Cleveland Indians: AL Central starting rotation power rankings

 In this three-part series, we will compare the Cleveland Indians to the rest of the AL Central starting by power ranking each AL Central team’s projected starting rotation.

Thursday, the Cleveland Indians pitchers and catchers will report to Goodyear, Arizona in preparation for the 2021 season with the goal of ending the teams’ MLB long 72-year World Series title drought.

While for many, the Indians securing a fifth playoff berth in the last six years may be enough given the teams’ decision to trade away their best player in Francisco Lindor, the team clearly has bigger goals as long as Terry Francona, who won two World Series managing the Boston Red Sox is still the teams’ skipper.

In order to both get back to the playoffs and end their 72-year title drought, the Indians will need to navigate their way through the AL Central that is become increasingly more competitive each year.

Cleveland ran away with the division in both from 2016-18, but in 2019, the Twins overtook them as division champions and in 2020, Minnesota again won the division and the White Sox also made the playoffs finishing in third right behind the Indians.

This season, the Twins and White Sox are both projected by most to finish ahead of Cleveland, while the Kansas City Royals are a team on the rise and Detroit Tigers are expected to show some signs of their lengthy rebuild coming to an end.

With that in mind, our new three-part series will power rank each AL Central teams’ projected starting rotations, lineups and bullpens.

Since pitchers and catchers will be the first to report to Spring Training for all 30 teams across MLB, we will start the series by ranking all five projected starting pitching rotations in the AL Central.

Projected Rotation

1. LHP, Matthew Boyd (2020 Stats: 3-7, 6.31 ERA)
2. RHP, Spencer Turnbull (4-4, 3.97 ERA)
3. RHP, Casey Mize (0-3, 6.99 ERA)
4. RHP, Michael Fulmer (0-2, 8.78 ERA)
5. RHP, Jose Urena (0-3, 5.40 ERA) OR LHP, Tarik Skubal (1-4, 5.69 ERA)

While the Tigers are moving closer towards being competitive once again, their rotation is still a work in progress.

Casey Mize is the future face of the Tigers franchise as he was selected first overall in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Auburn and reached the majors in 2020. He’ll get his first crack at a full MLB season this year.

Matthew Boyd at times, has been a solid top of the rotation arm but had a brutal 2020 in large part due to injuries. Micheal Fulmer won AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2016, but due to injuries and struggles, he has never regained that form.

Spencer Turnbull had a solid 2020 that should earn him a spot in the rotation, leading the fifth starter role to a spring training competition between long-time Marlin Jose Urena and 24-year old southpaw Tarik Skubal.

While the rotation has upside, there are too many question marks for the Tigers rotation for the team to be confident in it this season.

Projected Rotation

1. RHP, Brad Keller (5-3, 2.47 ERA)
2. RHP, Brady Singer (4-5, 4.06 ERA)
3. LHP, Mike Minor (1-6, 5.56 ERA)
4. LHP, Danny Duffy (4-4, 4.95 ERA)
5. LHP, Kris Bubic (1-6, 4.32 ERA)

Like the Tigers, the Royals are getting closer to being competitive, but their rotation is closer to being a threat than Detriot’s.

The team has a true ace in 25-year-old Brad Keller to build their starting staff around and a second starter in Brady Singer, who impressed as a rookie just two years removed from being drafted last season.

In the middle, Kansas City has to proven inning-eaters in veteran southpaws Mike Minor who was in the Cy Young conversation while with the Rangers in 2019 and Danny Duffy and a 23-year-old in Kris Bubic with a high-ceiling.

While not yet better than the Twins, Indians or White Sox, the Royals’ starting rotation has a bright future and the chance to be underrated in 2021.

Projected Rotation

1. RHP, Jose Berrios (5-4, 4.00 ERA)
2. RHP, Kenta Maeda (6-1, 2.70 ERA)
3. RHP, Randy Dobnak (6-4, 4.05 ERA)
4. LHP, J.A. Happ (2-2. 3.47 ERA)
5. RHP, Michael Pineda (2-0, 3.38 ERA)

The Twins have won the AL Central the past two years, but in part due to not having a true ace have not been able to win a single playoff game.

Minnesota has a pair of reliable starters in Jose Berrios and Kenta Maeda, who are solid 2-3 starters, but one will have to emerge as their number one this season.

The bottom third of the rotation has plenty of question marks, such as former Uber Driver Randy Dobnak, who is still unproven, veteran lefty J.A. Happ who has struggled with the Yankees the past two seasons and Michael Pineda, who has struggled with injuries throughout his career.

If Dobank, Happ and Pineda can be reliable, the Twins have a solid rotation, but it’s hard to believe all three of those arms will be enough for Minnesota’s rotation to top Cleveland’s or Chicago’s.

Projected Rotation 

1. RHP, Shane Bieber (8-1, 1.63 ERA)
2. LHP, Zach Plesac (4-2, 2.28 ERA)
3. RHP, Triston McKenzie (2-1, 3.34 ERA)
4. RHP, Aaron Civale (4-6, 4.74 ERA)
5. RHP, Cal Quantrill (2-0, 2.25 ERA) OR RHP, Logan Allen (2-3, 5.40 ERA)

Since August, the Indians’ rotation has taken two major hits as they traded away both Mike Clevinger and Carlos Carrasco, but they still have enough starting pitching depth left to compete in 2021.

Shane Bieber was the best pitcher in baseball last year, leading the league in strikeouts and earning the AL Cy Young Award, while both Zach Plesac and former top prospect Triston McKenzie were also stellar.

Aaron Civale had some outstanding starts last year and also had some to forget but served as an inning eater earning him the right to return to the rotation.

The fifth spot in the Indians rotation is up for grabs with Cal Quantrill and Logan Allen, both who were acquired from San Diego in exchange for Clevinger, expected to have the best chance, but the team also could go with openers every fifth day.

Regardless, with three reliable options and an inning eater in Civale, the Indians’ rotation is still in good shape despite losing two of their top three starters going into 2020.