The Fifth Starter

As is the case with any major league baseball team, the biggest question entering into any baseball season is "How is the pitching going to be?" because, as any cliche loving baseball fan knows, and say it with me now...

PITCHING IS (pick any number between 75% and 90%) OF THE GAME!!!!!

This is no less true of Your Pittsburgh Pirates.  Entering into the season, the first three slots in the rotation were ceded to these guys:

Ivan Nova - Gerritt Cole - Jameson Taillon

Performance thus far in Spring Training has borne this out.    The fourth spot, based largely on performance in 2016 belongs to Chad Kuhl, so one of the main discussion points of the Spring has centered upon who will grab that fifth spot in the rotation.

So how has ST gone for the Bucco Moundsmen?  (Stats are through March 24):

	IP	W-L	ERA	H	K	BB	WHIP
Gerritt Cole	7.0	1-0	1.29	7	5	1	1.14
Jameson Taillon	12.1	0-0	3.65	9	10	4	1.05
Ivan Nova	10.0	1-0	0.90	6	7	1	0.70
Chad Kuhl	12.0	0-0	3.75	6	10	3	0.75
Fifth starter:
Drew Hutchison	17.0	0-2	7.41	23	15	7	1.76
Tyler Glasnow	14.1	1-0	5.65	19	23	6	1.74
Trevor Williams	13.2	2-0	2.63	12	12	2	1.02
Steven Brault	15.2	3-0	3.45	16	8	5	1.34

As I mentioned above, Cole, Taillon, and Nova have been solid, and Kuhl looks pretty good as well.  Then there is that four-way battle for the fifth spot.  In the paper this morning, Clint Hurdle was quoted to the effect that each of the four have been given the chance to separate himself from the others, and none of them has.  I think that the team would have liked to have seen Hutchison earn the spot, if for no other reason than to justify that salary dump deal with Toronto that brought him here last summer.  Glasnow is the golden boy prospect, and 23 K's in 14.1 IP sure is eye-popping, but the ERA's for both guys seem to have earned them a ticket to Indianapolis to start the season.

That leaves Williams and Brault.  Brault is left handed, and would become the only lefty in the rotation, and that may give him an edge over Williams, who has the slightly better ERA and WHIP.  Flip a coin.

As always, keep in mind the following:

• Spring Training stats mean almost nothing.  They may or may not be an indicator of regular season performance.
• A fifth starter is just that - the fifth best guy you have.  More than one guy will no doubt fill that role throughout 2017.  If that guy, or the combination of that guy, can pitch past the sixth inning with regularity and be within two games of .500, plus or minus, I am guessing that the Pirates will sign on for it right now.
• And what the fifth guy does will mean squadoosh unless (a) We get the the 2015 version of Cole, and not the 2016 version, (b) The two months performance we saw from Ivan Nova was NOT an aberration (his career ERA is over 4.00), and (c) Taillon and Kuhl continue to build upon progress from their pretty good rookie seasons.

I'll take a look at the everyday line-up and the bench later in the week.