Revisiting AL East Position Rankings: Pitching

Welcome to the final part of my 2017 end-of-season AL East position rankings.

As a reminder, the main purpose of this series is to basically make a fool of myself. I’m looking back at my AL East position rankings from April and determining what I got right and — as is usually the case — what I got wrong.

I wrote about the AL East infields in Part One and the outfields, DHs and benches in Part Two. To wrap things up, I’ll rank the pitching staffs and managers of the 2017 AL East teams. My April rankings can be found here for comparison.

 

Rotation

April rankings:

1. Blue Jays
2. Red Sox
3. Rays
4. Yankees
5. Orioles

Let’s get the most obvious ranking out of the way first — the Orioles’ starting rotation was unequivocally the worst, not just in the division but in all of baseball. The starters’ 5.70 ERA was dead last in MLB and the worst in franchise history.

It’s funny to think that in April, I thought it would be a two-team race between the Orioles and the Yankees for the worst rotation in the division. So, I was half right! And half incredibly wrong. The Yankees finished 2017 with the best rotation ERA in the AL East at 3.98.

To further prove that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I wrote in April that the only reason the Yankees were better than the Orioles was that they had “a bona fide ace, the stellar Masahiro Tanaka.” So, of course, Tanaka ended up as the worst starter in the Yankees’ regular rotation (4.74 ERA). Their true ace (pictured above) was Luis Severino (14-6, 2.98), while veteran CC Sabathia and rookie Jordan Montgomery also contributed ERAs below 4.00.

You could make an argument for the Red Sox as the best rotation in the division, thanks to the Cy Young-caliber efforts of Chris Sale (17-8, 2.90 ERA and MLB-leading 308 strikeouts) and a strong season from lefty Drew Pomeranz (17-6, 3.32). But Boston didn’t have as much success elsewhere in the rotation, with 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello regressing to a 4.65 ERA.

The Rays always seem to have a solid rotation, regardless of whether the rest of their team is any good, and 2017 was no exception. Their four most-used starters — Chris Archer, Alex Cobb, Jake Odorizzi and Blake Snell — all had better than league-average ERAs, and rookie Jacob Faria posted a 3.43 ERA in 16 games.

My April ranking of the Blue Jays as No. 1 ended up being a massive overestimate. On paper, they entered the season with five strong starters, but only Marcus Stroman stayed healthy and effective all year. J.A. Happ and Aaron Sanchez missed time with injuries — with Sanchez’s blistered finger limiting him to eight starts — while Marco Estrada and especially Francisco Liriano struggled.

End-of-season rankings:

1. Yankees
2. Red Sox
3. Rays
4. Blue Jays
5. Orioles

Bullpen

April rankings:

1. Orioles
2. Yankees
3. Red Sox
4. Blue Jays
5. Rays

The Orioles’ bullpen, which was the backbone of the club’s success from 2012-2016, faltered in 2017. Seemingly unstoppable closer Zach Britton discovered that he could, in fact, be stopped. A forearm strain sent him to the DL twice and his command was a bit off when he returned. Ultimately, his season ended due to knee discomfort. Brad Brach had some shaky moments as Britton’s replacement in the ninth, but the Orioles got key contributions from setup man Mychal Givens and middle relievers Miguel Castro and Richard Bleier.

For pure dominance, nobody topped the Yankees’ bullpen, which, by the end of the season, was a crew full of strikeout artists. Of the nine Yankee relievers who made at least 30 appearances, seven of them averaged more than 10 whiffs per nine innings. In-season trade acquisitions David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle bolstered a group that included Aroldis Chapman, Dellin Betances and Chad Green. The only blemish was the uncertainty in the closer role, where both Chapman and Betances held and then lost the job at various times.

The Red Sox had no such trouble in the ninth inning. Craig Kimbrel (pictured above) was one of the majors’ best closers, racking up 35 saves, a 1.43 ERA and a whopping 126 strikeouts in 69 innings. But his supporting cast — consisting mainly of righties Joe Kelly, Heath Hembree and Matt Barnes — wasn’t as overpowering as the Yankees’ crew.

Tampa Bay closer Alex Colome led the majors with 47 saves, but had some rough patches throughout the year, allowing runs in 18 appearances. Former Oriole Tommy Hunter was the Rays’ most reliable reliever, posting a career-best 2.61 ERA in 61 games, but no one else in their patchwork bullpen pitched more than 41 times.

The Blue Jays, meanwhile, had a lot of mediocrity in their bullpen. Closer Roberto Osuna blew 10 saves in 49 opportunities, and Dominic Leone (2.56) was their only regular reliever with an ERA below 3.00.

End-of-season rankings:

1. Yankees
2. Red Sox
3. Orioles
4. Rays
5. Blue Jays

Manager

April rankings:

1. Buck Showalter, Orioles
2. Joe Girardi, Yankees
3. John Farrell, Red Sox
4. John Gibbons, Blue Jays
5. Kevin Cash, Rays

Girardi, although he infuriates many fans with his constant, mid-inning pitching changes, had the Yankees running like a well-oiled machine in 2017. In what was supposed to be a rebuilding season for the club, Girardi (pictured above) was able to wring contributions out of aging veterans such as Sabathia and Brett Gardner to complement young stalwarts like Aaron Judge and Severino. His in-game tactics don’t always work so well, but he’s generally well respected in the clubhouse.

Showalter has a long track record in Baltimore of getting the most out of his players and helping the club exceed expectations. And he deserves credit for keeping the Orioles in contention until September despite being saddled with the worst rotation in the majors. But he couldn’t keep the team from collapsing in the season’s final month while showing a lack of energy down the stretch.

Cash and Gibbons didn’t particularly distinguish themselves this season. Both guided their clubs to below-.500 records, with Gibbons’ Blue Jays falling out of contention almost immediately. But both are in better shape today than Farrell, whom the Red Sox dismissed after losing the AL Division Series to the Houston Astros. Despite back-to-back division titles, Farrell’s lack of communication in the clubhouse ultimately cost him his job.

End-of-season rankings:

1. Girardi, Yankees
2. Showalter, Orioles
3. Cash, Rays
4. Gibbons, Blue Jays
5. Farrell, Red Sox