For about as long as I’ve been with ATVS, the conversation in every baseball preview with regards to the starting pitching has kinda sounded the same: “boy on paper this is a talented bunch but...”
More often than not the “but” has ended up outweighing the hype. Jaden Hill couldn’t stay healthy in 2021. In 2022 Ma’Khail Hilliard did yeoman’s work as a Friday night guy but in reality was either at best an overqualified Sunday starter or at worst a perfectly “fine” Saturday starter. The 2023 team, of course, had a tremendous 1-2 punch with Paul Skenes and Ty Floyd, but Sundays ended up being a little dicy with Grant Taylor and Chase Shores both having to get Tommy John surgery at different points in the calendar; last season Luke Homan and Gage Jump ended up being a pretty good duo, but Thatcher Hurd being unable to live up to the promise he showed in Omaha on a consistent basis ended up being really costly.