#starting-pitching

#starting-pitching

The Braves likely remain involved in many of the conversations focusing on adding a starting pitcher. And with the added bonus of not having traded away any prospects to feel their offseason needs, they could always pivot to the trade market as well. The good thing is that many avenues remain available for the Braves to strengthen their already strong rotation, even if it could into the new year when the move finally occurs.

Some look at their solid (although injury-riddled) rotation depth and see no need, but the frequency of pitching injuries in the modern game begs to differ. I additionally would not be surprised to see Bryce Elder traded this offseason, as a fringy major league starter like that has substantially less value without minor league options. Acquiring a starter is tricky though, especially of the impact variety, which is the stated goal for the Braves.

Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports that conversations with the Rays have kicked around a framework that would send both Ryan Pepiot and to the desert. Piecoro writes that nothing is believed to be close on that front and the Rays are not necessarily any kind of frontrunner. Indeed, he adds that the Diamondbacks have had conversations with another team interested in Marte that would be built around a bigger-name starting pitcher.

He was one of the very best in the game... about a decade ago as a member of the Diamondbacks. At the age of 36, he's still a durable starter good for 5-inning starts and generating ground balls. He has almost no velocity to speak of anymore and has been very hittable. He ranks in the lowest 30th percentile in strikeouts, which is actually the highest he's ranked since the pandemic.

"There's a lot of teams (from which) we have taken incoming calls," president of baseball operations AJ Preller told reporters, as relayed by Acee. "...It's nice when people are calling you, and they have interest in your players. At least then, you have some options. But I think the focus has been on the starting pitching and how do we fill that without taking away from the bullpen or from the lineup."

The Rockies are starting from scratch, and new baseball ops leaders Paul DePodesta and Josh Byrnes have a long list of issues to address. It'll be a yearslong process, but in the short term, Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post writes that it's "likely" the team will bring in some short-term help at first base or second base.

The Toronto Blue Jays addressed their pitching by signing Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and also had Shane Bieber take the option on his contract to play with Toronto in 2026. Both the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles have also made moves with the former grabbing Sonny Gray in a trade with the St. Louis Cardinals, and the latter picking up reliever Ryan Helsley off the free agent market while also getting Taylor Ward in a trade with the LA Angels.

The Mets have been perusing the trade market in hopes of bolstering their rotation and have their eye on Twins right-hander as one of several targets, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports. He adds that the Twins like young Mets righty - hardly a surprise, given that Tong is widely regarded as one of the sport's top pitching prospects.

But now comes the task of trying to backfill those innings from departing starting pitchers like Scherzer and Chris Bassitt. The Blue Jays could shop at the top of the market for free agents like Dylan Cease or Framber Valdez, or they could go the Scherzer 2.0 route and target a veteran starting pitcher on a one-year deal to supplant those innings. One pitcher who might make sense for the Blue Jays is another elder statesman of the league: Justin Verlander.

Manager Terry Francona is the latest member of Cincinnati's organization to downplay the possibility of trading starting pitching. Francona said on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast that he wasn't anticipating a Hunter Greene trade. " I don't think those things are gonna (happen)...pitching is too hard for us to acquire through free agency...we gotta keep Hunter on the mound," Francona said in a clip relayed by Chatterbox Sports.

Manager Mark Kotsay used a committee approach in the ninth inning after the A's traded Mason Miller at the deadline. Hogan Harris, Sean Newcomb, Michael Kelly and Tyler Ferguson each picked up at least one save. Osvaldo Bido got one as well, but that was of the 'three innings to finish a blowout' variety. The patchwork relief group pitched well. Only the Guardians had a lower bullpen ERA than the A's 2.99 mark over the final two months.

The 2025 World Series is nearly upon us, with the Toronto Blue Jays set to host the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 1 on Friday night. Which team has the edge going into the Series? What should you expect from the Dodgers' pitching staff -- and from Toronto's batters trying to hit L.A.'s aces? And which X factors will determine this October's last team standing?

Blake Snell and Yoshinobu Yamamoto were absolutely incredible, with the former facing the minimum through eight innings, and Yamamoto throwing a one-run complete game. It'll be nearly impossible for Glasnow to top either of those outings, but he's been in great form himself and would be the ace on nearly every staff in baseball. He'll be looking to maintain his scoreless postseason against a Brewers' lineup that faced him twice in the regular season.

Dave Roberts, the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has taken great care in these past few years not to act smug or entitled about being the man who guides the best-paid team in American sporting history. That Roberts has more or less pulled it off is one of the great achievements of his stint in that role, but even he cannot hold up the charade any longer.

Andrew Abbott, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Brady Singer, Nick Martinez, Zack Littell, and Chase Burns had a whole lot to do with it. Those seven arms combined to start 152 of Cincinnati's 162 games, pitching to a 3.69 ERA (84 ERA-) in 832 innings. Their collective 16.4 FanGraphs WAR and 8.64 Win Probability Added as starters helped the Reds finish with the second-best rotation fWAR and third-best WPA in the sport.