A few days ago, I wrote an article examining the best and worst contending-team lineups for the stretch run. I had to somehow define what a contending team is, so I set a cutoff of five games away from playoff position. When I wrote that article, I felt bad about having to exclude the Marlins. But rules are rules. Then the Marlins swept the Padres. They aren't excluded anymore.
As a follow-up to the previous article, here are the best and worst stretch-run starting rotations among teams in contention. This isn't the same as examining playoff rotations. Those are a different animal. This is about the best groups for the final few weeks. For some of these teams, the next month of starting pitching will be crucially important. For other teams, as they cruise into October, it won't be crucial. (I'm looking at you, Dodgers.) But I didn't want to leave out the teams that have been too good. They belong, even if they're lacking suspense.
After Monday's games, there were 18 teams either occupying or within five games of a playoff spot. How do their starting rotations compare? After some analysis, I've arrived at the rankings you see below, best to worst.
If you're here because you want to read about the Marlins, then after last week, I have good news! But also, I have bad news.
1. What happens in September doesn't matter, provided the players who need to stay healthy stay healthy. The Dodgers don't care about setting some kind of wins record. Their focus has been on the playoffs forever, and toward that end, it's great news that Clayton Kershaw is about return from the disabled list. He'll join Yu Darvish, who's great. At the deadline, Darvish joined Rich Hill, who's great. Hill has pitched alongside Alex Wood, who has been great. There's just an embarrassment of riches here. Not that it guarantees anything, but at least the Dodgers know they're as good as they could be.