Starting Rotation Filling Out Nicely

Last year's weakness has turned into this season's strength.  So far.  Ian Kennedy, Daniel Hudson, Joe Saunders, Josh Collmenter, Micah Owings.  That's your current rotation.  Save for Owings, who is a fill-in guy at number 5, everyone else has turned in some good, if not great, performances.

Ian Kennedy - Ever since his 4-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies on April 25th, he has seemed like a new man.  He hasn't lost since a 15-5 early season affair against the St. Louis Cardinals.  His ERA dropped to 3.01 after tonight.  He was tagged for 5 runs against the Minnesota Twins last Friday, but the bullpen helped him give up 2 of those runs and didn't pitch like a guy who gave up 5 runs.  He is on a roll, and an innings eater.

Daniel Hudson - at 5-5, he has rebounded from his 0-4 start when he was having issues getting batters out in the first inning.  He seems to have rectified that problem.  His ERA was at a high of 5.92 after a loss to the Cincinnati Reds on April 21st.  He is now down to 3.82.

Joe Saunders - I was calling for his head early on, going back to spring.  After an ERA high of 6.32 in April, he is now down to 4.65 after finally grabbing his first win of the season last night in Colorado.  He has given up 3 or fewer earned runs in 6 of his 10 starts, including the last 3.  Not bad at all.  Maybe he has righted the ship.  I say still give it time.  Consistency.  That's what I want to see.  I'll throw him a rope, for now.  If things go south in June for him, expect the call from me to ask for his release.  You can only give a guy so many chances to prove his worthiness before it starts hurting your team's chances. For now, he's ok though.

Josh Collmenter - Got roughed up a bit yesterday in Colorado, giving up 5 runs but only two of them were earned.  His first couple of starts were fantastic.  His relief appearances were fantastic too.  His first start he won 1-0 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  ERA at 1.19 after yesterday.  Until then it was below 1.00.  We'll see how he bounces back after his first rough outing.