The future ace of this staff will be Donger Karnes. Featuring three good pitches, including a good splitter, makes him a quintessential groundball pitcher. If his changeup develops to full potential, lookout. 2044 was an improved season for Karnes where he lowered his WHIP, ERA and FIP. Innings were down this year, but that was due to Des Moines being cautious with this young arm.
Next down the rotation isSP Juan Garcia (the non-bullpen Juan Garcia). Garcia features a decent fastball but combines that with a good knuckle curve and a knockout slider. Garcia had a decent 2044 season, he posted a career high 124.2 IP and kept his WHIP and ERA low. He’ll need to improve on that if he will be considered the go to #2 pitcher on this squad.
Greg Palmer became the #3 rotation guy this season, especially after Bobby Lynch went down to injury. He’s a 5-pitch, jack of all trades type pitcher, who like Garcia, is pitching just well enough to avoid being replaced. He’ll need to reduce the walks and the base hits if he hopes to stick around a long time in the BBA.
The lefty in this rotation is Rafael'Nutball' Rodriguez. This 23-year old pitched 163.2 innings in 2044 and that deserves a pat on the back, his 1.45 WHIP and 5.72 FIP do not. Good news is he has plenty of room to grow, especially with his changeup. Hopefully, for Des Moines sake, he figures it out in the next couple of seasons.
The other lefty who was supposed to help this season was Bobby Lynch. Unfortunately, in May, he ruptured a disc and ended his season. Lynch is a long way from his glory days and was signed prior to 2043 to be that stabilizing veteran to this young rotation. Its unlikely that after this injury and his stats from 2043 and 2044 that he will survive long as a starting pitcher in 2045. He’ll likely lose that spot to Larry Fain if Fain has a strong spring.
