Our Starting Pitching "thinnest" in NL?

[Obed_Marsh]

This does not seem right to me.

This SI.com article ranks our starting pitching as the "thinnest" in the NL. I'll grant you he uses a subjective point system but I suspect he's underestimating us. Is there a ranking by VORP or something out there?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/jon_weisman/12/20/nl.rotations/index.html

[2k6nats]

I love how he calls Randy Johnson a "mystery" in this.  Right, like Kyle Kendrick is worth more to his team than Randy Johnson

[NatsAddict]

For what it's worth, neither of the two Marlins "mystery" pitchers are expected to pitch at all in 2008.  Johnson isn't even expected to be throwing a ball on flat ground until at least September, and Sanchez's recovery from a torn labrum has not gone well.  He hasn't even thrown a ball since May 2, and isn't expected to be ready for ST.  There is a strong chance that he'll never wear an MLB uniform again. I'm rooting for him to have a miraculous recovery even if for no other reason than simply because he was so royally screwed by Loria (sends him down to AAA, and the next day puts him on MiLB DL so that he doesn't have to pay his MLB salary).  If such a miracle happens, he still likely won't see even any re-hab action until late May or early June.

As bad as the Marlins pitching will be, "up and comer" Barone isn't expected to make the team.  The other "up and comers" (Vanden Hurk and Miller) are both gap hitters - they hit the gap between dugouts with their pitches.  Nolasco isn't expected to ever start again; not even as a spot starter.  He's now being groomed at as a setup-guy/closer.

[natsfan1a]

This paragraph from the piece would seem to negate the validity of the findings to some extent:

"Now, there are certain to be quibbles about the choices I made in assigning point values -- in fact, the entire point system is rather arbitrary. There's a built-in margin for error -- because of how difficult it is to predict future performance, even with the best projections. These are not meant to be scientific."