Lincoln Zdunich
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Yoshinobu Yamamoto
- Tyler Glasnow
- Shohei Ohtani
- Emmet Sheehan
- Roki Sasaki
One of the most elite rotations in baseball (and the back-to-back World Series champs) will continue to dominate this year as they seek a return to the Fall Classic. Anchored by World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the Dodgers will seek to fight against a cadre of injuries.
One of which is two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell, who will start the season on the injured list. After pitching in the postseason through pain, Snell has continued to deal with shoulder issues this offseason. But so long as their pitchers are ready come October they don’t have much to worry about.
San Diego Padres
- Nick Pivetta
- Michael King
- Randy Vásquez
- Germán Márquez
- Walker Buehler
San Diego enters the season with one of the weaker rotations in baseball. But it is one with an immensely high ceiling. Pivetta will look to add onto last year’s incredible emergence as King rebounds from an injury-riddled 2025.
Joe Musgrove will look to do the same but it seems more and more likely that he won’t be with the club on Opening Day. In his place Randy Vásquez will bump up into the third slot leaving two slots open. The rotation race seems to be leaning towards Márquez and Buehler for the first few weeks, but the Friars have plenty of options to pick from after General Manager A.J. Preller’s bargain hunting.
San Francisco Giants
- Logan Webb
- Robbie Ray
- Adrian Houser
- Tyler Mahle
- Landen Roupp
Going into this offseason in desperate need of pitching, the Giants made two inexpensive additions in Houser and Mahle. With a largely complete offense, it was odd for them to spend on hitters but not as much on starting pitchers.
But the front of the rotation is formidable. Webb and Ray are some of the best starters in the National League, with Webb currently pitching for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Hopefully the cheap additions will help San Francisco patch up their starter group.
Arizona Diamondbacks
- Zac Gallen
- Merrill Kelly
- Brandon Pfaadt
- Eduardo Rodriguez
- Ryne Nelson
The Dbacks are essentially running it back on the pitching front. After trading away Kelly to the Texas Rangers, they brought him back alongside Gallen in free agency. They also signed Michael Soroka as a depth option this offseason.
Arizona’s starting pitching group last year was mediocre but was held up by an above average offense. That offense might not be so great with the departures of Josh Naylor and slugger Eugenio Suárez.
Colorado Rockies
- Kyle Freeland
- Michael Lorenzen
- Jose Quintana
- Tomoyuki Sugano
- Chase Dollander
The Rockies only real loss this offseason was Colorado veteran Germán Márquez. They did a great job of adding to the rotation alongside returners Freeland and Hollander. They picked up Lorenzen, Quintana, and Sugano in free agency. Of the three, Lorenzen has been making waves as a starter for Team Italy in the WBC, pitching to fantastic results.
None of them are particularly top-dollar gets, but they add stability to one of the last season’s worst pitching groups. The caveat with that is the difficulty of pitching at Coors Field. Pitchers whose home park is a mile above sea level are naturally going to have a more difficult time limiting runs.
