The Los Angeles Angels 2013 Starting Rotation According to Bill James

Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2013 Los Angeles Angels starting rotation according to Bill James.

Bill James. You know him, right? Kind of changed baseball as we know it. He was the pink elephant in the room during Moneyball. They even flashed a photo of him briefly. No?

Anyways, Mr. James and Baseball Info Solutions have released their 2013 projections. Here’s the Los Angeles Angels 2013 starting rotation projections for ERA and FIP.

The projections, which you can order here, offer up some other interesting projections. Jason Vargas is projected to pitch 205 innings and thus be the innings-eater the Angels and Jerry Dipoto are hoping him to be. While Tommy Hanson is projected to give the Angels only 160 innings, well off from his career best 202 innings pitched in 2010. However, they also project his ERA to drop nearly a full run from 2012. Apparently, the projections see Hanson’s dismal 2012 campaign a bit of an outlier.

Joe Blanton‘s 4.10 ERA would be his lowest since 2009 and the third best of his career since entering the majors as a full-time starter in 2005. While Jered Weaver‘s 3.07 ERA would be his highest since 2009 which makes sense considering the rather high difference between his xFIP and his ERA the past couple years.

James projections are the first to be released for the 2013 season. If you would like to see more projections , check out Fangraphs’ player cards.