6 Man Rotation?

[Gopher74]

Hey, I was just kinda mulling over the options the Brewers have right now with Yo coming off the DL, and one idea that kinda hit me that may not be a terrible idea is to go with a 6 man rotation for a stretch.

 

Now you could work things out within that, possibly by having Sheets start on normal rest, and then everyone else kinda adjusting to that, or even holding Sheets to 5 days rest.

 

The upside to me is that you put a lot less stress on everyone's arm, namely Parra, Gallardo and Villanueva. You also have 6 solid big league pitchers, and while Bush hasn't had great results, I think we all know that he's at least a very good number 5 pitcher in the big leagues who's not going to walk people like he has thus far. His numbers have also been skewed as he's gotten very poor defense in his first two starts resulting in 4 ER's crossing the plate that should not have with just average OF defense. This of course has made his numbers look much worse and been the catalyst for everyone calling for his head.

 

Sheets could also benefit from a extra day of rest, but again, I don't know if that would make the most sense. Hell, if you wanted, you could even have Sheets AND Yo working on normal rest and then kinda work around it with the others.

 

Now for those who would say that the BP would be short a man, you could easily have one guy designated to pitch in the pen should he be needed each night. You'd have guys going 6-7 days without getting a start. They could throw out of the pen two-three days after their start to stay sharp and get some work, and save the Bullpen.

 

 

It's kinda a far out idea that's not likely to gain any traction, but just for the sake of argument, think about it for a second. I think it's one of those things that would actually help this team quite a bit.

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

I see the validity of your argument but we hardly have 5 good pitchers none the less 6. If a pitcher isn't ready to pitch every 5 days then they shouldn't be in a big league rotation. How did the rotations start going from 3 to 4 and then 4 to 5?

[Gopher74]

I see the validity of your argument but we hardly have 5 good pitchers none the less 6. If a pitcher isn't ready to pitch every 5 days then they shouldn't be in a big league rotation. How did the rotations start going from 3 to 4 and then 4 to 5?

I don't think anyone's said that a pitcher isn't ready to, just that it's not smart to throw Parra out there for 200 innings this year, and that our rotation may benefit from this later in the year. I'm not suggesting that we go with a 6 man rotation through the ASB or anything..which I should have clarified. Just for the next 4-6 weeks perhaps.

 

And I don't think there is much difference at all from pitchers 3-6 in our rotation, and all of them are viable big league starters IMO.

 

[TuesdaysWithRillo]

just that it's not smart to throw Parra out there for 200 innings this year

There is no way Parra will throw for 200 innings this year even if he's in the rotation the whole year (which he won't be). He has been and will be on strict pitch counts. I wouldn't worry about that at all.

[monty57]

There is no way Parra will throw for 200 innings this year even if he's in the rotation the whole year (which he won't be). He has been and will be on strict pitch counts. I wouldn't worry about that at all.

 

The reason that the Brewers' bullpen fell apart last year was overuse, and that trend is continuing this year. If the starters can't go more than 5-6 innings a night, it's going to be a long season. The BP has been great so far, but they will wear down with this kind of overuse. If the Brewers had 2 or 3 guys that consistently pitched into the 7th inning, I would be fine with having a guy in the rotation on a strict pitch count. Maybe Sheets will be healthy and Yo will pitch late into games consistently. If not, then I'd rather see Parra and his strict pitch counts sent to AAA then see the BP go through what it went through last year.

[Gopher74]

just that it's not smart to throw Parra out there for 200 innings this year

There is no way Parra will throw for 200 innings this year even if he's in the rotation the whole year (which he won't be). He has been and will be on strict pitch counts. I wouldn't worry about that at all.

Alright, it was an example. You said that if a pitcher isn't ready to pitch every five days, they shouldn't be in the rotation.

 

But, for the record, if things don't change and he stays in the rotation all year long and they don't skip any starts, how far away do you think he's going to be? I'd assume he's going to start going deeper in games. If they don't change anything, he could get real close.

 

And what has his strict pitch count been? He's been more on a "giving up too many runs" count. His first start he went 100 pitches and got yanked because he was starting to get hit. I'm sure he's on a pitch count as are all pitchers, but I don't think anyone knows what that is, or if it's any less than our other young starters, so that's not going to do a whole lot to limit innings.

[brewjihad]

I kind of like it, and it definitely has occurred to me that a six-man rotation might be a good idea for a little while at least. I was kinda upset with Ned for overextending Sheets in back-to-back starts with over 110 pitches. As you mentioned, it would hurt to get less days of Sheets but I'm always a proponent of new ideas that seem a little crazy at first.

 

There are 13 pitchers on the staff now, so with Gallardo activated there will still be 13, which would keep right number of pitchers, and as previously mentioned, a starter could be used in relief like the Yankees did a few times last year.

 

It's just a thought that is a decent idea. Not a slam dunk or anything, just something to throw out there.