In case you haven't heard, the Reds improved their starting pitching by acquiring Mat Latos. What's the impact?
At a very basic level, I think this is around a 4-win move for the Reds. This is the sum of Latos' addition and Volquez' subtraction. He instantly becomes the best strikeout pitcher and one of the best at keeping the ball in the park. He a little bit better than league average in walks but the 2010 Reds starters with 100 IP were also better than average.
I think he ends up complimenting the existing staff nicely. We would still benefit from adding another good starting pitcher and replacing Arroyo's dreadful 2011 with at least league average (note, this could come from Arroyo simply being better.)
How do you think Latos will impact the 2012 starting pitching?
As a visual, here's how Latos compares to Cueto and Leake:
And how he compares to Bailey and Arroyo: