MLB: Ranking the Top 7 Starting Rotations in Baseball

5- Tampa Bay Rays- David Price, Jeremy Hellickson, Matt Moore, Alex Cobb, Jeff Niemann

Sep 30, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher David Price (14) delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Rays are really the best kept secret in all of baseball. Sure fans know that David Price is amazing but how many have actually sat down and watched him pitch?

The Rays dealt James Shields this offseason and for most teams if you took away their number two; they’d drop well out of the top ten, the Rays merely went from number three to five. While no one outside of Price is a household name, Hellickson, Moore, and Cobb all have unbelievably nasty stuff in their arsenal and have a real chance at dominating any lineup.

The real beauty in the Rays is that they can survive just about anyone of their starters going down or being shoved into the bullpen, because in the high minors they are overflowing with top pitching talent.

As long as the Rays are stuck in Tampa Bay, guys like Hellickson — who produced an ERA of 3.10, and Moore — who averaged just under a strikeout an inning, will continue to be forgotten outside of fantasy baseball circles and then amazingly discovered when they bolt to a bigger market. It really is a shame that the Rays stellar rotation will perform in an empty cavern this summer because I know hardcore fan bases in cities with struggling starters like Pittsburgh, Baltimore, or Minneapolis would fall in love with these guys.