Padres rotation = #1 in the majors, according to mlb.com

[JayDawg27]

Johan hasnt palyed in a league where he has to hit has he. I know it is only a few AB's ber game at best, but it will have an affect on his pitching guaranteed. I am surprised no one is pointing out the big questionmark that CY is. He finished last season horribly, I just hope he can bounce back from that and go the distance this year and dominate like we all think he can.

Remember how highly touted Clay Hensley was going into the beginning of last season. all the prognosticators had him as a top rated pitcher.

[HollywoodLeo]

I have to admit that I was shocked to see them ranked 1st.

I'd argue that the Padres staff (rotation+bullpen) is the best in the bigs, but I don't know if I'd rank the starters alone as such.

They're up there (and I disagree with some of Reefer's points) but it's hard for me to rank them ahead of Arizona or Anaheim.

The Dodgers have Esteban Loaiza in their rotation, so that negates the Randy Wolf factor.

[Hammer]

ollie perez is the truth. he has some unadulterated stuff, if/when he stays in control of his pitches, hes downright unhittable. young may be better than pedro, but perez makes the mets rotation the deepest in the nl, and maybe the league, especially considering where maine is as well. the mets are weak in the 5 spot, and the padres MAY only be weak in the 5 spot, but you cant put prior down for anything... dude can get hurt at any moment. if he cuts his toenail too deep, hes gonna be out 5 weeks. mets are deeper, in my opinion, but the padres are definitely up there too... and in a short series... the padres can just go 4 deep... but still, deepest rotation in the majors for my money is the mets... especially if pedro is half of what he can be.

[ljshorty89]

Not only are their top 4 all great pitchers(all have won 15+ games in a season, and 3 of them did it last year), but the 5 spot is held by el duque(who when healthy had 9 wins and a sub 4 ERA last year), and Pelfrey who has the stuff to be a very good pitcher. While the 5 spot isn't terrific, I don't think any other team can boast as good a top 4 as the Mets.

[browntown653]

The Padres rotation is definitely frontloaded with Young and Peavy, but we can't take anything from Mark Prior or Randy Wolf for granted anymore. As for the Mets...Johan is the best pitcher in baseball, Pedro is very good when healthy, Maine is very good, Perez is good now that his head's on straight, and if El Duque's healthy they are probably the deepest rotation in the NL, maybe baseball.

[love_that_reefer]

Penny, Billingsley, Lowe, Kuroda and Schmidt when he comes back is nothing to laugh at. Young's road splits kill me.

[browntown653]

Agreed on the Dodgers...I think Billingsley is going to be an absolute stud. I'm excited to watch him pitch.

[love_that_reefer]

Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw are going to be the "pocket aces" in a couple of years.

[padrefanforever]

Kershaw is the guy I'm dreading.......that's a kid with disgusting stuff

[padrefanforever]

The only question I have about Santana is how will he do with being pulled in the 6th inning because they have to use a pinch hitter ....

[padrefanforever]

Guys Ollie Perez is a Jekyll / Hyde pitcher. His history says that he will have 1 decent season followed by multiple piss poor seasons......So that being said.....my take is this....

Johan=Peavy
Pedro<Young ( Not even close anymore )
Maine=Maddux ( meaning they will both be right around 15 wins )
Perez< Prior
Pelfrey/Hernandez< Wolf /Germano/Rusch/Hensley/LeBlanc/Estes

[browntown653]

My take:

Johan>Peavy (not by much)
Pedro<Young
Maine>Maddux
Perez>Prior
El Duque>whoever, Pelfrey=whoever

[padrefanforever]

My take:

Johan>Peavy (not by much)
Pedro<Young
Maine>Maddux
Perez>Prior
El Duque>whoever, Pelfrey=whoever

So you have the Mets rotation as far better ? Wow

[Hammer]

perez is only jekyll/hyde because hes still only 26 years old. and hes a lefty, and it always takes lefties longer to develop. hes got downright filthy stuff, and hes gonna be a legitimate starter for years to come knowing how to pitch now. i sitll put him over prior, because prior can take the flimsiest thing and be out for god knows how long with it. prior couldve and shouldve been one of the nastiest starters in the league, right up there with santana, but fact of the matter is the smallest shit and hes out for a long period of time. i hate the mets, but i gotta give it where its due... they got a deep ass rotation, and thats even with me saying el duque is finished, and pelfrey is shit, dont care what they expect out of him. johan, pedro, ollie, maine... best rotation in the nl.

[padrefanforever]

Ollie is Jekyll/hyde for more reasons than just age, but I'd agree that he might be able to curb how many crap years follow his one soso season.....This is his 6th year at the ML level, at some point you don't get to blame age for shitty seasons. He's had three decent years, and that includes his rookie year with the Padres......he's also had 3 brutally horrid years to go with those.......50/50 on what you get......jekyll/hyde