Luckily for the Tampa Bay Rays, their pipeline of pitching prospects did not run thin entering this season. Nate Karns was an older prospect, but one with tremendous stuff. Alex Colome had shown flashes for years and his opportunity had finally come. Matt Andriese was a step back from that pair, but even he showed the arsenal, command, and deception to be an effective big league starting pitcher. The Rays still had starting depth, and that proved so critical when the injuries struck.
However there is something missing when we discuss those three pitchers: the wow factor.