For starters, another look at the rotation

Stop me if you've heard this one before: The Orioles will go as far as their rotation will take them.

We seem to say it about every year and it's pretty much true just about every year. So on the first day of 2017, let's say it here for the first of many times it will said and written, both before and during next season.

Along those lines, can the O's rotation be better next season? Of course it can and maybe there were signs in the second half of last season that it actually will be.

At the All-Star break last July, the O's starters had an ERA of 5.15. In the second half, that number was 4.24. Over a full year, a rotation pitching to an ERA of 4.24 would have ranked fourth in the American League in 2016.

But overall, the rotation fared poorly last year:
* 4.72 ERA (13th in AL)
* 886 innings (12th in AL)
* 1.41 WHIP (13th in AL)
* .266 batting average against (11th in AL)

So there is room for improvement. Plenty of it. The O's fans certainly have big hopes for a front three of Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.77 ERA), Kevin Gausman (9-12, 3.61 ERA) and Dylan Bundy (10-6, 4.02 ERA). They have concerns about the next three, the veteran group of Ubaldo Jimenez (8-12, 5.44 ERA), Yovani Gallardo (6-8, 5.42 ERA) and Wade Miley (2-5, 6.17 ERA).

Last year, the Orioles went 44-30 (.595) in games started by Tillman, Gausman and Bundy. They went 29-30 (.492) in games started by Jimenez, Gallardo and Miley. They had three others make starts and went 16-13 (.552) in starts by Mike Wright, Tyler Wilson and Vance Worley.

In signing Gallardo before last year, the O's added a pitcher that had worked to an ERA exactly two runs less, at 3.42, the previous season with Texas and one that had pitched 180 innings or more seven straight seasons. But he had shoulder issues, spent time on the disabled list and never looked like the 2015 Gallardo. A bounceback season here would be huge for the rotation.

Miley had an ERA of 8.41 in his first eight starts with the Orioles, but pitched to an ERA of 1.23 over his last three starts with two walks and 23 strikeouts. The Orioles would probably be thrilled if he could pitch at or near his career 4.18 ERA starting in April.

Jimenez pitched to an ERA of 2.45 with a WHIP of 0.86 over his last seven starts of the year, starting Aug. 25. From that date, he allowed a batting average against of just .170, which was the lowest in the majors during that span. But going into that span, his ERA was 6.94. You just never seem to know what you are going to get from Ubaldo. Volatility is the word and that is not comforting for fans of the team.

Those top three starters provide both hope for the present but specifically with Gausman and Bundy - hope for the future as well. If they continue to move toward potential ace status the O's could have two young-gun right-handers to head their rotation for years to come.

When you look at the Orioles for next year and start with the starters, what do you see?