The real shame of this shutdown: It wrecks anticipation over the Scranton Railriders rotation

Some folks are whining about how this virus is ruining the economy, killing millions, launching civil unrest and undermining fundamental human interactions. Not me. That said, I do find one thing particularly galling: 

This goddam pandemic has absolutely wrecked all anticipation over the 2020 Railriders' starting rotation.

Heading into spring training, MLB carried two major 2020 story lines: Could the Yankees win the world series?, and, How 'bout that Scranton rotation! 

The first question was easily answered: No, because their gonadal-tweaking stars were still folding like lawn chairs. But the second matter still brought hope... until... poof.

Here's where everything stood in the Scranton rotation, before time stopped and everybody went home. This might be all we get from Wilkes Barre's lost year. 

Clarke Schmidt became the ace of Moosic. He finished with a 2.57 ERA, the kind of season of which we dreamed. He was also a tireless warrior: 7 innings! I don't think anybody expected such a workload, especially from a pitcher recovering from Tommy John surgery. But Schmidt never looked back. He would have contended for the International League Cy Young Award.

Jonathan Loaisiga formed a one-two punch that guaranteed Scranton a shot for the Governor's Cup. He finished with an ERA of 2.70, and proved to be the workhorse of the Railriders: 10 innings!

Then there was Luis Cessa. What can I say about Luis Cessa that hasn't been said before. Wait: here's something: He pitched well! A 2.89 ERA over 9 and a third innings. He'd be the No. 3 starter on the SWB staff - a veritable Maddox/Glavine/Smoltz of Triple A.

After that, though, things became sticky. Despite being blogger-ballyhooed, Michael King didn't impress - finished at 3.86 over 9 innings. Albert Abreu (5.40 ERA), Adonis Rosa (6.00), and Deivi Gracia (7.36) suffered off-years. (I'm assuming Jordan Montgomery pitched for the mother ship.) And, of course, who can forget Kaleb Ort? Old No. 88 pitched to a 27.00 ERA - I won't sugarcoat it; that's not good - though we should note the relatively small sample size. He pitched one inning.

Ahh, remembering the hype of that famous Scranton rotation, back in February of 2020. Those were the days...