With baseball season quickly approaching, I decided to take a look at all the pitching rotations in the MLB and ultimately create a top-5 list. Before I get that far, I’m going to rank each rotation by their division.

Divisions I’ve Already Ranked

NL West

AL West

NL Central

Now let’s break down the AL Central:

5. Detroit Tigers

Projected Rotation

Matthew Boyd

Jordan Zimmermann

Spencer Turnbull

Ivan Nova

Daniel Norris

It really doesn’t matter if you put the Tigers or Royals last on this list. They are both horrendous. And their fanbases are both fully aware. Matthew Boyd is one of those pitchers that can strike out a ton of hitters (238 last year) but will also give up a ton of runs. He and his career 4.92 ERA will headline this atrocious staff. Zimmermann will make an excellent coach one day because he throws batting practice. The last three guys in the rotation will follow suit and give their team a great opportunity to win if they score 7+ runs a game. Prospect Casey Mize can’t come soon enough for this team. Hint: the Tigers won’t win many games this year.

4. Kansas City Royals

Projected Rotation

Brad Keller

Danny Duffy

Jakob Junis

Mike Montgomery

Glenn Sparkman

Now that we’re done with the Tigers, let’s get to a better rotation. Well, not really. They Royals are rolling out guys that a lot of people have barely heard of. Brad Keller isn’t bad, but he’s far from good. At least he’s just 24 and has plenty of room to grow. But it hurts when he’s your number one. Danny Duffy is sort of the same way, except he is seven years older. Junis is a little worse than that, Montgomery is a little worse than him, and who is Glenn Sparkman? It’s going to be a long year Royals fans, but at least you have the Super Bowl trophy. Speaking of, can Patrick Mahomes pitch for the Royals?

3. Minnesota Twins

Projected Rotation

Jose Berrios

Jake Odorizzi

Kenta Maeda

Homer Bailey

Randy Dobnak

The Twins roll out a pretty solid rotation and will be even more so once Michael Pineda comes back in May from his suspension. Berrios is the real deal and at 25, he’s only going to get better. Odorizzi really came into his own last season and I fully expect him to follow that up this year with similar numbers. You know what you’re going to get with Maeda at this point and that’s a guy who, more times than not, is going to give you the opportunity to win. It will be interesting to see how he adjusts to a new team, and new league, for the first time in his career though. This is where it starts to fall off. Homer Bailey will have magnificent games from time to time, but mostly he will just get lit up. And Dobnak has only made five career starts, but he just has to hold the place until Pineda returns. Not a bad rotation at all, and with that spectacular offense, the Twins are primed to go very far this season.

2. Chicago White Sox

Projected Rotation

Lucas Giolito

Dallas Keuchel

Gio Gonzalez

Dylan Cease

Reynaldo Lopez

I’m not a White Sox fan, but I am very excited to see their rotation this year. You have to start with Giolito, who will be a frontline guy for years to come. He’s just 25, but put together a spectacular season last year in which he sent 228 batters back to the bench. I really like the offseason acquisition of Keuchel. For one, he’s good. And two, he’s a veteran with lots to share with all the young talent the White Sox have. Gio is a wildcard, but when he’s good, he’s good. Cease is one of those young guys with tremendous upside and a lot of swing and miss stuff. I’m eager to see his progression this year. And speaking of swing and miss, Lopez can do the same thing. If he can limit the damage done against him a lot more, he could be a really good asset. Whether he will or not remains to be seen, but he’s just 26. Then you’ll have Carlos Rodon and Michael Kopech returning from injuries this season. I’m really anxious to see Kopech again because he’s one of the best prospects in baseball and his stuff is absolutely electric. There’s tons of talent in this White Sox rotation and they’re just getting better.

1. Cleveland Indians

Projected Rotation

Mike Clevinger

Shane Bieber

Carlos Carrasco

Zach Plesac

Aaron Civale

It’s pretty crazy when you give away Corey Kluber and Trevor Bauer and still have the best rotation in the division. But that’s what the Indians have. Clevinger is a name that more people should be familiar with and probably will be this year since he’ll garner more of the spotlight in that rotation. The last three years his ERA has been 3.11, 3.02, and 2.71. Great numbers. And everyone in Cleveland has Bieber Fever, though not for Justin. Their guy Shane at only 24 already looks like an ace for years to come. Last season he kept his ERA to 3.28 while striking out an astonishing 259 batters. Then you have another sensation pitcher, this one a veteran, in Carrasco. Everyone will be interested in seeing him bounce back this year from leukemia. Plesac had a very good year last year as well, and guess what? He’s just 25 years old as well. Civale has only started 10 games in his career, last season, but his numbers in those games are impressive. He’s 24. The Indians look to be set for a while as far as their rotation goes.

Garett

Ranking the Pitching Rotations in the AL Central