Madison Bumagrner – who will turn 30 in August – remains the nagging question, even if he stays off the dirt bike. Opponents slugged .571 against his fastball in 2018, and when he increased his curveball usage his numbers suffered across the board. There will be a lot of pressure on Mad Bum going into a contract year.

Unfortunately, Johnny Cueto might as well be a “key subtraction” – he is not expected to pitch until late in the season, after last year’s Tommy John surgery followed three years of pitching with “pain that felt like someone stuck a knife in my elbow and stabbed it over and over again.” Yikes. Get well soon, Johnny.

But the Giants have a sneaky amount of depth at the pitcher position – you just have to look beyond the uninspiring Derek Holland, Chris Stratton, Jeff Samardzija and Andrew Suarez.

It sounds like Dereck Rodriguez “will be one of the five” after a breakout 2018 (2.81 ERA and 1.13 WHIP in 19 starts ) and an encouraging spring. Top pitching prospect Shaun Anderson could make his first big-league start if he pitches well in the minors. And while Tyler Beede’s cup of coffee in 2018 was pretty bitter, his simplified approach and increased velocity has people impressed at Giants camp.

The poor Giants staff won’t get much run support from a woeful offense, and that will mean some very low-scoring outings at Oracle Park this year. But Rodríguez could garner national attention, and Pomeranz could easily rebound after a miserable 2018.

San Diego Padres

2018 Starters: 5.09 ERA (27th), 4.71 FIP, 5.07 innings/game

Key additions: Garrett Richards

Key subtractions: Clayton Richard

Current depth chart: Joey Lucchesi, Eric Lauer, Robbie Erlin, Jacob Nix, Chris Paddack, Bryan Mitchell, Brett Kennedy

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The Blue Jays acquired Clayton Richard (who had the most 2018 starts in San Diego with 27) and Friars faithful are probably relieved – Richard had a woeful 5.33 ERA and ratio of 1.8 strikeouts-per-walk. The only external acquisition was Garrett Richards from the Angels, who has great stuff but is coming off Tommy John surgery and will possibly make his Padres debut later this season.

So, the Padres will suffer through another year of subpar starting pitching. Joey Lucchessi had an acceptable rookie campaign – 4.08 ERA, 4.31 FIP and a 26.5 percent strikeout rate – but he is hardly inspiring as the number-one guy in the rotation. Then there’s Jacob Nix (another rookie) who was mostly dreadful in his nine starts last year – 7.02 ERA, 1.54 WHIP and a 4.5 K/9 rate, the lowest of any NL pitcher who threw at least 40 innings.

Eric Lauer might be more promising. His introduction to the big leagues was rough – 7.67 ERA and .408 BABIP in his first seven starts – but Lauer posted a 3.17 ERA and .301 BABIP in his final 16 starts. According to Baseball Prospectus, Lauer mixed in a cutter and changed the grip on his slider, giving him a “more well-rounded arsenal that gives hitters a greater variety of looks to stew over.” He could end up at the top of the depth chart later on.

But the Padres finished with a very different rotation in 2018 than they started with – heck, Jordan Lyles made eight starts for them – and we can expect the same in 2019. San Diego has a tremendous farm system which could send some younger arms into the mix, especially as the team hopes to break out in upcoming seasons. Chris Paddack is impressing in the Cactus League and could quickly crack the rotation, possibly being an Opening Day starter.

Sure, this rotation won’t be scary in 2019. But the Padres might give us glimpses of a very promising future – another reason why the Rockies need to get everything they can out of their current contention window.

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Colorado Rockies: Checking on their NL West foes’ pitching rotations

A few weeks ago, I compared the Colorado Rockies’ starting rotation with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ but today, we will take a look at the Rockies other NL West rivals

Arizona Diamondbacks

San Francisco Giants

San Diego Padres

More from Rox Pile

Schedule