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.

Divisions I’ve Already Ranked

Now let’s break down the NL East:

5. Miami Marlins

Projected Rotation

Sandy Alcantara

Caleb Smith

Pablo Lopez

Jose Urena

Jordan Yamamoto

Like the team itself, the Marlins’ rotation is the worst in the NL East. They’ve got some young guys and the average age of their rotation is just 25.2 years old, so they have room to grow. But they have to go out their and prove themselves in a tough division. Alcantara would fit in nice somewhere as a #3 guy, but not someone to lead a rotation. Caleb Smith is more like a #4 guy and the rest of the rotation would be battling for the 5th spot in a lot of rotations around the league. Like I said, this is a young Marlins team as a whole, but they’ve got a long ways to go to compete in this tough division.

4. Philadelphia Phillies

Projected Rotation

Aaron Nola

Zack Wheeler

Jake Arrieta

Zach Eflin

Vince Velasquez

Ranking the Phillies rotation the fourth best in the division speaks to how good the pitching is in the NL East because they certainly have a solid rotation. Aaron Nola has Cy Young stuff, as seen two years ago. Even though he regressed last season, his numbers are still good and he’s just 26. Wheeler is a guy that’s put up good numbers, other than one season, throughout his career. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits in a bigger role with a new team for the first time in his career. Arrieta has been dropping off the last few seasons, but he still has the potential to bounce back and have a good year. The back end of the rotation has a few question marks, but they also have the ability to go out there and toss a great game.

3. Atlanta Braves

Projected Rotation

Mike Soroka

Mike Foltynewicz

Max Fried

Cole Hamels

Kyle Wright

The Braves rotation is a little better than the Phillies, but overall has dropped off some since last year. I hate they lost Dallas Keuchel. And losing Teheran shouldn’t really hurt, especially if the back end of the rotation can produce, but he would provide stretches of consistency. Soroka and Fried are two guys to be very excited about for Braves fans because of their youth and potential, especially Soroka. He’s just 22 and put up nearly Cy Young numbers last year. Folty is not really a guy to count on to give you #2-rotation guy numbers all year long, though. He’s only had one good year, which was two years ago. If he can replicate that, then watch out, but it seems unlikely. Hamels will provide veteran leadership and also give you the chance to win more games than not. And jury is still out on Wright. He’s got plenty of potential, but has started just 4 games in his career. This will be an important year for him.

2. New York Mets

Projected Rotation

Jacob deGrom

Noah Syndergaard

Marcus Stroman

Michael Wacha

Rick Porcello

Now it’s time for the two heavyweights when it comes to pitching rotations in the NL East. It’s hard to rank either team 2nd, but someone has to be there. So it will be the Mets. They have arguably the best pitcher in baseball in deGrom, who has done nothing but dominate and win Cy Youngs in each of the last two seasons. Syndergaard is electric, but let his ERA inflate last season. Most likely it will be an outlier and he’ll be right back on track this year. Stroman is a wildcard. You could get a great season out of him or a below-average one, but there’s no denying he’s got great stuff. Now Wacha and Porcello is where it drops off for the Mets. Both are looking for bounce back years for their new team. And both are capable, especially being slotted in the less-pressured 4-5 rotation spots.

1. Washington Nationals

Projected Rotation

Max Scherzer

Stephen Strasburg

Patrick Corbin

Anibal Sanchez

Joe Ross

And how do you not rank the Nats as #1? Just like the Mets, they have arguably the best pitcher in baseball. You know what you’re going to get from Scherzer and that is an ERA of under 3.00, opponent average of under .200, and season strikeouts equaling the amount of three starting pitchers combined. Strasburg would be a number one on most rotations. And then you get to Corbin, who would be a #1 on a lot of rotations. Their 1-2-3 combination is awesome. Sanchez has resurrected his career since coming to the NL a few years ago and will quietly get the job done most every time he goes out there. Joe Ross is the weakest spot in the rotation, but is only 26 and has time to progress. We will just have to wait and see on that one. But this is the strongest rotation in the division and anybody who says otherwise is kidding themselves.

Garett

Ranking the Pitching Rotations in the NL East