after thinking about it... i understand your issue a little better.
i have smaller hands and i typically hit esc, tab, brackets, delete, (upper two rows, outermost column or two) with my ring fingers by moving my hands slightly. i really only use my pinky on the bottom 3 rows...
BUT, i use a split keyboard so the rotation isn't that much of an issue because my hands are not that close together. so, it's more of a move up and out instead of rotating outward (which would be an issue).
here's another idea, shifting half of the punctuation to the other side.... since most of the keys you were mentioning were on the right side. though, it's pretty much the same position, mirrored for the other hand....
you could also shift the alpha block outward a column on each side and put the punctuation stuff in the middle. your hand position would get a little wider, shifting you hands outward in a resting position.
never understood why the most used modifier is on the outermost bottom corners either (ctrl, on pc/windows).