Rotation Slot Definitions for 2011

With the Reds stated pursuit of starting pitching for the top of the rotation this off season and the recent acquisition Mat Latos, there has been lots of discussions in regard to the slotting of pitchers in the starting rotation. Many like to tag starting pitchers as being a #1, #2, #3, #4, or #5 starter to describe their level of ability as a starting pitcher. The trouble is, most really don’t have a clear understanding what a pitcher in each of those rotation slots really looks like. I’ve devised a method of defining what a pitcher in each of these rotation slots looks like that may hopefully clear up some confusion in future discussions of starting pitchers and the rotation slots that they are capable of filling. This is the method I used to define starting pitcher rotation slots. I first extracted all of the starting pitching statistics for the 2011 season. I then sorted the data for all pitchers in each league by ERA and then by XERA. Then, for each league, beg...