Rubby De La Rosa rounds out the group and presents a unique blend of potential in both starting and relief roles. He possesses a lively fastball that can hit triple digits and has shown the ability to miss bats, a plus-to-better change-up, and a slider that is, at times, deadly and otherwise catches far too much of the plate. De La Rosa’s issues stem from command; when he is commanding his pitches ,he looks like a strong mid-rotation starter.
His 3.81 ERA tells a two sided story that can be expressed by looking at his last nine starts encompassing July and August. Seven of the starts have seen him allow three earned runs or fewer but as for the remaining two, he twice lasted just four innings while allowing six earned runs. This inconsistency is exactly the type of struggle that De La Rosa has seen throughout his career, and it is precisely what could ultimately prevent him from holding a spot in the rotation. If he does not end up in the rotation, he could be a downright lethal weapon at the end of games. He reminds me a lot of Andrew Miller, and if he doesn’t refine his command, then he can be exactly that type of strikeout pitcher out of the bullpen.
But De La Rosa is definitely the wild card. If he puts it all together, he will almost certainly beat out Webster and Ranaudo and claim a spot in the 2015 rotation, but either way I expect him to hold value to the team next year in some capacity.
So that’s everybody! Let me know what you think of the six-man rotation and also who you think has the best shot to contribute in 2015 down below in the comments.