With baseball season quickly approaching, I decided to take a look at all the pitching rotations in the MLB and ultimately create a top-5 list. Before I get that far, I’m going to rank each rotation by their division. Here’s the ranking for the NL West. Second up on the list, the AL West. Let’s get started:

5. Seattle Mariners

Projected Rotation

Marco Gonzales

Yusei Kikuchi

Justus Sheffield

Kendall Graveman

Taijuan Walker

The Mariners and Angels are clearly at the bottom of this list, but the Mariners rotation takes the cake for the worst. I mean, when Marco Gonzales is your clear-cut number one, you’re in trouble. And the Mariners know they’re in for a long season. Gonzales is nothing special, Kikuchi only has last season under his belt in which he got lit up, Sheffield only has 11 games under his belt, even though he’s got potential, Graveman isn’t going to do much, and Walker hasn’t pitched more than 13 innings since 2017. Just not a good rotation in Seattle.

4. Los Angeles Angels

Projected Rotation

Andrew Heaney

Julio Teheran

Dylan Bundy

Griffin Canning

Matt Andriese

Poor Angels. When will they ever get Mike Trout a good rotation so they can possibly get the best player in baseball into the playoffs? I was really hoping they would get Gerrit Cole this offseason, but he decided to sell out. So they’re left with pitchers that just make you go “ehhh.” Heaney is not a number one. Teheran is the ultimate wild card, especially with a new team for the first time in his nine year career. I do think the youngin’ Griffin Canning will have a good year. He’s only 23 and showed some promising signs last year. But man, their offense will have to score some runs this year, which they are capable of doing. The Trout-Rendon-Ohtani combo will be fun to watch.

3. Oakland Athletics

Projected Rotation

Sean Manaea

Frankie Montas

Jesus Luzardo

Mike Fiers

AJ Puk

Deciding between the A’s and Rangers was tough. While the A’s have more upside, the Rangers have more experience. The A’s rotation is young, but very talented. I just couldn’t put them ahead of the Rangers because the jury is still out on them. Montas only has 29 career starts, while Luzardo and Puk both have none. But, like I said, all three are supremely talented and capable of having really good years. We’ll just have to wait and see. And if Sean Manaea can bounce back after missing most of last year due to shoulder surgery, they have a pretty good guy to lead the rotation. And don’t forget whistleblower Mike Fiers. He’s not bad. If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, the A’s always have a sneaky good rotation.

2. Texas Rangers

Projected Rotation

Corey Kluber

Mike Minor

Lance Lynn

Kyle Gibson

Jordan Lyles

Surprise, surprise, the Rangers come in at number two. One of their better rotations that I can remember, they have a really solid and experienced rotation. If two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber can regain form this year, watch out. And I have a feeling he will. Mike Minor has been nothing but solid since going to the American League. Lance Lynn is a very successful innings eater every single year. He always gives you a chance to win when he’s on the mound. Newcomer Kyle Gibson is an innings eater like Lynn, just not quite as good. And Lyles is nothing to brag about, but also not a bad option for the number five guy. This Rangers team will surprise some people this year. Just watch.

1. Houston Astros

Projected Rotation

Justin Verlander

Zack Greinke

Lance McCullers Jr.

Jose Urquidy

Austin Pruitt

And number one, your 2017 World Series champion Houston Astros. While losing Gerrit Cole was huge, they still roll out two legitimate number one guys in Verlander and Greinke. Lance McCullers will have to take on a bigger role this year, but he’s ready for it after a good year last year. Where it gets questionable is the last two guys, with only a combined 17 games started between the two. But having the 1-2 punch they do, along with McCullers, is enough to give them the number one spot on this list. Other teams will continue to struggle scoring runs against the Astros unless they can figure out some sort of never-seen-before, intricate technological sign-stealing scheme to implement against them.

Garett

Ranking the Pitching Rotations in the AL West