Can Orioles rotation match 2014 starters?

New year, same rotation.

For the Orioles, the same five starters that begin 2015 with the club will very likely be the same five that ended 2014 there - unless Ubaldo Jimenez works his way into the top five.

Either way, the rotation returns basically intact. No new additions. No trades were needed to try to improve the starting five. That is a good thing. Of all aspects of play the Orioles would like to duplicate from last year, the rotation's performance would rank high on the list.

The Orioles pitching staff ranked third in the league in team ERA and fifth in starters' ERA, both very solid numbers. The staff really turned it on in the second half, when the rotation ERA was 2.98.

With a similar performance to last season, this year's Orioles should have a strong shot at 90-plus wins and be a solid American League East contender.

With a worse performance, that becomes a challenge and they have to pick up a lot of slack somewhere else.

With a better performance, they may have another shot at mid-90s wins or more and may well be the best team in the AL East.

It's all about the pitching, as usual.

Orioles rotation by month in 2014:

April: 4.74 ERA, eight quality starts, team was 12-12.
May: 4.29 ERA, 12 quality starts, team was 15-15.
June: 3.47 ERA, 14 quality starts, team was 16-12.
July: 3.29 ERA, 14 quality starts, team was 17-8.
August: 3.44 ERA, 15 quality starts, team was 19-9.
September: 2.45 ERA, 15 quality starts, team was 17-10.

On June 6 last year, the Orioles were 30-29 and a season-high 6 1/2 games out of first place. Our message board here was filled with comments that the Orioles were simply a .500 team and no better.

They turned out to be much better and the rotation led the way. The Orioles went 44-24 (.647) after the All-Star break after going 52-42 (.553) before the break.

Second-half ERAs:

2.19 - Miguel Gonzalez
2.33 - Chris Tillman
2.76 - Wei-Yin Chen
3.27 - Bud Norris
3.72 - Kevin Gausman
5.96 - Ubaldo Jimenez

The Orioles went 11-1 in Tillman's last 12 regular season starts. Chen was 13-4 in 25 starts beginning May 9. In 13 starts beginning July 1, Gonzalez was 6-4 with a 2.09 ERA.

You can't win with just pitching, but it sure is hard to without it, and good pitching keeps you in games while you wait for the bats to produce.

Will the Orioles rotation be as good as it was in 2014?

Final note: Several readers made a suggestion on yesterday's blog - and even before that - about Jimenez. They had come up with a way to get him to the minor leagues even though he is out of options. The suggestion was to designate him for assignment and then if no team claims him (none would since they would have to take on that salary), they send him outright to the minors. This happens often as players are removed from the 40-man roster but remain in the organization.

But it was explained to me that any player with five-plus years of big league service time (Jimenez has 7.087) cannot be optioned or outrighted to a minor league club without their consent. Players just do not grant this consent and go to the minors if they do not have to.

So his service time will preclude the Orioles from trying to do this with Jimenez. If healthy, he will head north with the team. They could release him, but that seems very, very unlikely.