The Rotation: 2024

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It'll be interesting to see what becomes of Lord and Alvarez. I don't think any of the minors trackers (MLB Pipeline, KLaw, FG, etc...) rank them as having a good shot at being MLB starters, so it would be interesting to see if they have any sort of trade value or ability to backfill if others ahead of them are dealt / pushed aside.

[IanRubbish]

It'll be interesting to see what becomes of Lord and Alvarez. I don't think any of the minors trackers (MLB Pipeline, KLaw, FG, etc...) rank them as having a good shot at being MLB starters, so it would be interesting to see if they have any sort of trade value or ability to backfill if others ahead of them are dealt / pushed aside.

I think Lord is very interesting.  I wouldn't worry about prospect rankings, they're notoriously bad at projecting who'll be a significant contributor at the MLB level.  Never mind the mishaps with Kieboom and Victor, the 2015 top 100 ranking had Aaron Judge all the way down at #68, two years after he was drafted, and behind a bunch of guys who never made it, or who only made it as fringe MLBers.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It'll be interesting to see what becomes of Lord and Alvarez. I don't think any of the minors trackers (MLB Pipeline, KLaw, FG, etc...) rank them as having a good shot at being MLB starters, so it would be interesting to see if they have any sort of trade value or ability to backfill if others ahead of them are dealt / pushed aside.

I view the rankings as a proxy for trade value because it is the closest to getting how they are perceived, not how they are. How they are should be in-house knowledge.

[Slateman]

It'll be interesting to see what becomes of Lord and Alvarez. I don't think any of the minors trackers (MLB Pipeline, KLaw, FG, etc...) rank them as having a good shot at being MLB starters, so it would be interesting to see if they have any sort of trade value or ability to backfill if others ahead of them are dealt / pushed aside.

What are we buying, JCA?

[JCA-CrystalCity]

What are we buying, JCA?

nothing, I expect. But I could see guys now in the AAA rotation getting pushed aside and these guys maybe becoming the 6th, 7th, 8th starters.

[RobDibblesGhost]

DJ Herz makes his debut tonight.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

DJ Herz makes his debut tonight.

because of Trevor Williams going to the IL for a right elbow flexor muscle strain

[Natsinpwc]

because of Trevor Williams going to the IL for a right elbow flexor muscle strain

Oops. Too late to trade him.

[imref]

ugh, hope he's ok.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Oops. Too late to trade him.

I would not plan around him recovering soon enough to show off his arm and stuff before the trade deadline. Just look at the timeframe on Gray, who also is dealing with a flexor strain. He's been out since 4/4, or two months.

[Slateman]

I would not plan around him recovering soon enough to show off his arm and stuff before the trade deadline. Just look at the timeframe on Gray, who also is dealing with a flexor strain. He's been out since 4/4, or two months.

Well, that sucks

[imref]

Yeah, could be season-ending for Williams. Sigh...

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Rotation now has 4 lefties - Corbin, Gore, Parker, and Herz. Pretty rare

[GataNats]

Height of stupidity not to trade Williams already.   Plenty of takers for him.  Rizzo major fail

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

Height of stupidity not to trade Williams already.   Plenty of takers for him.  Rizzo major fail

Teams aren’t buying yet.  Nobody is making trades now.  He also needed to build a little body of work to show that it’s real at his age and track record.

[GataNats]

Teams aren’t buying yet.  Nobody is making trades now.  He also needed to build a little body of work to show that it’s real at his age and track record.

Yes, they are.   Been plenty of trades already

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Other than Arraez, it's mostly small pieces.

[CoryTheFormerExposFan]

Other than Arraez, it's mostly small pieces.

Exactly.  This isn’t an amateur fantasy league where you can sell high on a mediocre waiver guy after a few good starts to some dumb owner.  Contenders aren’t yet to the point of making major moves, and there definitely would still be skepticism of Williams being able to come close to maintaining this performance when he’s never been a good starting pitcher over a full season.

It’s unfortunate if he’s out too long to regain trade value before the deadline, but Rizzo didn’t make an error in process.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

For the 5 primary starters this year, #GS and #start < 5 IP

Corbin - 13 GS, 2 < 5IP
Williams - 11 GS, 1 < 5 IP
Irvin - 12 GS, 1 < 5 IP
Gore - 12 GS, 3 < 5 IP
Parker - 9 GS, 1 < 5 IP

Irvin has become something of an innings horse. He's gone at least 6 in 8 of his 12 starts, and in his last 7 starts, he's gone 41.1 IP.

[Slateman]

Does Irvin need to have his innings managed? Threw about 140 last year. Would think they want him to top out at 175 this season.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Does Irvin need to have his innings managed? Threw about 140 last year. Would think they want him to top out at 175 this season.

he's at 69 now, which is nice. 5.75 IP/GS. 100-105 more IP at 5.75 IP/ game is roughly 18 more starts. That takes him to about the last couple of starts of the year, I think. That's probably good enough for a non-contender. Shut him down maybe 9/20.

[welch]

Rotation now has 4 lefties - Corbin, Gore, Parker, and Herz. Pretty rare

I can't think of another like it, except the 1980 New York Yankees:

- Tommy John

- Ron Guidry

- Rudy May...a model starter / long reliever, with 17 starts and 13 games finished, and only 3 saves. (Goose Gossage had 33)

- Tom Underwood

Newspapers noted how unusual that rotation was. Helped, of course, because Yankee Stadium still had a deep left-field. Maybe the Nats need to move the LF fence back about 20 feet, to be a little closer to Griffith Stadium dimensions.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

I think most of the better prospect power hitters we have in the minors are righties, other than Wood. Need to keep that LF wall reachable.

[welch]

I think most of the better prospect power hitters we have in the minors are righties, other than Wood. Need to keep that LF wall reachable.

Well, sure. It would be reachable if Crews is as powerful as the guy in my avatar! Led the AL in homers (42) and RBIs (114) and hit .301 in 1957. Continued in 1858, and only slowed down, statistically, in 1959 because a runner stopped on his ankle while Sievers was playing 1B. There was also a 23-year-old kid named Killebrew who managed to hit 42 homers in 1959.

[Natsinpwc]

Gray with a rehab start scheduled Sunday.