Comparing the Braves and Nationals Starting Rotations
The biggest moves the Washington Nationals made this offseason revolved around the starting rotation. After trading for Gio Gonzalez, and signing Edwin Jackson their rotation has gone from a “good 1-2 punch” to “one of the better rotations in the league.” But are Strasburg and company more talented than Frank Wren’s brigade of young arms? Let’s find out.
Here are each team’s starting rotation based on their respective team sites and depth charts:
Washington Nationals
- S. Strasburg
- G. Gonzalez
- J. Zimmermann
- E. Jackson
- J. Lannan
- C. Wang
- R. Detwiler
Atlanta Braves
- T. Hudson
- J. Jurrjens
- T. Hanson
- B. Beachy
- M. Minor
- R. Delgado
- J. Teheran
Just by looking at these starting rotations I would say that the Nationals have a clear edge with their ace in Stephen Strasburg, but other than that I feel like the Braves are better at every other spot. Hudson probably isn’t our best pitcher but it would be smart to have him pitch against Strasburg, and take better matchups with the other games.
Hanson and Beachy are both better than Gonzalez and Zimmerman and the Jurrjens/Jackson comparison could go either way depending on what day it is. After the first four pitchers it looks like Atlanta has a clear advantage (nothing new here) with Minor, Delgado, and Teheran all much better than Lannon, Wang, Detwiler.
Let’s try and rank all of these pitchers from first to worst.
- Strasburg
- Hanson
- Beachy
- Hudson
- Zimmerman
- Gonzalez
- Jackson
- Jurrjens
- Minor
- Teheran
- Delgado
- Wang
- Lannan
- Detwiler
Obviously these could change depending on who ranks them, what you rank them by, etc. Also injuries and trending performance could dictate why you may rank a person above or below another. Jackson could be put above Gonzalez and Zimmerman simply because of his improving peripherals and durability.
But, based on my calculations the Braves take the better rotation in 2012 with a score of 36 to the Nationals 58. There is plenty of room for debate here. You could think I am crazy for my rankings of these pitchers, or you could think I am right on (+1 for you). What are your rankings for all of the Braves and Nationals starting pitchers?