how good/bad is the dodgers' pitching staff?

in light of the manny debacle, i've had to address a variation of the following question countless times:

"what do you think of the dodgers' chances without manny for 50 games?"

there are a number of ways to address this question. the quickest and easiest answer goes something like the following:

the dodgers play in a division where AAA team could play .500 ball. so personally, i'm not getting my panties in a bunch. although the beloved blue have played sub .500 ball since the suspension, i would bet my left nut that they lead the division by the time man-ram returns. if they aren't, i'll have to follow the lead that our beloved heroes have set before me and start increasing my testosterone intake as i ice my one remaining testicle.

but i sincerely doubt i will be voluntarily castrating myself in 2 months time for another reason. the pitching staff is good. not "zack greinke" good , but good.

here are some pitching stats as of May 11, 2009.

Runs Allowed: 127 (2nd in MLB)

Earned Runs Average: 3.77 (2nd in MLB)

Walks + Hits per inning: 1.25 (1st in MLB)

Strikeouts per 9 innings: 7.56 (7th in MLB)

Strikeout/Walk Ratio: 2.06 (7th in MLB)

HR per 9 innings: 0.67 (1st in MLB)

Field Independent Pitching: 3.88 (3rd in MLB)

upon first glance, one could easily presume that the pitching rotation is awesome. however, i am a little less than convinced by the numbers. 

the dodgers' pitching staff also boasts the lowest BABIP (batting average of balls put in play) at .279, the 7th highest strand rate at 72.8%, and a HR/Fly Ball ratio of 6.7%.  all of those aforementioned numbers are nearly unsustainable and are likely to regress. but even if that occurs, that still leaves the blue crew with a pitching staff that will rank in the top 10 in nearly every controllable category. and the young arms are what will keep the dodgers afloat, because aside from missing the the on-base machine known as manny, the defense has resembled a partial birth abortion. according to fangraphs, the dodgers trot out the 3rd worst fielding team in all of baseball.

with that stated, calm down dodger fans. things will be fine. not great, but fine. expect some quality .500 baseball in the upcoming months courtesy of some quality pitching.