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Padres News: Padres Rotation Ranked in Top Five

By Mark "Wisco" Whelan

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Last year, the San Diego Padres had one of the better pitching rotations in baseball. This winter, they’ve gotten even better. In fact, according to Anthony Castrovince, they’ve got one of the top five rotations in the game. 

The writer for MLB.com and SportsOnEarth.com ranks the Padres’ rotation as the fourth best in baseball:

  • Nationals
  • Dodgers
  • Mariners
  • Padres
  • Mets

The Nationals are the obvious choice for number one. They added stud Max Scherzer to an already packed rotation of Jordan Zimmerman, Gio Gonzalez, Stephen Strasburg, Doug Fister, and Tanner Roark. One of those guys is going to end up a long reliever / spot starter. That’s a nice decision for manager Matt Williams to have to make.

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The Dodgers added Brett Anderson and Brandon McCarthy to their troika of Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Hyun-jin Ryu, giving them a quality starter at all five spots. There is injury risk on that staff, as Castrovince points out, with all except McCarthy spending time on the DL last year. Still, the Padres won’t have any easy starts when facing the Dodgers this season.

But the Dodgers will have the same issue when facing the Padres. After adding a bona fide ace this week, the Padres will counter with James Shields, Andrew Cashner, Tyson Ross, and Ian Kennedy in the 1-4 spots. The Padres fifth slot will be up for grabs this Spring, and there will be a slew of talent competing for it. Even more candidates will be popping up later in the season as they come back from injuries. Some of the candidates are Brandon Morrow, Odrisamer Despaigne, Josh Johnson, Robbie Erlin, Casey Kelly, and Brandon Maurer.

There have been years when the Padres’ entire rotation didn’t have as much talent as the group competing for that fifth starter position. I’d take my chances with this year’s group going against the 2009 Padres. The five who made the most starts for that team were Kevin Correia, Chad Gaudin, Josh Geer, Chris Young, and Tim Stauffer.

We’ve come a long way, Padres fans. Let’s enjoy this.

Next: James Shields History vs. The NL West

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