User blog comment:Zwann/Vasto Lordes in the Espada, let's analyze./@comment-1511643-20091018162401

But some of the top captains are also much stronger than a normal captain- Shunsui did better than Love and Rose combined, and they weren't just captains, but mask-using vizard captains.

Hitsugaya, Soi Fon, most of the vizard captains. I'd say these are average.

And for power increases- it might've been that pre-mask removal, Starrk would've found taking Love and Rose on at the same time quite difficult, but he wasn't having any problem with them. It might be that pre-mask removal, Soi Fon's second bankai shot would've done the job on Barragan, and the turning his power against him wouldn't have been necessary. It might be that Harribel, before was a bit more powerful than Hitsugaya but would've been killed by his attack, but now survived an attack far stronger than the one that finished Luppi with no visible damage.

Starrk looked several times a match for a basic captain to me. Any of the top espada could've been weakened and still have a small edge over a captain.

Let's also not forget that in an evolution, there are runts and there are exceptional examples.