Finishing out the rotation projections is maybe the biggest x-factor of the bunch, Adam Loewen. Loewen has just 22 games of big league experience under his belt, and had a few games where he was really good. Overall it wasn't very pretty, but he certainly fared better than Hayden Penn, and they're close in age.
So Loewen, at 23 on April 9, is penciled in as the fifth starter in the rotation. There are no sure bets in baseball, and there are certainly no sure bets in the Orioles rotation, but Loewen is really, really not a sure bet. As much as I love trading Rodrigo Lopez because he sucks and I don't like him, having a pitcher of Lopez's stature around -- not Lopez, mind you -- would have been nice insurance for the fact that Loewen might not be ready to take the ball every fifth day and give you six innings. In fact, I'm almost sure he's not. But a boy can dream.
Last year:
IP ERA WHIP K BB HR
112.3 5.37 1.54 98 62 8
And that is the line again: IP, ERA, WHIP, K, BB, HR