If there is one thing that has been a constant over the last thirty years in the American League Western Division, it’s that there is no shortage of explosive, heavy hitters in every teams’ lineup; from the Bash Brothers of the Oakland Athletics to Ken Griffey, Jr. of the Seattle Mariners and on through Juan Gonzales of the Texas Rangers and now Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels.
However, even with great dominance at the plate there is always the inevitable nemesis who has their number on more than one occasion. The pitching talent in the AL West has had its ups and downs over the last few years, but there are quite a few notable standouts who have forged their name into the history books as being the top arms in the game in their respective division.
Some of them have been here all along, while a few others are still stars on the rise. Nonetheless, what they display on the mound game-in and game-out is a true testament to their talent. These are the seven starting pitchers who epitomize the AL West.
7. Scott Feldman Houston Astros
Due to fairness of all five teams in the AL West one of the pitchers in the rotation for the Astros needed to be listed, and there really isn’t anyone better than Feldman. Last season Feldman had the second-best year of his career, going 12-12 with a career-best 3.86 ERA and a career-best 132 strikeouts while splitting time between the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles.
The reason why this was his “second-best” year is because he went 17-8 with the Texas Rangers in 2009. So far this spring Feldman has been off to a mediocre 0-1 start with a 4.50 ERA and five strikeouts in six innings of work. Even though he will be starting the season with a new team, eight of his previous nine seasons came while with the Rangers, so he knows the AL West game and faced the majority of the batters on more than one occasion.
Statistically he was a better pitcher with the Cubs for the first half of 2013, but he’ll surely find a groove once the season starts.
6. Sonny Gray Oakland Athletics
Normally this spot would have been reserved for the likes of Jarrod Parker, but unfortunately he is out for the season due to his second Tommy John operation. Even though Gray is a young, up-and-comer, he’s accomplished quite a bit in his short career. In 2013 he went 5-3 with a 2.67 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 64 innings.
On top of that, Gray dazzled in Game Two of the American League Division Series against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers, going eight innings while only allowing four hits, two walks and no earned runs on top of nine strikeouts. In the decisive Game 5 he got rattled a little bit after giving up a two-run home run to Miguel Cabrera, but he still managed to finish five innings, striking out three and only allowing three runs.
So far in the spring Gray has picked up where he left off; he’s thrown for 15 2/3 innings, striking out 15 batters and holding a mediocre 4.02 ERA. His career and stats are only going to get better.
5. C.J. Wilson Los Angeles Angels
Contrary to popular belief, the Angels do have a few good starting pitchers; both of whom are on this list. For his entire nine-year career Wilson has a been a dagger in the side of every batter in the AL West (seven with the Rangers and two with the Angels).
Over the last four years specifically he has won at least 13 games per season, struck out at least 170 batters per season and kept his ERA under 3.39 in three of those four years. Like Feldman above, last season was his second best as he hit a career-high in wins (17), but finished with the second-most strikeouts (188) and the fourth-best ERA (3.39) of his career.
All of this came while Jered Weaver was out for a good chunk of the season. So far in Spring Training he has been nearly lights out. Despite going 0-2, he has managed to post an ERA of 2.81 and strike out 19 batters in 16 innings of work. If he keeps this up, he’ll be a top-five contender for the AL Cy Young for sure.
4. Hisashi Iwakuma Seattle Mariners
It wouldn’t be much of a list unless Iwakuma made an appearance. After finishing in their place for the AL Cy Young Award in 2013 with a 14-6 record, 2.66 ERA and 185 strikeouts, Iwakuma is looking to prove that he’s not a one-hit wonder in 2014.
Unfortunately for Iwakuma and Mariners fans, he’s a little injured at the moment so he hasn’t had a chance to take the mound at all during Spring Training. It’s more than likely that he’ll be back somewhere near the end of April as he has a sprain in one of his pitching fingers.
This, in theory, could spell disaster for Iwakuma; however, he has been throwing with tennis balls to get the strength back as the splint he had been wearing for the last few weeks is no longer needed.
3. Yu Darvish Texas Rangers
Arguably one of the best up-and-coming pitchers in the league, Darvish has become a force to be reckoned with behind his league-best 277 strikeouts and his second place finish for the AL Cy Young Award in 2013. In two seasons with Rangers Darvish has gone 29-18 with a 3.34 ERA and 498 strikeouts.
Both his wins and ERA are bit out of place based on the talent he has, but he is still adjusting and getting better. So far this spring Darvish is a perfect 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA and eight strikeouts in 14 1/3 innings of work. Once the season kicks into gear you’ll see those numbers improve, especially against the Astros of whom he almost threw two perfect games against.
2. Jered Weaver Los Angeles Angels
2013 was certainly a down year for Weaver who broke his non-pitching arm early in the season, but still managed to go 11-8 with 117 strikeouts and a respectable 3.27 ERA. For the last eight seasons Weaver has been the second fiddle top pitcher in the AL West, always coming just shy of the AL Cy Young Award in 2010 through 2012.
All eight seasons of his career have come with the Angels in which he has gone 113-60 with a 3.24 ERA, 1,236 strikeouts and a no-hitter in 2012. Like his comrade Wilson, Weaver has been pitching well during the spring, going 3-1 with a 3.74 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings. Just by the look of that you can tell that he’s ready for the regular season to start up.
1. Felix Hernandez Seattle Mariners
There really wasn’t any place for King Felix except at the number one spot. For the last nine years Hernandez has been embarrassing batters in the AL West behind his 1,703 strikeouts, perfect game in 2012 and his AL Cy Young Award in 2010.
The only downside of Hernandez’s stats is his record of 110-86, which isn’t very telling of how much he dominates a game when he’s on the mound. The same can be said about his 3.20 career ERA which is good, but not really what you’d expect from of a guy of his caliber. Nonetheless, Hernandez is the real deal and would be a welcomed addition to ANY ball club in the Majors.
Spring Training also hasn’t been too kind to Hernandez who is currently 1-0 with a 4.32 ERA, but he has managed to strike out seven batters in 8 1/3 innings. As it really stands, Hernandez is all about the regular season.