"We're just about a week away from the start of the 2025 MLB playoffs, and that means this year's top contenders are lining up their rotations with hopes of making a deep October run. With that in mind, we decided to rank the starting pitching options for the teams currently in the playoff field with an eye for how they will be used in the postseason."
"Remember when a bunch of people were already talking about Yamamoto being a bust when he lasted one inning in his first big league start and registered a 4.50 ERA through his first five starts last season? Since then, his ERA (and every ERA estimator) has been under 3.00, driven by above average strikeout, walk and ground ball rates. He is seventh in baseball in pitcher WAR this season and is in the mix for being named an ace and receiving Cy Young votes."
"To that point, Yamamoto has thrown 60 more innings than any other Dodgers starter this season, so the rest of the rotation isn't crystal clear -- but there's a ton of talent. You'd have to think Glasnow and Snell would be in the top four with Kershaw as the likely fourth option and Ohtani and Sheehan available in a variety of roles depending on how the series goes."
Rankings evaluate starting pitchers for teams currently in the playoff field based on projected usage in a seven-game series. The methodology weights No. 1 and No. 2 starters more heavily because playoff series often rely on top arms. Fourteen teams were ranked, with two included because of late-season pushes that may still leave them out of the postseason. The Dodgers occupy the top spot largely because of Yoshinobu Yamamoto's turnaround, sub-3.00 ERA, above-average strikeout, walk and ground-ball rates, and a top-10 pitcher WAR showing. Yamamoto has thrown far more innings than any Dodgers starter, leaving the remainder of the rotation flexible but talented.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]