Miguel Gonzalez among reasons O's rotation is better than some might think

The terms "underrated" or "under the radar" are subjective and difficult to define, but they seem to fit well in describing the Orioles rotation, especially Miguel Gonzalez, who has two wins and a 2.55 ERA in his first three starts.

The Orioles are seldom mentioned with the best rotations, even though their starters had the fifth-lowest ERA in the American League last season. The problem is they haven't had a serious Cy Young contender and the rotation doesn't have blazing fastballs or big-time strikeout totals. And track records are thin.

Nationally, the Orioles are defined by pitching prospects Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey. Also, the story with the Orioles is how Dan Duquette and Buck Showalter have turned the franchise into a winner.

But that could change this season.

Gonzalez, who has five different pitches, also has ERAs of 3.25, 3.78 and 3.23 in his first three Orioles seasons, but goes unnoticed because he has never come close to 200 innings in a season (171 1/3 is his career best). He didn't come up until he was 28 and last season, he was even sent to the minors for a stint. Granted it was a numbers game and it didn't reflect on how well Gonzalez was pitching, but still, that might be the view from the outside.

Other pitchers are in similar situations: The White Sox's Jose Quintana is pitching in the shadow of Chris Sale and who knew that Quintana's ERAs in the last three seasons have been 3.75, 3.51 and 3.32? Cincinnati's Mike Leake, off to a slow start this season, has had ERAs of less than 4.00 in three of his last four seasons, pitching in a rotation that has Johnny Cueto, a 20-game winner and NL Cy Young candidate last season, and big-money starter Homer Bailey. And then there's the Mets' Jonathon Niese, whose worst ERA in the last three seasons is 3.71.

Other thoughts:

* Detroit's fast start, which has come without the help of injured pitcher Justin Verlander (right triceps), has a Nationals twist to it. Perhaps the Tigers are making up for the lopsided trade they made when they let Doug Fister go to the Nationals in a deal that brought them infielder Steve Lombardozzi, reliever Ian Krol and pitching prospect Robbie Ray before the 2014 season.

Krol, a lefty, is the only one left from the trade with the Tigers. He'll likely help their bullpen, but still, the Tigers got fleeced. Ray made one good start for the Tigers, but then general manager Dave Dombrowski traded him to Arizona in a three-team trade that brought Shane Greene to Detroit and sent shortstop Didi Gregorius to the Yankees.

Gregorius is struggling trying to replace the retired Derek Jeter, and the Yankees would certainly like to have Greene, which would give them one less question in their rotation.

Greene is a sinkerball pitcher who is 3-0 with a 0.39 ERA and a 0.74 WHIP and appears to be a building block for the Tigers rotation. The Tigers will use the money they saved on Max Scherzer, who got $210 million from the Nationals, and Fister, likely to get $100 million-plus after this season as a free agent, in and attempt to sign lefty David Price. The Tigers hope that Price, Anibal Sanchez and Greene will anchor their rotation for years to come. Also, the Tigers acquired Yoenis Cespedes from Boston for pitcher Rick Porcello, who ended up signing for $82 million with the Red Sox. In a sense, the Tigers are rebuilding and reloading at the same time.

* Unpredictability is the reason baseball is fun. Think about this. The Twins got off to a 1-5 start on the road with an offense, outside of Joe Mauer, that looked horrible. They lost one pitcher to an injury (Ricky Nolasco) and another (Ervin Santana) to a PED suspension. So what happens? The Twins return home and take two of three from Kansas City, the hottest team in baseball at the time. Then, they beat Cory Kluber, the AL's Cy Young winner in 2014, and win another series from Cleveland.

The one pitcher that beat the Twins was the Indians' Danny Salazar, 25, who was sent to the minors to start the season, but came back and flashed excellent command of a fastball that hit 99 mph and a split-finger that hit 87 mph. Salazar struck out 10 Twins in six innings.

* Pete Rose, the all-time hits leader who has been banned from baseball because of gambling, is returning to FOX TV as an analyst. It's a good public relations move for Rose, who has applied to commissioner Rob Manfred for reinstatement. Major League Baseball has no way to stop Rose from working with FOX, although the network alerted MLB that it was bringing on Rose. Fans are going to enjoy Rose's knowledge of the game. Even though he has been banned, he follows the game closely. He might be the most passionate fan in the country. When reporters call him, he asks them more questions about the game than they ask him. It's one thing to know the big stories, but Rose, in a split-second, could analyze something as obscure as the Rockies bullpen. Suffice to say, he follows every team down to the 25th man.

By the way, Orioles Hall of Famer Jim Palmer thinks that Rose should be in the Hall of Fame, given that Rose never bet on baseball as a player. And another Hall of Famer, Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg, agrees that Rose should be in Cooperstown.

"He's suffered long enough," Sandberg says. "The point has been made of what can happen if you're caught gambling on baseball.''

In a sense, Rose can use FOX to campaign for reinstatement. When fans see his passion for and knowledge of the game, it's going to present him in a softer light. Maybe that will help with Manfred.

* Speaking of good pitching and teams that dominate, how about the St. Louis Cardinals? Their rotation leads the National League with a 1.92 ERA as they come to D.C. Tuesday to open a three-game series against the Nationals. The Nationals rotation is at 3.28. The Cardinals have pitched well despite a wild first week with two off-days and a rainout. John Lackey has the Cardinals' highest ERA at 2.77, Adam Wainwright the highest WHIP at 1.10. Michael Wacha, a postseason hero in 2013, is coming back well from last season's injuries. Lance Lynn is set for a monster season and Carlos Martinez, a high-end prospect with an electric fastball, can develop at a good pace without expectations. With their weekend series win against Cincinnati, the Cardinals have beaten the Reds in 14 consecutive three-game series.