MLB: Ranking the Top 7 Starting Rotations in Baseball

4- Toronto Blue Jays- R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow, Rickey Romero

Sep 27, 2012; Toronto, ON, Canada; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Brandon Morrow (23) delivers a pitch against the New York Yankees at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

The winners of the 2012 offseason are without a doubt are the Blue Jays. They entered last season with a roster that looked like it could make some noise if they could catch some breaks. Well, someone must have made a typo in their request to the baseball gods because the only breaks they caught was their entire rotation breaking down. Clearly, the baseball Gods have a sick sense of humor. The only pitcher the Blue Jays kept healthy all season was Rickey Romero but to top off their nightmare season he followed up his breakout 2011 by being one of the worst pitchers in baseball in 2012. His putrid line was 9-14, a 5.77 ERA and over 100 walks surrendered.

Toronto needed more out of it starting rotation, so Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos pulled off two major trades, acquiring NL CY Young Winner R.A. Dickey, former Marlins ace Josh Johnson and former White Sox ace Mark Buehrle. The trio all had ERA’s less than 4.00 last season and Johnson, who was the low man in innings, pitched a still robust 191.1.

It’s true that Morrow has had a very hard time staying healthy but when he is, he is one of the hardest pitchers in baseball to hit as evidence by his 108 strikeouts in 124.2 innings. Besides, unlike last season, the Blue Jays will be able to cover any injury to their starting five this year because former top prospects JA Happ and Kyle Drabek are waiting in the wings.