What are you doing for Christmas? If you are staying in Minnesota, you might be doing something involving snow, like shoveling it. As you have probably heard, the Twin Cities expects to get as much as 12 inches of snow in the next 2 days. This is supposed to be the most snow on Christmas around here in a long time.
I wrote an article a couple weeks ago on the lineup for next year. Now it's time to talk about the starting rotation.
Now that the Twins have resigned Carl Pavano, the starting rotation is starting to look a little better. The Twins are also going to be getting back Kevin Slowey and Glen Perkins who both sustained injuries in 2009. At the moment, here is my projected starting rotation for opening day next April:
Nick Blackburn RHP
Scott Baker RHP
Kevin Slowey RHP
Carl Pavano RHP
Competing for 5th spot in the rotation:
Glen Perkins LHP
Brian Duensing LHP
Fransisco Liriano LHP
The first four pitchers seem to be locks in the starting rotation. The problem lies in the 5th spot. Glen Perkins had Left Shoulder Tendinitis last August. Hopefully he recovers though and can be at his full potential next year. The problem is there are two other pitchers who are fighting for that 5th spot: Brian Duensing and Fransisco Liriano. Duensing pitched great at the end of last year, which is why he might end up getting the spot next year. Liriano on the other hand went to the bullpen at the end of last year due to his terrible starts. Liriano might come back and be a dominant pitcher though, which is why he is always an option for the rotation. Anthony Swarzak would be an option for the fifth spot, but he is right-handed. The first four pitchers are all right-handed, which is why the 5th pitcher pretty much needs to be left-handed. It isn't a good thing to have an all right-handed rotation. The other three pitchers for that 5th spot are all left-handed.
One thing the Twins could do is sign a veteran left-hander. An article I wrote a few weeks ago suggested that Erik Bedard could be a left-handed option. He is someone who is a top starting pitcher when healthy, though he has been prone to injuries. He is probably the best option though if the Twins don't want to go internally.
If the Twins look internally, they will probably pick between the three left-handed pitchers: Perkins, Duensing, and Liriano. I am going to compare the three pitchers and see which might be the best option.
These stats are from the 2009 season.
| | Perkins | Duensing | Liriano |
| IP | 96.1 | 84.0 | 136.2 |
| Wins | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Losses | 7 | 2 | 13 |
| ERA | 5.89 | 3.64 | 5.80 |
| Hits | 120 | 84 | 147 |
| BB | 23 | 31 | 65 |
| SO | 45 | 53 | 122 |
| HR | 13 | 7 | 21 |
| WHIP | 1.48 | 1.37 | 1.55 |
Looking at the three pitchers, Duensing by far looks to be the best of the three. Not only is his ERA over 2 points less than Perkins and Liriano, but his WHIP is also less. WHIP mean walks and hits per innings pitched. That stat is a great way of looking to see how many batters are getting on base per inning. Why do you want to know how many batters are getting on base? Because it shows how often the pitcher is getting into trouble in an inning. The last thing you want is batters to always be on base, which not only raises the amount of runs coming in, but also starts to tire out the defense.
So for now, I have to put Duensing as the 5th starting pitcher. That may of course change though. Like if the Twins sign Bedard, or if one of the other two have an amazing Spring Training.
In conclusion, my projected starting rotation is:
Nick Blackburn RHP
Scott Baker RHP
Kevin Slowey RHP
Carl Pavano RHP
Brian Duensing LHP
