AL East Positional Rankings: Pitching, managing

It’s time for the grand finale of my three-part, AL East position rankings series, where I’m grading how the Orioles compare to their division opponents. Part one covered the infield and part two the outfield.

Now, on to the pitchers and managers. You can probably guess where the Orioles’ starting rotation ranks.

Rotation

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

The Yankees had the best starters’ ERA (3.98) in the AL East last season, and they’re bringing back all five pitchers from their season-ending rotation. CC Sabathia re-signed on a one-year deal and Masahiro Tanaka declined to opt out, so they’ll join ace Luis Severino (pictured above), Sonny Gray and Jordan Montgomery in a strong top-to-bottom starting staff.

David Price’s second year with Boston wasn’t what he’d hoped — elbow inflammation limited him to 11 starts — but if he can rebound in 2018, he gives the Red Sox a co-ace alongside 2017 Cy Young runner-up Chris Sale. The rest of the rotation, though, is a bit thin. Rick Porcello went from a Cy Young award in 2016 to a league-leading 17 losses last season, while lefties Drew Pomeranz and Eduardo Rodriguez are both expected to start the year on the DL.

The Blue Jays aren’t as top-heavy as the Red Sox but have depth in the rotation from one to five. Behind ace Marcus Stroman (3.09 ERA last season) are JA Happ, Marco Estrada, Jaime Garcia and Aaron Sanchez. If Sanchez can avoid the recurring blisters that limited him to eight games in 2017, this could be a formidable group.

The Rays are planning an interesting experiment this year. They’ll have only four regular starters — Chris Archer, Blake Snell, Nate Eovaldi and Jake Faria — and will fill the fifth spot with a rotating “bullpen day.” It’s a gamble, especially since not all of their top four are sure things; Faria doesn’t yet have a full big league season to his name, while Eovaldi is returning from Tommy John surgery that cost him the entire 2017 season. This is one of the weakest-looking Rays’ rotations in a while.

On paper, the Orioles’ starting staff seems much improved over last season, with Andrew Cashner and last-minute signing Alex Cobb replacing Ubaldo Jimenez and Wade Miley. But when a staff had the worst rotation ERA in the majors and in organizational history — as the Orioles did in 2017 — I’m not going to rank them anywhere but last until they actually prove they’re better.

Bullpen

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

Once the Yankees’ bullpen enters to protect a lead, it’ll be hard enough for hitters to make contact, let alone mount a late rally. Each of the club’s top six relievers — Dellin Betances, Chad Green, Tommy Kahnle, David Robertson, Chasen Shreve and closer Aroldis Chapman (pictured above) — averaged better than 11 strikeouts per nine innings last year. They combined for 417 whiffs in 286 innings. Betances, Green, Kahnle and Robertson each had ERAs below 3.00 with New York. Chances are, if you don’t score on the Yankees early in the game, you won’t score at all.

The Red Sox bullpen is littered with guys who throw hard but don’t always get great results, like righties Joe Kelly, Matt Barnes and Heath Hembree. But you can get away with a lot when you have the most dominant closer in the division. Craig Kimbrel, in 69 innings last season, struck out 126 batters and put just 51 runners on base. He was 35-for-39 in save opportunities and posted a 1.43 ERA, his best since 2013.

A hallmark of the Orioles’ last six years of success has been their stalwart bullpen, but this season, their relief crew, initially, seems middle of the pack. Closer Zach Britton’s torn Achilles will sideline him until at least late May, leaving most of the ninth-inning duties to Brad Brach, who struggled at times in that role last year. Mychal Givens and Darren O’Day could also get save opportunities. In addition, the Orioles are taking a risk by carrying two Rule 5 picks in the bullpen, Nestor Cortes Jr. and Pedro Araujo, the latter of whom has pitched only two innings above Single-A.

The Blue Jays had the worst relievers’ ERA in the division last year at 4.21; they’re hoping the additions of veterans John Axford and Seung Hwan Oh can help stabilize the bullpen ahead of quality closer Roberto Osuna. Meanwhile, the Rays’ rotating fifth starter gambit means they’ll be carrying multiple long relievers, but they don’t have great middle relief or setup options ahead of last year’s MLB saves leader, Alex Colome. They surprisingly cut two of their expected setup men, veterans Dan Jennings and Daniel Hudson, at the end of spring training.

Manager

1. Buck Showalter, Orioles
2. John Gibbons, Blue Jays
3. Kevin Cash, Rays
4. Alex Cora, Red Sox
5. Aaron Boone, Yankees

Although the Orioles fell apart by going 7-20 last September — a rarity under Showalter — there’s no doubt he’s the most accomplished manager in the division. He has a 622-569 record and three postseason appearances since taking the helm in 2010, and he continually squeezes more wins out of his roster than the prognosticators predict. He’s entering the final year of his contract, but if he wants to return after 2018, the Orioles will happily oblige.

For all the pace-of-play rule changes that MLB has installed the last few years, somehow they’ve left out, “John Gibbons must start walking to the mound faster than a blind tortoise stuck in molasses.” Gibbons is a polarizing figure even beyond his dawdling mound visits, but he has a winning record in his 10-year career in Toronto (720-700 in two stints), which gives him the edge over the Rays’ Cash (228-258 in three seasons).

The Yankees and Red Sox raised eyebrows this offseason by parting ways with their veteran managers, Joe Girardi and John Farrell, respectively, and replacing them with rookie skippers. Cora, at least, has experience as a bench coach for the 2017 World Series champion Houston Astros and has managed winter ball in Puerto Rico. Boone, on the other hand, has never managed or coached anywhere, and was plucked out of the ESPN broadcast booth. There could be growing pains for both in 2018.