Brett's Playoff Pitching Power Rankings
Brett's Playoff Pitching Power Rankings
The Best of the Best
We did a fun little exercise on the last episode of our podcast where we drafted positional units from playoff-bound teams, and I thought it would be a fun piece to power-rank the pitching units of all the playoff-bound teams (as of now).
PS: Don't hate me if a few stats are a tad off. I started this earlier in the week so the stats might be a bit off!
12) Arizona Diamondbacks (In the hunt - WC)
Easily one of the most hit-or-miss staffs in baseball. Jordan Montgomery and Eduardo Rodriguez have talent but have not shown it whatsoever this season. Brandon Pfaadt is exciting but still pitching to a 4.80 ERA. The one constant is Zac Gallen, and as the staff's ACE, I am worried about this. The Diamondbacks have the 4th worst ERA in all of baseball, pitching to a 4.64 in the 2024 season. If they somehow earn entry to the postseason via the Wild Card route, I do not expect them to advance, as the pitching is not the caliber of other talented ball clubs in the playoff field.
Starting Rotation
Zac Gallen (RHP)
Merrill Kelly (RHP)
Jordan Montgomery (LHP)
Eduardo Rodriguez (LHP)
Brandon Pfaadt (RHP)
Bullpen
Justin Martinez (RHP)
A.J. Puk (LHP)
Ryan Thompson (RHP)
Kevin Ginkel (RHP)
Joe Mantiply (LHP)
11) Baltimore Orioles (Clinched Playoff Berth)
The Orioles bullpen has some dudes but as a unit they are suspect. 21st overall (4.16) in bullpen ERA is not going to win you many games come playoffs. There is a reason why Philly (who needed bullpen help at the time!) was willing to move Dominguez at the deadline. As for the rotation, I am confident in Corbin Burnes. Baltimore has had its fair share of injuries this year when it comes to the pitching department but they needed to be more pressing at the deadline. This lineup is too good to not pair with good pitching. Just look how good the Royals pitching staff has become over the last two years.
Starting Rotation
Corbin Burnes (RHP)
Cade Povich (LHP)
Albert Suarez (RHP)
Dean Kremer (RHP)
Zach Eflin (RHP)
Bullpen
Seranthony Dominguez (RHP)
Yennier Cano (RHP)
Cionel Pérez (LHP)
Gregory Soto (LHP)
Jacob Webb (RHP)
10) New York Mets (In the hunt - WC)
I personally have no faith in the Mets. Not because I am a hater or anything, but because they are so shaky. That being said, the starting rotation has been excellent as of late, and that is the main reason why the Mets are still fighting for playoff contention this late in the season. That could be due to Sean Manaea's resurgence in New York. If we are looking strictly at ERA, the Mets rank 13th in the big leagues, which is respectable but not overwhelmingly convincing that they could go and win you a playoff series. The bullpen’s ERA is worse than the staff as a whole, standing at 3.98. I don’t love the staff, but they have been winning games and can very well be in the playoffs, depending on how these next few games go. I hope they prove me wrong and shove their way into the 2024 postseason.
Starting Rotation
Sean Manaea (LHP)
David Peterson (LHP)
Tylor Megill (RHP)
Jose Quintana (LHP)
Luis Severino (RHP)
Bullpen
Edwin Diaz (RHP)
José Buttó (RHP)
Phil Maton (RHP)
Reed Garrett (RHP)
Ryne Stanek (RHP)
9) Detroit Tigers (In the hunt - WC)
Is Jackson Jobe a game-changer? Quite possibly but odds are we are only going to get to start to enjoy the Jackson Jobe experience and this will just be a teaser. Tigers have the 3rd best ERA in all of baseball. Let me say that again…the Tigers have the third-best ERA in ALL OF BASEBALL. Tarik Skubal is him and he will win the American League Cy Young this year. They did lose Flaherty at the deadline which is a bummer because Detroit would have had a great 1-2 heading into the playoff push. Now they just have Skubal. Although the rotation lacks depth for a long series against a legit contender the bullpen has been rock solid. 4th best bullpen in all of baseball by ERA standards, Jason Foley has been excellent. If the Tigers can get into the dance I think their pitching might be exposed to fierce competition. The Wild card here is the Tigers just pulled the trigger and brought up prospect sensation, Jackson Jobe, who can be a legit difference-maker.
Starting Rotation
Tarik Skubal
Keider Montero (RHP)
Reese Olson (RHP)
Casey Mize (RHP)
Brant Hurter (LHP)
Bullpen
Jason Foley (RHP)
Tyler Holton (LHP)
Beau Brieske (RHP)
Will Vest (RHP)
Sean Guenther (LHP)
Jackson Jobe (RHP)
8) Kansas City Royals (In the hunt - WC)
Every team in baseball needs to take a page out of the Royals' playbook. My goodness, the Royals nailed the offseason and the trade deadline! 8th best team ERA in the majors at 3.80. The bullpen is rough but the acquisition of Lucas Erceg from Oakland at the deadline has proven fruitful as he has already racked up 10 saves while pitching to a 3.00 ERA and a 0.875 WHIP. I absolutely love this rotation and want them to dominate in the playoffs (outside of playing the Yankees). I am concerned as the bats in Kansas City don’t entice me as much as other teams so I can only assume they will be playing from behind a bunch some playoffs. We shall see how this goes but the Royals absolutely crushed 2024 and continue to turn heads with their pitching.
Starting Rotation
Seth Lugo (RHP)
Cole Ragans (LHP)
Michael Lorenzen (RHP)
Michael Wacha (RHP)
Brady Singer (RHP)
Bullpen
Lucas Erceg (RHP)
Kris Bubic (LHP)
John Schreiber (RHP)
Daniel Lynch IV (LHP)
Alec Marsh (RHP)
7) Cleveland Guardians (Clinched AL Central)
Cleveland has the best bullpen in baseball by the numbers. If I am a Guardians fan, I feel very confident with a lead heading into the 7th inning. The starting pitching is what concerns me. No Shane Bieber or Alex Cobb make things bleak for this young rotation come playoff time. Don’t get me wrong I love Bibee and Williams as much as the next person, I just don't have a ton of faith to deliver against teams like Houston, Baltimore, or New York given the firepower in those offenses. Notice the bullpen’s ERA (2.59) vs the staff as a whole (3.61)....might have some deficits to climb out of come playoff time.
Starting Rotation
Tanner Bibee (RHP)
Gavin Williams (RHP)
Joey Cantillo (LHP)
Ben Lively (RHP)
Matthew Boyd (LHP)
Bullpen
Emmanuel Clase (RHP)
Hunter Gaddis (RHP)
Cade Smith (RHP)
Tim Herrin (LHP)
Nick Sandlin (RHP)
6) San Diego Padres (Clinched Playoff Berth)
This rotation is the definition of silent but deadly. The entire staff is pitching to a 3.83 ERA (11th best in MLB). Dylan Cease is an animal and is leading the charge of this starting rotation. Musgrove, Pérez, Darvish, and King can all go out there and grab a win for San Diego. Michael King is a low-key ACE who gets no love from the average fan, but he is a beast. One could argue that the bullpen has been even more impressive than the starting pitchers as the pen has a cumulative 3.73 ERA. Jeremiah Estrada has been a strikeout machine (93 K in 60 ⅓ IP), and Robert Suarez has secured 35 saves so far in 2024. Suarez is not the strikeout machine you’d expect in the closer position, but he has done a fine job locking things down this season.
Starting Rotation
Dylan Cease (RHP)
Joe Musgrove (RHP)
Martin Pérez (LHP)
Yu Darvish (RHP)
Michael King (RHP)
Matt Waldron (RHP)
Bullpen
Robert Suarez (RHP)
Tanner Scott (LHP)
Jason Adam (RHP)
Jeremiah Estrada (RHP)
Adrian Morejon (LHP)
5) Milwaukee Brewers (Clinched NL Central)
How does Milwaukee constantly produce quality pitching? Milwaukee’s pitching staff currently owns a cumulative 3.68 ERA, which is the 2nd lowest in the National League and good for top-5 in all of baseball. The Brew Crew might not have the flashiest names in the rotation, but they get the job done. The truth of the matter is Milwaukee probably has the best bullpen in the National League, led by Devin “The Airbender” Williams. Williams missed over three months of action and is pitching to a 1.37 ERA and 0.97 WHIP across 19 ⅔ innings. Safe to say Williams is BACK!
Starting Rotation
Freddy Peralta (RHP)
Tobias Myers (RHP)
Colin Rea (RHP)
Aaron Civale (RHP)
Frankie Montas (RHP)
Bullpen
Devin Williams (RHP)
Trevor Megill (RHP)
Jared Koenig (LHP)
Joel Payamps (RHP)
DL Hall (LHP)
4) Los Angeles Dodgers (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Los Angeles has sustained injury after injury this season. Before the season, we knew this staff was going to be banged up with injuries to Clayton Kershaw, Shohei Ohtani, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin. Since the season began, the Dodgers have lost Emmet Sheehan, Tyler Glasnow, and Gavin Stone (the biggest All-Star snub this year). Yet somehow, the Dodgers can keep applying band-aids to patch this rotation up and make the playoffs. The good news is the bullpen is deep and talented. Acquiring Kopech at the deadline has been a success as he is 4-0 with a 1.23 ERA since joining Los Angeles. The Dodgers pen is throwing to a 3.61 ERA in 2024, which is the top-5 lowest bullpen ERA in all of baseball. If all the starters were healthy, we could already name this team World Series champions.
Starting Rotation
Jack Flaherty
Walker Buehler
Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Landon Knack
Justin Wrobleski
Bullpen
Michael Kopech
Evan Phillips
Daniel Hudson
Blake Treinen
Brusdar Graterol
3) New York Yankees (Clinched Playoff Berth)
Shocking to say but the starting pitching doesn’t worry me. The bullpen is a whole other story. Let’s start with Gerrit Cole. Cole has not been lights out like we would have all hoped coming off of his injury earlier this year but still effective. Rodon, Cortes, and Gil have all thrown north of 146 innings and have sub-4.00 ERAs. The Yankees in fact have the 6th lowest ERA in all of baseball at 3.72. Even with Clay Holmes's struggles this season, the bullpen as a whole has pitched to a 3.62 ERA which is hard to believe How can fans not be happy about that?
Starting Rotation
Gerrit Cole (RHP)
Carlos Rodon (LHP)
Luis Gil (RHP)
Clarke Schmidt (RHP)
Marcus Stroman (RHP)
Bullpen
Luke Weaver ((RHP)
Tommy Kahnle (RHP)
Clay Holmes (RHP)
Tim Hill (LHP)
Ian Hamilton (RHP)
2) Houston Astros (Clinched AL West)
The evil empire has somehow found a way to come from 10 games back in the American League West to clinch the division…again. The bullpen owns a 3.67 ERA (tied for 8th) in all baseball. The usual suspects patrol the 6th through 9th innings between Hader (3.60 ERA), Abreu (3.13 ERA), Pressly (3.56 ERA), and Neris (5.02). Neris was in Chicago to start the year and was bad but the WHIP is much improved so he is at least letting fewer runners on base! Kaleb Ort has been a nice surprise this season. The rotation is nasty! Kikuchi has been a stud since coming over from Toronto at the deadline. Valdez is as steady as they come. Blanco has the 4th lowest ERA in baseball for qualified pitchers at 2.88. Then they have this guy named Justin Verlander…ever heard of him? I know Verlander is not in his peak and has not been on this year but I will never not respect that man. Houston is going to be a problem in the playoffs.
Starting Rotation
Framber Valdez (LHP)
Yusei Kikuchi (LHP)
Ronel Blanco (RHP)
Justin Verlander (RHP)
Spencer Arrighetti (RHP)
Hunter Brown (RHP)
Bullpen
Josh Hader (LHP)
Bryan Abreu (RHP)
Ryan Pressly (RHP)
Héctor Neris (RHP)
Kaleb Ort (RHP)
1) Philadelphia Phillies (Clinched NL East)
It’s hard to believe the Phillies clinched their first division title since 2011. You cannot win a division without solid pitching, let alone a division like the NL East that has teams like Atlanta and New York still fighting for playoff contention. It is no secret that Philly has an excellent pitching staff from top to bottom. There are 4x arms in this starting rotation that have thrown north of 124 innings this season while owning a sub-3.52 ERA or better. Carlos Estévez, Jose Alvarado, and Jeff Hoffman have all been able to secure double-digit saves. The rotation has one of the league’s top 1-2 knockout punches between Wheeler and Nola. What is not to love?
Starting Rotation
Zach Wheeler (RHP)
Aaron Nola (RHP)
Taijuan Walker (RHP)
Cristopher Sanchez (LHP)
Ranger Suarez (LHP)
Bullpen
Carlos Estévez (RHP)
Jeff Hoffman (RHP)
Orion Kerkering (RHP)
Matt Strahm (LHP)
José Alvarado (LHP)