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District On Deck

Ranking All 30 Starting Rotations

By Max Rayman

HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TEXAS - OCTOBER 29: Stephen Strasburg #37 of the Washington Nationals delivers the pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning in Game Six of the 2019 World Series at Minute Maid Park on October 29, 2019 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) /
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Jacob deGrom
WASHINGTON, DC – SEPTEMBER 03: Jacob deGrom #48 of the New York Mets pitches against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park on September 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

3) New York Mets

Projected 2021 Starting Rotation: Jacob deGrom, Marcus Stroman, Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker, Joey Lucchesi, Noah Syndergaard*

2020 Stats: W/L 13-22, 5.37 ERA, 4.21 FIP, 4.7 fWAR

While the Mets blockbuster trade that netted them Francisco Lindor highlighted their off-season, New York made a flurry of underrated moves to bolster their rotation. First Marcus Stroman accepted his qualifying offer, which keeps him in New York for another year. Then the Mets also landed Carlos Carrasco in the Lindor trade and acquired Joey Lucchesi and Taijuan Walker to give the Mets what seems like unlimited depth. Add that the rotation is led by the best pitcher in baseball in Jacob deGrom, plus Noah Syndergaard will return at some point this season from Tommy John Surgery, and the rotation is easily the best in the division.

Stroman missed the entire 2020 season due to injury and then later opting out, but the 29-year-old is one of the best number three starters in the game. In 2019 with Toronto and the Mets, he went 10-13, with a 3.22 ERA, and 159 strikeouts. The 2019 trade to the Mets paid dividends for Stroman, with his K/9 increasing from 7.1 to 9.1. After opting out, Stroman had enough time to fully recover from his injury and will be an instrumental piece in the team’s rotation moving forward.

Carrasco and Walker are both valuable pieces, with the former posting a solid 3.58 FIP and the latter finishing with a 1.37 ERA in six starts for Toronto. Something to keep an eye on is that neither are innings eaters. Walker has yet to throw 180+ innings in a season while Carrasco has only done it three times.

While the Mets have acquired a plethora of depth, the rotation will go as far as deGrom takes them. After winning back-to-back NL Cy Youngs in 2018 and 2019, the ace finished third in 2020. He still led the NL in strikeouts with 104 and posted a career-high in K/9 with 13.8. Already 32, deGrom is aging like fine wine and is still the undisputed best pitcher in baseball.

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