It's the doldrums of winter and although depth charts are not solidified, we have a general idea of what starters are penciled into the fifth starter spot. Fifth starters can be differentiators, though most of the time, they end up changing roles, being demoted, or splitting time with younger, higher-ceiling pitchers.

Taking a look at the 2016 American League fifth starters, there's some good, some bad, and some ugly. Last season, these players averaged 88 innings pitched and in total, the fifteen pitchers amassed 13.3 FanGraphs WAR. Keep in mind that "fifth starter" isn't really a job, so if you think one of these guys is the team's "fourth starter," you might be right.

Last year, the best of the 2016 projected fifth starters was Jesse Chavez, who put up 2.3 WAR in 157 innings. At age 31, Chavez put up his most productive season ever and threw the most innings of any season in his career.

The worst pitcher on our list last year was Mike Wright, who is penciled into the fifth starter spot for Baltimore. In 44 innings, he cost the Orioles 0.3 WAR (a -0.3 fWAR). Wright had a tough introduction in his 2015 rookie season and he is projected for only about 45 innings going into this season as well.

Matt Shoemaker led the starters in giving up the longball allowing 24 home runs in 135 innings but still managed a 0.9 fWAR. Rich Hill is an interesting case, as he is the Athletics fifth starter and will earn $6 million this season despite only making four starts and throwing 29 innings (for a bit more reading on Hill, I chronicled the A's contract Rich HIll in November).

The 2016 Steamer projections expect a slight increase in performance from these pitchers and an additional 300 innings pitched.

Name Team IP ERA GS G H ER HR SO BB WHIP K/9 BB/9 FIP WAR RA9-WAR Mike Wright Orioles 45 4.73 8 8 47 23 7 31 15 1.4 6.23 3.02 4.98 0.2 0.3 Scott Feldman Astros 48 4.55 8 8 52 24 6 30 14 1.37 5.7 2.59 4.49 0.4 0.3 Cody Anderson Indians 75 4.43 13 13 81 37 10 46 23 1.38 5.55 2.74 4.66 0.4 0.5 James Paxton Mariners 72 4.11 13 13 71 33 7 57 27 1.36 7.09 3.41 4.09 0.8 0.6 Erik Johnson White Sox 119 4.71 21 21 121 62 19 97 51 1.44 7.33 3.82 4.9 0.5 0.7 Joe Kelly Red Sox 81 3.73 6 51 79 34 8 70 27 1.3 7.7 2.95 3.75 0.7 0.9 Matt Shoemaker Angels 80 3.77 11 26 78 33 10 64 18 1.21 7.19 2.03 3.98 0.7 0.9 Tommy Milone Twins 92 4.1 16 16 95 42 12 69 25 1.31 6.76 2.46 4.23 0.9 1.2 Daniel Norris Tigers 132 4.3 24 24 128 63 17 110 54 1.39 7.54 3.72 4.47 1 1.3 Danny Duffy Royals 117 3.93 21 21 113 51 15 90 44 1.34 6.9 3.35 4.46 0.8 1.6 Matt Moore Rays 118 3.8 21 21 108 50 13 105 44 1.29 8.04 3.35 4.04 1.3 1.6 Jesse Chavez Blue Jays 140 3.89 24 24 136 61 18 122 42 1.27 7.81 2.71 4.09 1.8 2.1 Rich Hill Athletics 181 3.97 29 29 161 80 18 176 83 1.35 8.76 4.15 4 2.2 2.1 Luis Severino Yankees 161 3.86 28 28 152 69 19 143 54 1.28 7.99 3.02 4.03 2.3 2.5 Martin Perez Rangers 172 4.03 29 29 180 77 17 121 52 1.35 6.35 2.72 4.03 2.4 2.5

In addition to Chavez and Hill, there are two other pitchers projected for two or more wins. The Yankees and Rangers look to be in good shape with their fifth starters as both Luis Severino and Martin Perez are projected by Steamer to put up 2.5 WAR.

Severino is only 21 years old, and in his rookie campaign, tossed 62.1 innings and struck out 56 batters. Perez is 24 and put up his best season to date in 2015.

Thursday we'll take a look at the National League fifth starters to identify some teams who may have an advantage. We'll track these players and see how their 2016 matches up with the Steamer projections, and whether or not they ended up being their team's fifth starter.

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Steven Martano is an Editor at Beyond the Box Score and a Contributing Prospect Writer for the Colorado Rockies at Purple Row. You can follow him on Twitter at @SMartano.