Hot Stove Preview: Top MLB Free Agents: Starting Pitchers (Part One)

In the pitchers’ portion, we look at the top nine starting pitchers available. Coming later will be starting pitchers part two and relief pitchers.

Starting Pitchers

1. Max Scherzer (Tigers): 18-5, 3.15 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 252 K’s in 220.1 IP. 2015 age: 30-31.

While he didn’t quite live up to his 2013 Cy Young season, Max Scherzer did prove that he was no fluke and that baseball better add the name “Scherzer” to the list of the top starters in baseball. At just 30 years old, Scherzer could see a big time payday that could run through the end of the decade. His 2013 season was one for the ages, as he went 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA, a 0.97 WHIP, and 240 strikeouts while leading the Tigers to the AL Central division crown. Though he was playing in a pitcher-friendly park in Detroit, his home/away splits (9-2, 2.28 ERA on the road vs 12-1, 3.55 ERA at home) proved that Comerica Park’s large dimensions were not a factor. Following up his Cy Young season in 2014, Scherzer went 18-5 with a 3.15 ERA over 33 starts while tossing the first shutout of his career, a three hitter of the White Sox in Chicago. He seemed to turn it on down the stretch, going 9-2 with a 2.64 ERA from July onwards. For his career, he is 91-50 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over 207 games (198 starts).

2. Jon Lester (A’s): 16-11, 2.46 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 220 K’s in 219.2 innings. 2015 age: 31.

Though he has been prevented from being ranked among the best pitchers in baseball due to his inconsistency, Lester put up the best season of his career in 2014. Between two different teams on two different coasts, he went 16-11 with a 2.46 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. He’ll be 31 for the entire 2015 season, so like Scherzer, he will be a good candidate for a long deal. The two time World Series champion and former no-hit artist knows how to win, making the playoffs more times than missing. For his career, the 6’4” lefty is 116-67 with a 3.58 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP over 253 games (252 starts).

3. James Shields (Royals): 14-8, 3.21 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 180 K’s in 227 IP. 2015 age: 33.

Big Game James has pitched over 200 innings in eight straight seasons, giving his teams that rare combination of innings-eater and rotation ace. His best season clearly was 2011, when he went 16-12 with a 2.82 ERA, a 1.04 WHIP, and 225 strikeouts in 249.1 innings. That year, he also completed eleven games while tossing four shutouts. Last year, he led the Royals to the World Series by going 14-8 with a 3.21 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in “only” 227 innings, his lowest total since 2010. For his career, Shields is 114-90 with a 3.72 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP over 286 games (285 starts).

4. Jake Peavy (Giants): 7-13, 3.73 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 158 K’s in 202.2 IP. 2015 age: 34.

As of the trade deadline, the 33 year old Peavy was looking like he was over the hill. Through 20 starts, he was 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA and looking at a likely one year deal in the offseason. However, he was traded to San Francisco, where he turned his season and his career around by going 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP over his final twelve starts. Either he has really good luck or he knows how to win, because at each of the past two trade deadlines, he’s been traded from a losing team to the eventual World Series winners. Peavy brings experience and attitude to the table, and he has a track record of success. In 2004, at just 23 years old, he went 15-6 with a 2.27 ERA for the Padres. Three years later, he won the NL Cy Young Award by going 19-6 with a 2.54 ERA, a 1.06 WHIP, and 240 strikeouts in 223.1 innings. Then in 2012, he won the Gold Glove Award for AL pitchers. For his career, the Alabama native is 139-111 with a 3.53 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP over 338 games (337 starts).

5. Ervin Santana (Braves): 14-10, 3.95 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 179 K’s in 196 IP. 2015 age: 32.

Over the past five seasons (aside from a rough 2012), Santana has been a consistent force in each of the three rotations he’s pitched in in Los Angeles, Kansas City, and Atlanta. Each year, he’s proven to be a middle of the rotation guy who won’t let you down. He probably issues more than his fair share of walks, but he gets batters out when he needs to. Last year, despite an opponents batting average of .266, he held opponents to just a .236 average with runners in scoring position. His best season came back in 2008, when he went 16-7 with a 3.49 ERA, a 1.12 WHIP, and 214 strikeouts in 219 innings for the Angels. More recently, he was 9-10 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP for the Royals in 2013. Last year, his 14 wins marked his highest victory total since he won 17 in 2010, and he coupled that with a 3.95 ERA over 31 starts. For his career, he is 119-100 with a 4.17 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP over 299 games (296 starts).

6. Francisco Liriano (Pirates): 7-10, 3.38 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 175 K’s in 162.1 IP. 2015 age: 31.

Liriano is about as inconsistent as they come, but when he’s on, he’s un-hittable (quite literally in one 2011 game). It seems like every season, Liriano has either been really good or really bad. Over his nine major league seasons, he’s never put up a season with an ERA between 3.91 and 5.09. It’s been as low as 2.16 (2006) or as high as 5.80 (2009). He was the AL Comeback Player of the Year in 2010 after going 14-10 with a 3.62 ERA, only to fall back to 9-10 with a 5.09 ERA in 2011. He was NL Comeback Player of the Year in 2013, going 16-8 with a 3.02 ERA for the Pirates. Now, after posting back to back solid seasons for the first time in his career (he was 7-10 with a 3.38 ERA last year), his value is as high as ever, and at just 31, he could get a solid multi-year deal. For his career, the 6’2” lefty is 76-72 with a 4.07 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP over 223 games (196 starts).

7. Brandon McCarthy (Yankees): 10-15, 4.05 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 175 K’s in 200 IP. 2015 age: 31-32.

After two solid seasons in Oakland from 2011-2012 that revived his career, McCarthy pitched to a mediocre 2013 before struggling at the beginning of 2014. 18 starts in, he was 3-10 with a 5.01 ERA for the Diamondbacks. He was traded to the Yankees and immediately found success, going 7-5 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP in 14 starts to close out the season. The 6’7” right hander closed out the season with exactly 200 innings, marking the first time he’s reached the double-century mark in his career. Though he gives up a lot of hits (opponents hit .280 against him last year), he always makes opponents earn their way on. Last year, he walked only 33 batters in 200 innings, giving him the eighth lowest walks per nine innings ratio in the majors at 1.49. McCarthy’s best season came in 2011, when he was 9-9 with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP for the A’s. Last year, he went 10-15 with a 4.05 ERA combined between the D-Backs and Yankees. For his career, he is 52-65 with a 4.09 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP over 207 games (153 starts), though it should be noted that he is 44-44 with a 3.88 ERA in the AL versus 8-21 with a 4.75 ERA in the NL.

8. Jason Hammel (Athletics): 10-11, 3.47 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 158 K’s in 176.1 IP. 2015 age: 32.

17 starts into 2014, Hammel looked like he was in the middle of a career year, sitting at 8-5 with a 2.98 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP for the Cubs. Then, he was traded to the A’s, and by the time the season was over, he had a losing record and his ERA soared to 3.47. Part of the Jeff Samardzija trade, Hammel was supposed to help stabilize Oakland’s rotation, but instead, he played a part in their second half slide as he went 2-6 with a 4.26 ERA over 13 games (12 starts) for them. That said, Hammel is still a middle of the rotation guy who can fit in practically anywhere and, when healthy, shut an opposing team down. Before 2014, his best season came in 2012, when he was 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 20 starts for the Orioles before injuries shut him down. For his career, Hammel is 59-70 with a 4.60 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over 245 games (187 starts).

9. Edinson Volquez (Pirates): 13-7, 3.04 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 140 K’s in 192.2 IP. 2015 age: 31-32.

Volquez had a huge bounce-back season in 2014, jumping from a guy who could barely stay in the rotation to an ace. He was just 9-12 with a 5.71 ERA and a 1.59 WHIP in 2013, but last year, he went 13-7 with a 3.04 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP as he led the Pirates in victories. It was arguably the best season of his career, even better than the breakout season he put up in 2008, when he was 17-6 with a 3.21 ERA a year after being traded from the Rangers to the Reds for Josh Hamilton. However, what keeps him at number nine is the stretch from 2009-2013 where he pitched barely well enough to stay in the majors. While he was 30-13 with a 3.13 ERA when you combine his 2008 and 2014 seasons, he was just 33-35 with a 4.94 ERA in the five years between. Who knows, he could continue to pitch like an ace, or he could revert back to his high-walk, high ERA days. For his career, Volquez is 66-59 with a 4.44 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP over 191 games (185 starts).

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ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched. K’s: strikeouts.

Zack Silverman