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2020 MLB Season: Ranking the Top 5 Starting Rotations

By Nate Thompson |
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the second inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the second inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
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Today, we rank the best starting rotations heading into the 2020 MLB season.

Here we’ll be taking a look at the top 5 starting rotations heading into the potential 2020 MLB season. Many different factors will go into these rankings including star-power, injuries, depth, and potential.

Hopefully, there is actually a 2020 season so that we can watch these phenomenal starters at least a bit.

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First, we’ll start off with a few honorable mentions:

New York Yankees

With the addition of Gerrit Cole, the Yankees rotation took a huge leap forward. James Paxton, Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and others including Jordan Montgomery make up a very good rotation, but with Luis Severino out with injury, they aren’t quite as good as the very best.

New York Mets

The Mets would easily be in the top 5 ranking if not for Noah Syndergaard being out with Tommy John Surgery. The rotation has the best starter in baseball in back to back NL Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom. Stroman in the middle the rotation is also great as he is maybe the best ground ball pitcher, producing grounds balls 53.7% of the time.

Cincinnati Reds

The Reds just miss out on this top 5, but they have a great rotation with lots of potential. The team doesn’t have any of the top 10 or so starters, but they have 3 all-star level pitchers. These guys being Luis Castillo, Sonny Gray, and Trevor Bauer who are all former all-stars.

(Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
(Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) /

The fifth-best starting rotation heading into the 2020 MLB season: the Cleveland Indians.

Projected Rotation:

  1. Shane Bieber
  2. Mike Clevinger
  3. Carlos Carrasco
  4. Zach Plesac
  5. Adam Plutko

Consisting of two of the very best young starters in baseball with Shane Bieber and Mike Clevinger at the top of the rotation, this rotation is already great and has the potential to be even better.

Clevinger has quietly been one of the best pitchers in the majors the past few years with an ERA of 2.96 from 2017-2019 ranking 7th among all starting pitchers.

In 2019, Shane Bieber became one of the most elite pitchers in the game with a 3.28 ERA and 259 K’s, which was short of only Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander. At only 25 years old, Bieber should only improve from here in the future.

Carrasco battled leukemia in 2019 and is expected to be ready if the season starts. Being one of the most consistent starters in baseball with a 3.27 ERA from 2014-2018, I’d expect him to bounce back strong.

The rotation is rounded out of young Plesac and Plutko. Plesac shined in 2019 with a 3.81 ERA in 115.2 IP as a rookie. At only 25 years old he is another piece that gives this rotation lots of value because of his potential.

(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /

The fourth-best starting rotation heading into the 2020 MLB season: the Houston Astros.

Projected Rotation:

  1. Justin Verlander
  2. Zack Greinke
  3. Lance McCullers
  4. Jose Urquidy
  5. Josh James/Austin Pruitt

Even after losing Gerrit Cole in free agency, with Verlander and Greinke heading this rotation, you’re not going to get much more of a reliable duo. While Verlander threw more innings in the last decade than anyone and Greinke was fourth, these two are still yet to show signs of slowing down.

Verlander won AL Cy Young in 2019 which speaks for itself. Greinke posted a 2.93 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 208.2 IP all ranking in the top 10 in the MLB.

Greinke also won his sixth straight Gold Glove which while not the most important attribute for a pitcher, that’s still amazing.

Getting Lance McCullers back from injury in 2020 will be a huge help as he is still only 26 years old and has already put out a very strong 453.2 IP in 4 seasons with a 3.67 ERA and 10.1 K/9. It is not guaranteed he’ll be this good again, but at only 26 his potential to be even better is still there.

25 year Jose Urquidy is another piece making this rotation appealing. The #2 prospect in the Astros system has lots of potential and has shown what he can do on the biggest stage in game 4 of last year’s WS. Urquidy threw 5 shutout innings with allowing only 2 base runners and 4 K’s.

Either Josh James or Austin Pruitt is not very pretty at the end of the rotation, but the rest of this rotation is so strong it puts them with the very best.

(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
(Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images) /

The third-best starting rotation heading into the 2020 MLB season: the Tampa Bay Rays.

Projected Rotation:

  1. Charlie Morton
  2. Blake Snell
  3. Tyler Glasnow
  4. Yonny Chirinos
  5. Ryan Yarbrough

Outside of Charlie Morton, this rotation doesn’t consist of a guy over 28 years old, and they’re all extremely talented. Morton at 36 years old is amazingly only getting better as he posted a 3.05 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 240 K’s in 2019.

Blake Snell struggled with injuries a bit last year yet still managed 3.31 FIP and a career-high 12.36 K/9 as a follow up to his historic 21 win, 1.89 ERA 2018 CY Young campaign.

Tyler Glasnow was among the most dominant starters in the majors when he was healthy in 2019. He posted a 1.78 ERA with 11.27 K/9. At only 26 years old, I’d expect Glasnow to continue to be a dominant pitcher.

Chirinos and Yarbrough are easily two of the best back end rotation pieces in the MLB. Combining for 231 K’s in 275 IP these two are extremely reliable on the back end and only have the potential to get better as they are both young.

This rotation is very underrated, but it is time people notice the Tampa Bay starting pitching.

(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images) /

The second-best starting rotation heading into the 2020 MLB season: the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Projected Rotation:

  1. Clayton Kershaw
  2. Walker Buehler
  3. David Price
  4. Julio Urias
  5. Alex Wood

There isn’t a single weakness in the Dodgers rotation. Two of the ten best starters, other all-star level pitchers, amazing young potential, and the best depth in the majors.

Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler atop this rotation are easily among the best duos in the game. While some people may want to say Kershaw isn’t among the best anymore, that’s really not true. In what might have been his worst season in 2019, Kershaw still put up a 3.03 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 189 K’s.

Buehler was absolutely dominant in 2019 with a 3.01 FIP and 10.61 K/9. At only 25 years old he is going to be one of the most dominant pitchers of the future.

Acquiring David Price helps LA replace the loss of Hyun-Jin Ryu, and Price’s track record speaks for itself. If healthy he’ll be one of the most consistent pitchers in the game.

The depth and potential put together with the stars of this rotation is what really makes the staff so dominant. Julio Urias has been one of the most highly touted prospects for a long time and now still at just 23 years old he’ll get his chance to shine.

Urias has the potential to come out and be dominant and I wouldn’t be surprised to see that. In 30.1 IP as a starter last year, Urias put up a 3.05 FIP and 10.98 K/9.

The end of the rotation is expected to be rounded out by Alex Wood who is an amazing fifth starter. The Dodgers will always have great pieces at that spot or fill-in spots as well when people get injured because of their amazing depth.

Ross Stripling, Dustin May, Jimmy Nelson, Tony Gonsolin, and Caleb Ferguson are all guys who will possibly get starts and they are all good pitchers. Dustin May is especially intriguing with his 98 mph sinker as he also has the potential to be a front end starter in the future.

There are absolutely no weaknesses to point out in this rotation.

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

The best starting rotation heading into the 2020 MLB season: the Washington Nationals.

Projected Rotation:

  1. Max Scherzer
  2. Stephen Strasburg
  3. Patrick Corbin
  4. Anibal Sanchez
  5. Joe Ross

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The reigning WS Champions get the nod here at #1 because of their amazing 3 headed monster. The trio of Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin combined for 732 K’s in 2019 (243, 251, 238 respectively).

The highest ERA of the three was Strasburg at 3.32, 3.25 ERA for Corbin, and 2.92 for Max.

This trio is what gives this the best rotation in these rankings as no other trio is dominant. The depth of the Nats is where question marks do appear.

Anibal Sanchez had a very good 2019 posting a 3.85 ERA and was terrific in the postseason, but they’re going to need him to be that again in a potential 2020 season. Sanchez has been pretty up and down in his career so this is one possible weak spot.

Joe Ross is most likely to be the fifth starter and he is a very interesting pitcher to fill this spot. He hasn’t had an ERA under 5.00 since 2016, but he also hasn’t been 100% healthy since then. In his last season fully health he posted a 3.43 ERA in 19 starts.

Ross is only 27 years old still which means he’s still got time to improve and pitch to his full potential, but that is certainly no guarantee. Even with the question mark of depth for this Nats rotation, the star trio is too good to not put at #1 for now.

Next. Rob Manfred has completely botched the 2020 season. dark

The appeal of such a dominant trio is even more valuable come playoff time as they showed in 2019 which makes Scherzer, Strasburg, and Corbin in one rotation even more exciting.

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