Photo by JC Gellidon on UnsplashName a Deeper Rotation. I'll Wait.
ESPN ranked the Braves third after the deadline and spent the segment on what they didn't get. Nobody stopped to count the seven viable starters already in the system.
ESPN ranked the Braves third after the deadline and spent the entire segment talking about what Atlanta didn't get.
Count the arms instead.
Chris Sale: 12-6, 2.08 ERA, third-lowest in baseball. Grant Holmes: 3.67 ERA. Bryce Elder: seven innings of one-hit ball his last time out. Martin Perez: steady. Tyler Mahle: ERA already falling since the trade. That's five active starters.
AJ Smith-Shawver just threw 6.1 scoreless innings on one hit at Gwinnett. He's eligible for recall this week. Reynaldo Lopez carried a 3.64 ERA before a minor knee issue — MRI clean, no structural damage, coming back. That's seven.
Spencer Schwellenbach could make it eight in September.
Now do the Dodgers. Ohtani, Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Skubal. Five aces. Legitimately terrifying. But they traded River Ryan to get Skubal. If one of those five goes down, who starts Game 4?
The Braves can lose two starters and still roll out a competitive five-man rotation. The Dodgers cannot afford to lose one.
Depth beats star power in October. Always has. The national media graded the deadline on star power. They forgot to count the arms.
Name a deeper rotation in baseball. I'll wait.
The Tilt
The Braves have the deepest rotation in baseball and nobody outside Atlanta is paying attention.
— Dex Ponce
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