MLB: Ranking the Top Five Starting Rotations
By Jason Reed
2. Chicago Cubs
While they may be a little thin as of now, the Chicago Cubs still boast the second best starting rotation in baseball. Despite Fangraphs predicting that the trio of arms in Chicago will regress in 2017, I highly doubt that will be the case. Led by Jon Lester, Kyle Hendricks, and Jake Arrieta the Cubs boast the second best 1-2-3 punch in baseball. With the 2015 Cy Young winner, and two 2016 finalists, the Cubs boast incredible talent. With veteran Jack Lackey behind him, and a potential move to the rotation for Mike Montgomery, the Cubs look set heading into 2017.
Although Lester’s WAR numbers have been shrinking over the last three years, he had one of the best years in his career in 2016. Lester posted his lowest ERA, 2.44, along with the most wins and highest left on base percentage. Hitters batted a career low .209 against Lester, the best of his career, he was nothing short of dominant. Although he likely won’t put up the same performance heading into his age 33 season, with two other strong younger arms behind him it won’t be as impactful as Scherzer’s decline would be.
Hendricks had a flash in the pan sort of year in 2016. Because he has never performed like this, many think that he will fail to regain his form in 2017. However, I think this is complete nonsense. At 27 years old he is arguably only getting better, and his playoff performance only showed that. Facing the best teams in the league, Hendricks posted a 1.42 ERA in the 2016 playoffs, hitters only batted .209 against him.
As for Arrieta, I think his 2017 performance will mirror his 2016 performance. I think 2015 was a special year, and it would be very hard to duplicate that. However, he still did phenomenal in 2016, and having a middle rotation guy post a 3.10 ERA is something truly special.