MLB Power Rankings: Justin Verlander and the Top 15 Starters in the AL Central

Major League Baseball has changed over the past couple of seasons. A couple of years ago, a team could get by with a slugging lineup and a less-than-desirable pitching rotation. Over the last two seasons, there's been a shift in philosophy that a strong pitching staff will get you further than a slugger-laden offense will.

In the American League Central, the Detroit Tigers successfully made the shift. The Tigers rotation is loaded with talent including the American League MVP Justin Verlander. For the stretch run, they added Doug Fister who turned out to also be one of the best starting pitchers in the AL Central.

On the flip side, the Minnesota Twins have had one of the best pitching rotations in the division for the best decade. That propelled the team to six division championships since the 2002 season. In 2011, the rotation took a step back and the result was the Twins finishing in last place.

In other words, pitching matters in baseball now. The team with the best rotation will have the best chance to win the division. Here is a look at the top 15 starters in the American League Central entering 2012.

15. Rick Porcello

2011 Season: 14-9, 4.75 ERA, 1.40 WHIP in 182 Innings Pitched

Rick Porcello's stats may be a bit high, but that's to be expected for a ground ball pitcher. Porcello was described as one of the best pitching prospects in the 2007 MLB draft but fell because of his salary demands.

While Porcello will probably never be an "ace" pitcher, Porcello is good enough to be an adequate pitcher. In his three seasons, Porcello has won 14 games twice (2009, 2011) and has a record of 38-30.

He may not be the flashiest pitcher in the division, but he can win games.

14. Carlos Carrasco

2011 Season: 8-9, 4.62 ERA, 1.36 WHIP in 124.2 Innings Pitched

While Carrasco has been known to be a bit of a headcase, there is no denying his talent. Carrasco has had an up and down career, including being suspended for throwing at Billy Butler's head at one point in 2011, but there is potential for him to get better.

In June, Carrasco went 4-2 with a 1.90 earned run average. That's the kind of month that will get Cleveland Indian fans buzzing about his potential.

His potential for improvement in 2012 puts him on this list, but if Carrasco can get his head together, he has an opportunity to climb.

13. Jonathan Sanchez

2011 Season (with San Francisco Giants): 4-7, 4.26 ERA, 1.44 WHIP in 101.1 innings pitched

Who exactly is Jonathan Sanchez? Is he the guy who went 13-9 with a 3.07 earned run average for the World Champion San Francisco Giants in 2010 or is he closer to the sub-.500 pitcher with a ERA toward 5 during the rest of his career.

Sanchez may be a flash in the pan pitcher, but he has the stuff to become something better. This offseason, Sanchez was traded to the Kansas City Royals, and the change of scenery may help Sanchez reach his potential.

He'll have to improve his control, but if he can sniff his 2010 form, he'll climb this list.

12. Francisco Liriano

2011 Season: 9-10, 5.09 ERA, 1.48 WHIP in 134.1 innings pitched

Francisco Liriano finishes off a trio of talented, but mentally unstable pitchers at the bottom of this list. Like Sanchez and Carrasco, Liriano has the talent to become an "ace" pitcher. However, the circumstances surrounding Liriano are a bit different.

Liriano was having a monster rookie season in 2006 when he tore a ligament in his elbow. That meant Tommy John surgery and a scrapped 2007 season. He came back in 2008 after a short stint in the minors and put up respectable numbers followed by an awful 2009 season.

In 2010, he was much improved and won AL Comeback Player of the Year honors and followed that up with another disasterous season in 2011.

His career pattern suggests that Liriano should have a good year in 2012, and he has the stuff to do it. Liriano went 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA in May that included a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox. It could have been even better if the Twins could have given him some run support.

It's hard to predict what Liriano can do, but he has the opportunity to climb this list.

11. Phil Humber

2011 Season: 9-9, 3.75 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 163 innings pitched

Phil Humber came out of nowhere to crash the Chicago White Sox rotation last season. Humber was viewed to be a bust after being selected 3rd in the 2004 draft by the New York Mets.

He was traded to the Twins in the Johan Santana trade and didn't perform well until making a couple appearances with Kansas City in 2010.

However, 2011 was a breakout year for Humber as he set career-highs in wins and career-lows in ERA and WHIP. The result of this was probably that the White Sox gave him an opportunity to start. That's something he didn't have in his previous start.

Humber could be ranked higher on this list, but he doesn't have the track record that some of the pitchers ahead of him have. If Humber improves on his breakout season, he shouldn't have a problem cracking the top 10.

10. Carl Pavano

2011 Season: 9-13, 4.30 ERA, 1.36 WHIP in 222 innings pitched

It wasn't the best season for Carl Pavano, but he's had much worse. Pavano was labeled as fragile and many had assumed his career was over after a stint on the New York Yankees' disabled list. (I'd say roster, but he wasn't on there long enough to make that accurate.)

Since leaving New York, Pavano has resurrected himself as a workhorse, as he's hovered around 200 innings in each of the past three seasons. He's more of a ground ball pitcher at this point in his career, and his stats were probably down because of the poor defense and run support in Minnesota in 2011.

Pavano is the most reliable pitcher the Twins have right now and should be able to bounce back in 2012.

9. Bruce Chen

2011 Season: 12-8, 3.77 ERA, 1.30 WHIP in 155 innings pitched

Bruce Chen is a lot like Carl Pavano. He's a guy who has been injured for a good portion of his major league career, but is capable of giving a team quality innings.

The Kansas City Royals rotation isn't the symbol of stability in the AL Central, but Chen helps. He hasn't come close to 200 innings and with his injury history he may not be able to.

However, Chen is the veteran presence that the Royals need and he's become an effective pitcher when he's able to stay on the mound. Over the past two seasons, Chen has posted a record of 24-15 with a 3.96 ERA in 295.1 innings pitched. Those are pretty solid numbers for a journeyman.

Chen may be a little high on the list, but his recent consistency is nothing to scoff at.

8. Max Scherzer

2011 Season: 15-9, 4.43 ERA, 1.34 WHIP in 195 innings pitched

Scherzer didn't have a great start to his career, but he's starting to improve. The Tigers third starter posted a career-high in wins this season, but he also posted career-highs in WHIP and home runs allowed.

What's encouraging in Scherzer's development is that he's posted 195 innings in each of the last two seasons. He has the potential to go out and put up double digit strikeouts and he keeps his team in games.

If Scherzer can find some consistency in his solid numbers, he can become an upper level pitcher in the AL Central.

7. John Danks

2011 Season: 8-12, 4.33 ERA, 1.33 WHIP in 170.1 innings pitched

It's been hard to tell whether Danks will be in the AL Central or not in 2012, but there may have been some finality earlier this week. After trade rumors swirled around Danks for much of the off-season, the White Sox signed him to a five-year contract extension worth $65 million.

It's a solid move for the White Sox to keep Danks around. They've lost Mark Buerhle to the Miami Marlins, and Danks is a pretty solid pitcher with the exception of last season.

Eliminating Danks rookie season and 2011, he's posted a record of 40-31 with a 3.61 ERA in 608.1 innings pitched. What that says is that Danks can win games and give about 200 innings a year.

I believe that Danks is a better pitcher than what he showed last season, and 2012 should be a comeback year for the 6th year starter.

6. Gavin Floyd

2011 Season: 12-13, 4.37 ERA,  1.16 WHIP in 193.2 innings pitched

Gavin Floyd has had his share of ups and downs in his Major League career. He started as a hot prospect with the Philadelphia Phillies and was called up at age 21 in 2004.

Floyd struggled and was sent to the Chicago White Sox for Freddy Garcia and while Floyd hasn't been an "ace" starter, he's been an effective one for the South Siders.

Floyd's breakout season came in 2008 when he went 17-8 with a 3.84 ERA. Since then, the win totals haven't been there, but he's been very consistent. In the past three seasons, Floyd has recorded double-digit wins and an ERA around four.

The most encouraging stat about Floyd is his WHIP, which dropped to a career-low in 2011. If Floyd can build off his success, the White Sox may forget about Mark Buehrle in 2012.

5. Ubaldo Jimenez

2011 Season: 10-13 4.68 ERA, 1.40 WHIP in 188.1 innings pitched

Ubaldo Jimenez is at a turning point of his career. Since the 2010 All-Star break (when Jimenez stood 15-1), Jimenez has gone 14-20 with a 4.24 ERA. The ERA isn't terrible, and Colorado wasn't the best team to judge wins and losses with a pitcher.

However, there has to be concern that Ubaldo is hitting a wall. In the previous three seasons, Jimenez has thrown near 200 innings. Most young pitchers have a problem maintaining their success after a couple of 200 inning seasons, so this could be where Jimenez has to decide what he is.

His breakout season of 2010 propels him into the top five of this list. If he can't regain that form, Ubaldo Jimenez won't be there for long.

4. Scott Baker

2011 Season: 8-6, 3.14 ERA, 1.17 WHIP in 134.2 innings pitched

For all the negativity that surrounded the Minnesota Twins last season, Scott Baker could have been a bright spot had he not gotten injured.

Baker was showing significant improvement in several areas when he experienced problems with his elbow. Baker was finally adjusting to hitters and mixing in several strikeout pitches with his "pitch-to-contact" philosophy.

Baker was also showing a willingness to go over the 100 pitch mark early in the season as the Twins bullpen struggled. Prior to last year, as soon as Baker neared that 100 pitch plateau, Ron Gardenhire was sprinting out to the mound to replace him.

Between June and July last year, Baker went 6-3 with an ERA around 2. Those are the flashes of brilliance that Baker has shown throughout his career.

If Baker can put an entire season together and stay healthy (Only one season where he reached the 200 innings pitched mark in his career), Baker could justify this high of a ranking.

3. Justin Masterson

2011 Season: 12-10, 3.21 ERA, 1.27 WHIP in 216 innings pitched

It's all about potential with Justin Masterson, and he's showing improvement with each season. In his 2 1/2 seasons as a full-time starter, Masterson's numbers have slightly gotten better with each season.

Last year, Masterson set a career-high in wins and a career-low as a starter for WHIP. He's found a way to improve on his control and could be a candidate for breakout player of the year in the AL Central.

Mix in Masterson with an young Cleveland Indians team that is improving, and Masterson could be in for big things in 2012.

2. Doug Fister

2011 Season: 11-13, 2.83 ERA, 1.06 WHIP in 216.1 innings pitched

When Doug Fister was traded to the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline last year, it seemed like a lackluster move for a team trying to compete for the division.

Fister had recorded a 3-12 record with the Seattle Mariners and people wondered if Fister was a victim of low run support or if he really was what his record said he was.

It became clear that Fister was not a 3-12 pitcher very quickly for the Tigers. Fister would finish the year on a 8-1 hot streak that included a 1.79 ERA. The odd thing was that while Fister was known as a ground ball pitcher, his strikeout numbers suddenly skyrocketed from 5.5 per 9 innings in Seattle to 7.3 per 9 in Detroit.

At age 27, it's clear that Fister has begun to scratch the surface of what he could be for the Detroit Tigers.

1. Justin Verlander

2011 Season: 24-5, 2.40 ERA, 0.92 WHIP in 251 innings pitched

Not. Even. Close.

With all due respect to Doug Fister, there was just nobody as dominant in all of baseball as Justin Verlander was in 2011.

Verlander displayed a dominance that hadn't been seen since Pedro Martinez was making batters look foolish back in 1999. For that, Verlander got the award that Pedro never got for his brilliant season: AL MVP.

Verlander is everything a manager wants in his pitcher. He can win games. He can go deep into games. He can strike people out whenever he wants. He has electric stuff with proper mechanics.

That's why Justin Verlander is the best pitcher not only in the American League Central, he's also the prototype for pitchers across baseball.