During the 2018 season, somewhat surprisingly, the starting rotation wound up being a strong point for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jameson Taillon emerged as an ace, Trevor Williams put together a great season capped off by a historically good second half, and Joe Musgrove emerged as a strong middle of the rotation arm. Additionally, the team added former Tampa Bay ace Chris Archer at the non-waiver trade deadline in July.
With these four and innings eating veteran Ivan Nova all set to return in 2019, it comes as no surprise that the Pirate rotation projects to be a strong point for the team.