The 2014 season saw pitcher after pitcher bust out of the woodwork into the national spotlight.

Names like wFB. He also he also had the third-highest average velocity behind his fastball, at 93.1 mph, among all left-handed starters. Duffy has improved his command and off-speed stuff, but his upside is quite simple. Power left-handed arms don’t grow on trees, let alone find starting rotations.

Danny Salazar

I wrote up on Indians season preview, talking him up as the staff’s potential ace. We can just ignore that I looked right past Kluber, if it’s okay with you guys. Salazar, however, was a tremendous flop. He posted a 4.25 ERA, alongside a 87 ERA+, during his injury-plagued sophomore season. However, being just 25 years old and under club control until 2020, there is still plenty to excited about with Salazar.

The first of which being his strikeout numbers. Despite struggling throughout the season, Salazar struck out over nine batters per nine innings in 2014, as well as garnering an 11% swinging strike percentage. The numbers also suggest that Salazar might have ran into some tough luck in 2014. His home run to fly ball ratio and line drive percentage both dropped in 2014 from his solid 2013 campaign, but Salazar still managed to have his BABIP jump 20 points. That should even itself out. However, improvement is going to have to be made by Salazar as well.

Salazar has electric stuff. His average fastball velocity sat at 94 miles per hour in 2014, slightly down from his 96 in 2013, but still very solid for a starter. The dip in velocity is a bit of a caution flag, but given his struggles with injury and the fact that he’s only 25, it isn't increasingly concerning. More than the dip in velocity, the lack of usage of his changeup was a major culprit in his regression. Salazar is a three-pitch pitcher, with his changeup being the most effective. For his career, his changeup has been his only pitch to grade out positively, according to wCH, at 2.9 runs above average, and yet he used it only 11% of the time in 2014, compared to 17% in 2013. It’s hard to be productive when he doesn't throw his best pitch, and if he gets back to his roots, he could very well be the pitcher the Indians envisioned him to be.

Aaron Sanchez

Jake McGee, anyone?), but it is encouraging that he at least has an average breaking ball ready. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if he received some Rookie of the Year votes in 2015.