4 Sixth Starters Who Could Be Great in 2023
As of right now, these four are penciled to be the sixth man (or at least in contention for that sixth spot) in their team’s respective rotations. Given that it’s mid-December, these situations are all subject to change so one or more of them could break camp with a rotation spot in hand. Even if they don’t, they could be the first man up when someone goes down. And I’m not trying to be pessimistic, it’s always “when”, not “if” as teams simply don’t use the same five starters for an entire season.
Hunter Brown | HOU
The 24-year-old had a brilliant breakthrough season with a 2.55 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 21% K-BB rate in 106 innings at Triple-A along with a nice cup of coffee in the major (0.89 ERA in 20 IP). He has premium heat (96.7 mph fastball) and two solid breaking balls that has helped him consistently miss bats throughout his minor league ascent, netting a 31% K rate in 230 innings. He does have a 12% BB rate, too, so there is some control sketchiness to iron out, though he was down to 10% in AAA/MLB this year. Brown also has fantastic groundball rates throughout his career, including a 54% at Triple-A and then a bananas 68% mark in his MLB sample.
