During the regular season, it’s fairly easy to determine the relative strength of different teams’ rotations. Just about every team is on even ground in using five starters (though some use six these days) to grind through the 162-game schedule, so statistics can often tell most of the story.
It’s far more complicated, though, to discern which team has the starting pitching advantage during the postseason, especially with the new 12-team format. In the best-of-three wild-card series, teams may end up using only two starters, so front-end dominance could play a greater role in the playoffs moving forward. That said, because of the additional round—and especially this year, with the lockout forcing there to be fewer off days during the postseason—starting pitching depth will be even more important.
To put together my rankings, I prioritized strength atop the rotation, because one or two aces peaking at the right time could be all it takes for a team to advance through the first couple of rounds. That means, for the most part, I emphasized strikeout stuff and fielding-independent pitching over ERA and soft contact. From there, if teams featured similar Nos. 1 and 2 starters, I gave the edge to the ones with greater rotational depth.
