Bleacher Report badly underrates Red Sox rotation among other postseason contenders

Pitching has been a strength of the Boston Red Sox this season. As a team, the Sox are top five in baseball in ERA (3.73). While their stellar bullpen has certainly been a key contributor in that, the starting rotation has been just as good.

The rotation has been led by three horses: Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, and Lucas Giolito. Those three this season have combined for 512 innings at a 3.05 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP, striking out a combined 497 batters (through September 24). Ten other pitchers have gotten starts for the Sox this season (not including Brennan Bernardino's three-opener appearances). While the combined numbers of the other 10 aren't as pretty, the combined efforts of Crochet, Bello, and Giolito make for a formidable top three.

With the playoffs just around the corner, Bleacher Report ranked the starting rotations of the 15 playoff contenders, and they certainly slighted the Red Sox. Boston's four-man rotation came in ninth. They rank just ahead of the Tigers (10) and Brewers (11), and just behind the Cubs (8) and Padres (7).

Bleacher Report thinks Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello could hold the Red Sox back in the postseason

While BR cited the September struggles of Bello and Giolito as the reason they rank so low, they still gave praise to Crochet. It's certainly surprising to see them ranked below the Padres, who will be using one of the most inconsistent pitchers in baseball this season in Dylan Cease, Yu Darvish and his 5.51 ERA, and Michael King, who's only pitched 15 innings since the start of June.

There is definitely some recency bias in this list. The Sox are one of just six teams on the list with three pitchers with more than 140 IP this season. Even with the recent struggles, Boston's pitchers have a much longer track record of success this season. They even wrote "Both of those pitchers are capable of tossing a gem or making an early exit after allowing a crooked number" when speaking about Giolito and Bello. One may think that they've both shown the ability to pitch high-quality games, even when they struggle, which would count for more.

The only other factor taking away from the Sox is the lack of playoff experience, something they do cite for other teams. That is something the Sox will have to battle through, but an ace like Crochet has shown even the brightest lights don't affect him this season, and Giolito has pitched in the playoffs twice.

It hasn't been a perfect final month for the Sox, but the ninth-best rotation headed into October is undervaluing what they have. They are just going to have to prove them wrong.