Last year’s starters with over 100 innings were the human Percheron named Logan Webb with 205 innings, Harrison 124, Hicks 109, and Snell 104. Snell is gone, of course, and will be replaced by Robbie Ray, who managed only 31 innings in his 7 starts. As you know, Ray has opted in for the next two seasons, and is now fully rehabbed from his TJ operation. So that’s a solid 4, right there. Who might the other 4 or 5 necessary pitchers be? There are some darned good candidates! (table is sorted by innings)
| G(GS) | IP | ERA | H | BB | SO | |
| Hjelle | 58(0) | 81 | 3.90 | 84 | 14 | 75 |
| Birdsong | 16(16) | 72 | 4.75 | 57 | 43 | 88 |
| Winn | 12(12) | 55 | 7.16 | 56 | 20 | 48 |
| Roupp | 23(4) | 50 | 3.58 | 43 | 26 | 47 |
| Bivens | 27(2) | 49 | 3.14 | 47 | 11 | 37 |
| Black | 9(8) | 36 | 6.44 | 46 | 15 | 31 |
| Beck | 7(1) | 16 | 1.69 | 14 | 4 | 14 |
The name that leaps out as 5th starter is of course Hayden Birdsong. 11 games at Richmond, 2 at Sacramento, and then the big leagues, where he pitched with confidence. However, no team wants to go into a season with just 5 pitchers able to start games. There’s certainly no lack of credible injury replacements in this table. It surprised me that Sean Hjelle never made a start, but he pitched a lot, often multiple innings. Tristan Beck threw well once he had rehabbed from that blood vessel aneurism. Spencer Bivens ( https://youtu.be/G4vIXGlvoCs ) certainly belongs in MLB rather than the independent leagues. Not gonna lie, I am very fond of Biv. Keaton Winn made two trips to the IL with forearm and shoulder issues, after (in my view) having been left in games too long by his manager, and he never pitched again after late June. Landen Roupp was called up 4 different times during the season, after he had recovered from an injury by late June, and generally pitched well, making a few starts near the season end. The team will certainly give Roupp every opportunity next year. Mason Black was a bit of a disappointment after tossing 61 innings for the River Cats in 2023, for whom he made 20 additional starts in 2024.
After that, the depth is basically all Carsons! Stats with the River Cats last year:
| G(GS) | IP | ERA | H | BB | SO | |
| Seymour | 29(28) | 134 | 4.82 | 151 | 60 | 132 |
| Whisenhunt | 25(25) | 105 | 5.42 | 116 | 53 | 135 |
| Ragsdale | 13(12) | 54 | 5.03 | 60 | 26 | 57 |
Carson Ragsdale was promoted from Richmond to Sacramento in June, while Carsons Seymour and Whisenhunt spent the entire season with the River Cats. The latter missed a month in mid-season, the other two were healthy all year. It looks like all three need to work on getting their WHIPs well below 1.5, but they are clearly guys who can take the ball, so they are in the pipeline.
What better way to illustrate an article on starting pitching than with a statue of the Dominican Dandy? Juan Marichal put up a 243-142 record in 471 starts, an incredible ERA of 2.89 in 16 years (14 with us), and pitched from ages 22 to 37. He led the league in innings twice. I bet he and Webby have fun talking about that.
