Opening Day is almost upon us. All teams in Major League Baseball are getting ready for the first week of the 2021 season, which means that they’re unlikely to make any major moves to try and see what they have on their hands.
We’re coming off one of the slowest-developing and least exciting offseasons in sports history due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so rosters look pretty similar to what they did during the shortened campaign.
However, considering some of the moves some contending teams made, FanGraphs and MLB put together the ultimate ranking of the top 10 best starting rotations ahead of the 2021 season.
The Top 10 Starting Rotations For 2021, Ranked
+ 10: Milwaukee Brewers
+ 9: Atlanta Braves
+ 8: Philadelphia Phillies
+ 7: Cincinnati Reds
+ 6: Chicago White Sox
+ 5: Washington Nationals
+ 4: New York Yankees
+ 3: New York Mets
+ 2: Los Angeles Dodgers
+ 1: San Diego Padres
That seems fair. The San Diego Padres improved an already impressive rotation by making some key additions in the offseason. With Yu Darvish, Blake Snell, Dinelson Lamet, Joe Musgrove, and Chris Paddack; you’re not likely to get many hits against the Friars.
Then again, now that the Los Angeles Dodgers signed reigning NL Cy Young award winner Trevor Bauer, we just can’t think of a team that could take them down in a postseason series, especially if you add Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler, David Price, and Julio Urías to that mix.
The Mets and Yankees also hold solid rotations and will be contenders with the additions of Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber, respectively; but they’re still a couple of tiers below the aforementioned teams.
We’ll have to wait and see, but judging by what we’ve seen thus far and how the teams have shaped, it seems like we’re going to have one of the most exciting seasons we’ve seen in years.