How Good Are The Virtual Dodgers? Starting Rotation

MLB the Show is the closest we have to a 2020 season so far, and also a fair gauge of just how good the Dodgers are this year. We’ll start with the starters of course, and they’re overall rankings.

Clayton Kershaw: 92 Overall

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Join us in wishing @claytonkershaw a very happy birthday. Forever the King of our dynasty. He was looking a lot like his MVP self this spring. #happy #birthday #clayton #kershaw #dodgers #dodgerdynasty #dodgerstadium #dodgersbaseball #mvp #cyyoung #goat #springtraining2020 #springtraining #nosports #still

A post shared by Dodger Dynasty (@dodger_dynasty) on Mar 19, 2020 at 4:12pm PDT

Even at age 31, his potential is still an A grade. Kershaw is the 3rd highest rated Dodger player and 6th highest rated pitcher in The Show. His best quality? His stamina rated at 95. His break is at 86 and bunting is at 82.

Walker Buehler: 90 Overall

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MLB 29th Ranked Player Buetane is officially the Dodger’s ace. He’s projected to be a top 10 starter in all of baseball and pitch a full 32 games as long as he stays healthy. His stats are spooky close to guys like Degrom and Scherzer with fewer strikeouts and a few more walks. Aka if Buehler has better control than expected he could be a Cy Young winner this year. The best sign is that his FIP is projected to be the same as his ERA. In other words Buehler controls games himself but I’m sure the elite defenders behind him and weak NL West will help boost his stats. I’d expect an ERA in the high 2’s and a 16+ Win year. His SO’s could also head north of 250 pretty easily if he comes into this year with more control or maybe a new pitch. We all remember the jump Kersh made once he added his gnarly slider. Overall this kid is ready to show why homegrown is better than going out. #dodgerdynasty #dodgers #buehler #walker #mlb #baseball #pitcher #ace #springtraining #mlb2020 #cyyoung #gas

A post shared by Dodger Dynasty (@dodger_dynasty) on Feb 14, 2020 at 12:20pm PST

The young ace also has an A grade in potential. He’s already graded as the 9th overall starting pitcher. His velocity is elite with a 97 grade. And his break is fantastic as well at 87.

David Price: 82 Overall

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Today’s Player of the Game is worth a post. Today, Price’s legs look fine and so did his stat line against the division rival Rockies. Price: W, 3 IP, BB, 7 K The only baserunner was Arenado who grounded out the next time he saw Price. Hampton K’d twice. Blackmon K’d. Tapia and Wolters. And just in case you were wondering, Price struck out the side in his last IP. Side note Graterol closed out the game with ease. He even touched 100 for a K. Overall this Betts, Price, Graterol acquisition is looking like the biggest win of the offseason for any team. Another brilliant move by the Friedman run office. But here’s the biggest win we want to emphasize. The Dodgers are paying Price $16 Mil. We want to highlight some other salaries this upcoming year. ($=Million) Ryu: $20 Lester: $20 Samardzija: $19.8 Hamels: $18 Odorizzi: $17.8 Bauer: $17.5 Eovaldi: $17 Mikolas: $16.75 #dodgers #dodgerdynasty #mlb #priceisright #davidprice #price #cbs #ladodgers #mlbstats #mlbnews #mlbnetwork #dodgersbaseball #baseball #mlbhotstove #mlbtrade #mlbtraderumors

A post shared by Dodger Dynasty (@dodger_dynasty) on Mar 7, 2020 at 3:12pm PST

His potential is a B grade. Not bad for half-priced Price. He actually doesn’t stand out anywhere in particular, but is the most well rounded pitcher in the staff.

Julio Urias: 84 Overall

And back to A grade potential. He may be the best 4th starting pitcher this year no matter how many games are played. His break and bunting are both elite at 96 and 94 respectively.

Alex Wood: 79 Overall

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Got Wood? We do. He’s back and ready to get back to all-star form. He personally says his breaking ball is way better than it was in 18. He also seems pretty sure it’s his fifth starting job to lose coming into spring training. He had a year plague by a back injury on a bad team so these projections are low. Woods career ERA sits at 3.4 which is exactly where we’re expecting it to wind up this year. Woods velocity and movement have been compared to Patrick Corbin and Andrew Heaney. His batted ball stats are similar to none other than Kershaw. Don’t let these projections fool you. Alex Wood is extremely valuable when healthy. The question is will he be a starter? He was 16-3 with a 2.72 ERA in 2017 as a starter. He compiled 3.1 WAR that year which would shoot him up to the Dodgers 7th most valuable player behind Turner. We are only paying him $4 mil for a year. This will go down as one of the biggest steals of the offseason for ALL mlb teams. They’re currently predicting about 20 starts from Wood which sounds about right. He’s not a strikeout guy, but makes up for it with a great ground ball rate and a good LOB%. It’s possible he becomes a 25+ start guy but that depends on injuries. Either way we’re expecting a mid to low 3 era, 10+wins, and 2+WAR. He should be the best 5th starter in all of baseball Welcome back Wood. We missed you. #dodgers #dodgerdynasty #mlb #alex #wood #alexwood #springtraining #pitcher #undervalued #baseballfan #baseballstats #projections #mlb #mlbstats #mlbnews #rankings #WAR

A post shared by Dodger Dynasty (@dodger_dynasty) on Feb 20, 2020 at 1:38pm PST

The lowest grade with C potential. Still with the season up in the air, it just became more likely that Dustin May takes the 5th spot. Still, Wood has good control with 70+ ratings across the board there, and exceptional bunting at 94.

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