Johan SantanaPedro Martinez
John Maine
Oliver Perez
El Duque/Mike Pelfrey
show me a better 1-5 in MLB.
That rotation matches up with anyone all the way down the line, and we still might end up with someone more solid in the 5th spot.
Johan is a Bulldog and will OWN the NL.
Pedro is BACK and is healthy for the first time in a few years and will have a good season even by his standards.
John Maine is the poor man’s Cole Hammels. He has above average stuff and is very cool and collected and focused on the mound. He won ten games before the all star break but only had five more wins in the second half but it was his first full season in the bigs. This year he will likely pitch over 200 innings and acquire 17-19 wins. Maine also pitches well in big games as seen in the 2006 playoffs and he threw a no-hitter through 8 when the mets necks were on the lines in the second to last game of 2007. I feel very confident giving johny the ball in clutch games.
Oliver Perez can be wild , overly emotional, and is prone to meltdown. But the kid also has VERY nasty stuff. No hit stuff if he improved his control and consistency. I think in this second under Rick Peterson keeping that arm angle constant he will do well and add a victory or two to the 15 he had last season.
The fifth spot is up in the air to some extent, but the options are good. El Duque will likely get some of the starts and perform very well for a fifth starter but will go down with injury and probably get moved to the Pen. Next option is Mike Pelfrey who is due for a break out year. He looked great in semptember. If he has mastered his secondary pitches and and a good out-pitch he could really bust out. He is still a highly regarded prospect and projected to be a possible #2 or ace pitcher someday. There is also talk of even singing an innings eater like livan Hernandez to round out the 5th spot.
The new catcher Brian Schneider was also supposedly brought in for his abilities to work well with the staff, and really knowing every hitter in the NL and calling a great game and playing great defense behind the plate so that can only help things as well.
An addittion like this really just makes everyone better. When you have someone preforming at the level he throws it down everyone steps it up a notch.
So basically we\'re fuckin stacked and we\'re gonna win a 100 games and the world series
