Neftali Feliz
Derek Holland
Thomas Diamond
Michael Ballard
Eric Hurley
All of them are projected top of the rotation guys who should be up in the next 2 years at some point. Hurley already has been up, but he is having shoulder surgery and will be out this year.
There are several guys below that, who are projected strong 3's and 4's, who will make a more immediate impact, such as...
Matt Harrison
Tommy Hunter
Brandon McCarthy (when healthy)
Scott Feldman
Kason Gabbard (who I think was moved to the bullpen)
AJ Murray
Kasey Kiker
Blake Beaven (He's only 19, so another 3 years or so for him)
Out of those, Feldman, McCarthy, and Harrison will join Millwood and Padilla in the opening day rotation this year
The main thing this year is just to keep the pitchers healthy. We started 18 different pitchers last year because of all the damn injuries. You can't put that many different pitchers on the mound and win consistently. Mike Maddux took over as pitching coach this year, and apparently worked closely with Nolan Ryan in coming up with a tougher conditioning program for the pitchers, so we'll see how much of it was conditioning and how much was just bad luck. I've heard only great things about Maddux's ability as a pitching coach, so hopefully he lives up to that. And of course, as a Rangers' fan, any time you can get Nolan Ryan involved, it's a plus.
Padilla also needs to step up like he did at the beginning of last year and establish himself as the ace of the staff. He had an ERA just above 3 at the all-star break last year, so he's obviously capable of doing so. Millwood has come to camp in shape and looks completely different than last year. You're no longer dealing with the blob at pitcher every 5th day. If he can pitch like he's capable of, he's a mid-3's ERA guy.
Like I said before, with our offense, our pitching just has to keep us afloat. We're going to put up 5 runs a game on a consistent basis, so it's just a matter of the pitching being serviceable.
