MLB Teams Best Positioned to Overcome Inevitable 2015 Pitching Injury

There's no such thing as having too much pitching.

No matter how many arms an MLB squad fosters, it rarely proves enough. The season doesn't start for another week, but Yu Darvish, Cliff Lee, Zack Wheeler and Marcus Stroman are already done for 2015, while Alex Cobb, Hyun-jin Ryu, Drew Smyly, Garrett Richards and Homer Bailey are fighting off injuries to avoid starting on the disabled list.

The Detroit Tigers were the only team to work more than two starters at least 200 innings last year, and only the Washington Nationals and Kansas City Royals received 25 or more starts from five hurlers. During a 162-game marathon, turnover is all but inevitable.

Due to the particular fragility of pitchers, a surplus is an essential luxury heading into the campaign. Any team without a Plan B will face trouble when forced to adapt, but these squads won't need to panic…at least, not as much as the others.

Here are the clubs with the best starting-caliber pitching depth in the majors.

Washington Nationals

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Tanner Roark posted a 2.85 ERA in 31 starts last season. He doesn't have a spot in Washington's stacked rotation this year.

Yep, that's depth.

Only 27 qualified starters topped Roark's 3.2 wins above replacement, per FanGraphs, yet Max Scherzer's signing bumped him down to No. 6 on Washington's depth chart. No pitcher overperformed in 2014 more than the Nationals' Doug Fister—who amassed a 2.41 ERA despite a less flattering 3.93 fielding independent pitching (FIP)—but he will still make a darn good No. 5 starter after regression.

Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmermann both underwent Tommy John surgery earlier in their careers, so Washington is wise to stash its pitching depth in case someone goes down. If that time comes, the Nationals have a valuable asset waiting in Roark.

New York Mets

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No strangers to injuries, the New York Mets lost a budding ace to Tommy John surgery right as they welcomed another back.

As Matt Harvey returned to the fold, the Mets received the devastating news that Zack Wheeler needed the same surgery. Although he'll miss at least all of 2015, starting pitching won't be the reason they may miss another postseason.

Dillon Gee is nothing special, but his career 3.91 ERA gets the job done as a back-end starter. Not all teams are fortunate enough to boast five above-replacement starters.

A constant subject of trade speculation all offseason, Gee still amounts to a placeholder while the Mets' prospects mature in the minors. MLB.com's third-rated pitching prospect, Noah Syndergaard, is big league ready.

Despite posting a 4.60 ERA in the offense-heavy Pacific Coast League, he also notched 145 strikeouts and 43 walks through 133 innings. Injury or not, he'll pitch in Queens this year.

Rafael Montero displayed flashes of promise in spot starts last year, and Steven Matz joined New York's laundry list of talented young arms by generating a 2.25 ERA through Single-A and Double-A last season. Even without Wheeler, the Mets have options.

Cleveland Indians

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Although they'll be hard-pressed to challenge Washington for baseball's best rotation, the Cleveland Indians enter 2015 with the American League's most fascinating starting corps.

Joining Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco notched a 1.72 ERA after the All-Star break. Former top prospect Trevor Bauer is another possible late-bloomer at the ripe old age of 24.

T.J. House, the top candidate for one of Cleveland's final rotation spots, garnered a 3.35 ERA and 1.94 walks per nine innings last year. Despite an ugly 5.60 spring ERA, he has collected 15 strikeouts and three walks through 17.2 frames.

House sounds like a deserving choice, and so is Zach McAllister. His atrocious 5.23 ERA in 2014 hides a 3.45 FIP and 7.74 K/9 rate. If left off the starting staff, he'll prove a terrific asset in the bullpen, where he limited opponents to a .568 OPS in 13 innings last year.

Just for fun, they also have Josh Tomlin lying around. In 16 starts last year, the 30-year-old issued 10 walks alongside 80 punchouts. All three candidates would get a starting chance on most clubs, but two will likely shift to the bullpen until they're needed at the top.

Cleveland surprisingly demoted Danny Salazar, but he's the club's third-best starter. He fell flat of Cy Young aspirations in 2014 despite a stellar 9.82 K/9 rate, don't be surprised if he realizes breakout expectations a year late once given another opportunity.

Kansas City Royals

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The Kansas City Royals rotation isn't particularly good without James Shields, but it at least has options.

Edinson Volquez will join Kansas City's pair of youngsters (Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy) and innings-eating veterans (Jason Vargas and Jeremy Guthrie). While Volquez's strikeout rate has steeply declined over the past two years, so has his walk rate.

Those Royals sure hate strikeouts, so this refined version of Volquez will be welcomed. He has also made over 30 starts in each of the last three years, albeit with a FIP over 4.00 every season. 

As of now, the newly signed Chris Young won't win a rotation spot. Based on last year's 5.02 FIP, he's best saved as long reliever and insurance policy anyway. 

Brandon Finnegan put himself on the radar by dominating from the bullpen last September and October. The Royals, however, plan to use last year's first-round pick as a minor league starter, stretching him back out into his original duty.

The southpaw, who turns 22 in April, is a potential call-up candidate for Kansas City's rotation this summer. If calamity strikes the Royals' filthy bullpen, Finnegan has proved especially capable of handling an MLB relief role.

And don't forget Kris Medlen, who missed all of last season recovering from his second Tommy John surgery. During 2012 and 2013, he registered a 2.47 ERA through 335 frames, giving hope that the 29-year-old can make an impactful return after the All-Star break.

St. Louis Cardinals

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At the end of one of baseball's sharpest starting squads, two talented hurlers are jousting for inclusion.

Squandering his talents in the bullpen, Carlos Martinez could finally move back into the featured role. He faces steep competition in Marco Gonzales, who boasts a 0.71 ERA this March. While Martinez was the more decorated prospect, Gonzales brandished a 2.43 ERA and 4.3 K/BB ratio through the minors last year.

It's possible neither wins, as Jaime Garcia has accumulated 13 strikeouts through 9.1 spring innings. He's only made 36 starts over the past three years combined, but a 3.50 career ERA keeps him in the loop while healthy.

"I feel better and better each time out," Garcia told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Derrick Goold. 

The Cardinals will likely need more than one of those three before the season ends. A byproduct of pitching over 500 innings through the past two years, Adam Wainwright faltered down the stretch last season. Abdominal issues shouldn't sideline him on Opening Day, but he carries enhanced risk going forward.

Although not overworked, Michael Wacha has yet to make 20 or more starts during his career. Should that trend continue, St. Louis will welcome its pitching surplus.

Note: All advanced statistics are courtesy of FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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