NL East: Best Pitching in Baseball
Dan Haren against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Miami Marlins
Last year at this time, we were in some fear of the Marlins’ rotation – fear that their new kids would take over and rule for a few years.
A lot has changed, as some of those kids have broken down (Jose Fernandez), been traded (Andrew Heaney, Jacob Turner), or otherwise not quite lived up to the hype.
But those changes alone don’t mean that the Fish are Fried.
- Henderson Alvarez – stepped up after Miami lost Fernandez to surgery: a 2.65 ERA over 187 innings. He’ll have to repeat that to keep the fire warm until Fernandez can return.
- Mat Latos – Acquired from Cincinnati in the off-season, Latos threw a 3.25 for the Reds in 2014 as the best Cincy starter not named ‘Cueto’. Been steadily in that 3-3.50 ERA range for 5 seasons.
- Jarred Cosart – Acquired from Houston, Cosart owns a 3.26 major league ERA in his first 240 innings.
- Dan Haren – Assuming that he warms to the idea of playing in South Florida – 2,700+ miles away from his preferred place of employment – then he’ll look pretty stout in this 4th rotation slot… even with his 2014 ERA of 4.02.
- Tom Koehler – Not bad for a 5th pitcher placeholder. 3.81 ERA, and seemingly better versus the Braves last year.
Current expectations place Jose Fernandez back on the mound near the All-Star break. Clearly, any time-table is an iffy proposition, but if he can return at all, then it’s tantamount to picking up an “ace” at the trade deadline, for that’s the kind of “stuff” Fernandez was dealing when his elbow ligament gave out last year. If the Marlins are already close to 1st place at that point, then watch out: they could challenge for the division title with that kind of pitching boost down the stretch.
So why don’t I rank this team higher? It’s because of the uncertainties: the bottom 3 in the rotation should be solid, but will they be? Or, in the case of Haren, will he even be with the team? Furthermore, we’ve seen setbacks and delays for Tommy John patients, so while Fernandez could be back 100% by August, there are no guarantees. And this time, the Fish don’t have an Andrew Heaney or Nathan Eovaldi to fall back upon when things don’t go well.
NL East Rank: 4th