AL Pitching or lack there of

[gowazzu02]

Ive seen a few sites doing their preseason lists. ESPN,. mlb etc. It's widely accepted that Seattle has the best staff in the AL, but shockingly, the only other staff being mentioned in the top 10 in baseball is the Indians. Crazy town stuff,

 

[cezero]

Looking around the league, I can totally see why we're projected to have the best pitching in the AL. There's a lot of ugly out there with other staffs.

We were 21st in MLB for quality starts for the starting rotation last year, and I don't think we've necessarily upgraded it a whole lot, though we may have more depth at the beginning of the season than we did last year. The historically spectacular bullpen last year is what kept the overall numbers down. I'd love for the bullpen to approach or exceed what they did last year, though I think maybe it's a little unrealistic to expect it, especially when we've actually lost lefty middle relief.

Happ is an adequate replacement for Young and with the Safeco factor, he might even end up being slightly better.

I think talking heads around the league are looking at Walker's ERA and giving him a lot of benefit of the doubt when there's not a lot of evidence to prove he's going to stay anywhere near there. Maybe they're simply unaware of the protection McClendon gave him for his handful of starts last year. He only pitched 38 innings total with the reconstructed mechanics, so there's a lot he has to prove. Hope he does. I'm not down on him at all, I think there's just a lot of unknown stuff with him.

Other than that, we still have Felix, Kuma, Paxton, and Elias, same as last year. Pretty awesome depth if they all do well, and Walker and Happ are at the tops of their games.

 

[gowazzu02]

Looking around the league, I can totally see why we're projected to have the best pitching in the AL. There's a lot of ugly out there with other staffs.

We were 21st in MLB for quality starts for the starting rotation last year, and I don't think we've necessarily upgraded it a whole lot, though we may have more depth at the beginning of the season than we did last year. The historically spectacular bullpen last year is what kept the overall numbers down. I'd love for the bullpen to approach or exceed what they did last year, though I think maybe it's a little unrealistic to expect it, especially when we've actually lost lefty middle relief.

Happ is an adequate replacement for Young and with the Safeco factor, he might even end up being slightly better.

I think talking heads around the league are looking at Walker's ERA and giving him a lot of benefit of the doubt when there's not a lot of evidence to prove he's going to stay anywhere near there. Maybe they're simply unaware of the protection McClendon gave him for his handful of starts last year. He only pitched 38 innings total with the reconstructed mechanics, so there's a lot he has to prove. Hope he does. I'm not down on him at all, I think there's just a lot of unknown stuff with him.

Other than that, we still have Felix, Kuma, Paxton, and Elias, same as last year. Pretty awesome depth if they all do well, and Walker and Happ are at the tops of their games.

IF Walker makes the rotation out of spring, he slides in at 5 which should be a nice soft landing for him.

I know a couple posters are all doom and gloom when it comes to kuma, but I think a proper spring, allowing him to build up his arm strength and stamina will help him alot this year.

Im a big time Paxton fan.

 

[unlvmariners]

IF Walker makes the rotation out of spring, he slides in at 5 which should be a nice soft landing for him.

I know a couple posters are all doom and gloom when it comes to kuma, but I think a proper spring, allowing him to build up his arm strength and stamina will help him alot this year.

Im a big time Paxton fan.

I fully expect Walker to make the rotation out of spring. But weird things can happen in spring training.

My expectations for Kuma are lower than his last years numbers and much lower than his 2013 numbers. But that doesn't mean he will not be a very valuable pitcher and likely better than the majority of starting pitchers. I also believe the possibility is there that Kuma will not pitch very well this season.

I am also a huge Paxton fan. In my opinion he has show glimpses of greatness, just have to keep him healthy.

 

[wazzu31]

IF Walker makes the rotation out of spring, he slides in at 5 which should be a nice soft landing for him.

I know a couple posters are all doom and gloom when it comes to kuma, but I think a proper spring, allowing him to build up his arm strength and stamina will help him alot this year.

Im a big time Paxton fan.

I'm heavily negative on Kuma, which is why I believe Paxton is the key for the rotation. He needs to be able to slide into that number 2 spot. I believe Walker and Elias will make and they will use Elias more of the lefty middle reliever/spot starter for Walker.