RealGM

Would Marcum be a true #1 starter on most teams?
Also wondering if he's that good of a pitcher or, due to his year off, teams don't have a "book" on him yet and haven't seen much of him.

A few years ago, people were saying he would be a better version of Josh Towers. That certainly isn't great praise.

Just wondering what your thoughts would be.

#2 easily on most teams, but #1 I dunno.

I think stuff wise he's closer to a #3 but with his make up and including his intangibles make him a front of the rotation starter. However I think on a world series contender, Marcum should be at best your #2 or #3. So I guess my answer to your question is on this team he is a #1 by declaration and you hope someone like Romero or Cecil or Morrow can take over the true #1 role.

As I posted in the last game series thread, I think he's a legitimate number 2 at the moment. He had a dominant season before his injury, and he hasn't missed a beat this year.

We need to see him in some more important games vs. the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays to anoint him a true number 1, but his numbers certainly back it up to this point.

Being that he hadn't pitched since '08 I would say that it was by declaration. At the same token I do believe he is a legit #1. In Toronto we've been spoiled with Cy Young contenders for a very long time so maybe our bar is bit higher.

I do agree with soulchild_07 that he's not going to be a #1 for a World Series contender but most teams aren't World Series contenders.

I still just can't wrap my head around the fact that our #1 isn't always going to be as good as Halladay or at least be a Halladay-esque pitcher.

We've consistently had awesome #1's for a long time. Halladay, Clemens, Hentgen (for his Cy years), Steib, David Wells, Jack Morris, hell..even to a lesser extent, Todd Stottlemyer, Juan Guzman, and Doyle Alexander

People keep underrating him. Probably because he doesn't throw 95 mph.

Based on how he's pitched during his career thus far, he's at worst a #2 starter. If he's your #3 then you have one hell of a pitching staff and he could easily be the #1 guy on a lot of staffs.