I thought I’d take a look at the potential playoff rotations in the National League for fun. Jason Hammel, Kyle Hendricks and Dan Haren haven’t not been performing too great for the Cubs and it’s begun to feel as though it’s a weakness for the team, but there aren’t many teams that are five deep in their rotation. Hammel hasn’t performed well since returning from injury, but he was excellent before that.
K-BB% is one of my favorite stats. If a pitcher can strikeout a lot of batters and doesn’t walk many, he’s more than likely a very good pitcher. The Cubs come out looking pretty nice when comparing K-BB% across the rotations. ERA doesn’t always represent the talent level of the pitcher. Anyway, I included innings, strikeouts, walks, ERA, FIP and ZiPS rest of season ERA and FIP projections below. I used mlb.com’s depth charts to assist in putting together the rotations and then I did a little research and then used that information, as well as the stats to create the projected playoff rotation.
| Current Season | ||||||
| Cubs | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Jake Arrieta | 183 | 26.8 | 6.2 | 20.6 | 2.11 | 2.51 |
| Jon Lester | 163 | 24.6 | 5.9 | 18.7 | 3.59 | 3.07 |
| Jason Hammel | 147 | 24.5 | 5.3 | 19.2 | 3.55 | 3.65 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 147.3 | 20.8 | 6 | 14.8 | 4.15 | 3.54 |
| Current Season | ||||||
| Cardinals | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Michael Wacha | 147.7 | 20.6 | 6.2 | 14.5 | 2.69 | 3.27 |
| Lance Lynn | 93 | 23.5 | 8.4 | 15.1 | 2.80 | 3.29 |
| Carlos Martinez | 154.7 | 24.6 | 7.9 | 16.7 | 2.91 | 3.32 |
| Jaime Garcia | 93 | 18 | 5.6 | 12.4 | 2.03 | 3.04 |
| Current Season | ||||||
| Pirates | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Gerrit Cole | 173.7 | 24 | 5.6 | 18.4 | 2.64 | 2.71 |
| Francisco Liriano | 158.7 | 25.7 | 9.5 | 16.2 | 3.40 | 3.32 |
| A.J. Burnett | 135.3 | 19.9 | 6.3 | 13.6 | 3.06 | 3.13 |
| Charlie Morton | 106.7 | 17.5 | 7 | 10.5 | 4.22 | 3.89 |
| Current Season | ||||||
| Mets | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Jacob deGrom | 163 | 26.8 | 5.3 | 21.5 | 2.32 | 2.90 |
| Matt Harvey | 166.3 | 24 | 5.2 | 18.8 | 2.60 | 3.34 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 122.3 | 25.8 | 5.8 | 20 | 3.31 | 3.39 |
| Jon Niese | 157.7 | 15.5 | 7 | 8.5 | 4.17 | 4.45 |
| Current Season | ||||||
| Dodgers | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Zack Greinke | 186.7 | 23.8 | 4.5 | 19.3 | 1.59 | 2.62 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 194 | 33.7 | 4.6 | 29.1 | 2.18 | 2.03 |
| Brett Anderson | 152.3 | 15.9 | 6.4 | 9.5 | 3.43 | 3.85 |
| Alex Wood | 154.3 | 17.9 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 3.67 | 3.59 |
| Current Season | ||||||
| Giants | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Madison Bumgarner | 182.7 | 27.4 | 4.2 | 23.1 | 2.96 | 2.79 |
| Jake Peavy | 74 | 17.1 | 6.5 | 10.7 | 4.38 | 4.18 |
| Tim Hudson | 101.3 | 12.2 | 6 | 6.2 | 4.80 | 4.68 |
| Chris Heston | 149.3 | 18 | 7.8 | 10.2 | 3.56 | 3.80 |
| Current Season | ||||||
| Nationals | IP | K% | BB% | K-BB% | ERA | FIP |
| Max Scherzer | 184 | 29.9 | 3.6 | 26.4 | 2.89 | 2.75 |
| Jordan Zimmerman | 173 | 19.2 | 4.7 | 14.5 | 3.38 | 3.60 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 91 | 25.1 | 5.4 | 19.7 | 4.35 | 3.35 |
| Gio Gonzalez | 141.667 | 20.6 | 8.6 | 12 | 4.13 | 3.20 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Cubs | ERA | FIP |
| Jake Arrieta | 3.16 | 3.20 |
| Jon Lester | 3.17 | 3.21 |
| Jason Hammel | 3.79 | 3.76 |
| Kyle Hendricks | 3.64 | 3.62 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Cardinals | ERA | FIP |
| Michael Wacha | 3.40 | 3.44 |
| Lance Lynn | 3.48 | 3.51 |
| Carlos Martinez | 3.63 | 3.41 |
| Jaime Garcia | 3.53 | 3.41 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Pirates | ERA | FIP |
| Gerrit Cole | 3.23 | 3.10 |
| Franciso Liriano | 3.36 | 3.29 |
| A.J. Burnett | 3.84 | 3.59 |
| Charlie Morton | 3.91 | 3.90 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Mets | ERA | FIP |
| Jacob deGrom | 3.24 | 3.16 |
| Matt Harvey | 3.20 | 3.25 |
| Noah Syndergaard | 3.46 | 3.30 |
| Jon Niese | 4.08 | 4.04 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Dodgers | ERA | FIP |
| Zack Greinke | 2.94 | 3.04 |
| Clayton Kershaw | 2.09 | 2.25 |
| Brett Anderson | 3.77 | 3.64 |
| Alex Wood | 3.52 | 3.50 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Giants | ERA | FIP |
| Madison Bumgarner | 2.76 | 2.97 |
| Jake Peavy | 3.69 | 3.91 |
| Tim Hundson | 3.84 | 3.78 |
| Chris Heston | 3.73 | 3.82 |
| Current Season | ZiPS RoS Projections | |
| Nationals | ERA | FIP |
| Max Scherzer | 2.71 | 2.73 |
| Jordan Zimmerman | 3.38 | 3.47 |
| Stephen Strasburg | 3.07 | 3.02 |
| Gio Gonzalez | 3.50 | 3.43 |
I don’t think the Cubs have the best rotation in baseball by any means, but there’s not a team listed here that I don’t think the Cubs can match up well enough with in a short series. If you look at K-BB%, they’re one of the top 2 or 3 teams on this list. It would be nice if Jason Hammel could return to the good pitcher he was prior to injury. That would help considerably, but even if he doesn’t, the Cubs rotation is still in fine shape.