Starting Pitching for the Coming Weekâ?¦ Latest: Narveson to skip turn

[pebadger]

We know that the starters for the doubleheader tomorrow are Narveson and Greinke. I'm looking at the probables on ESPN and they have Estrada listed for Tuesday, but I haven't seen it confirmed anwhere. That makes sense, as otherwise Marcum would have to go on 4 days rest to pitch on Tuesday. Marcum would then pitch with the normal 5 days rest to finish the series in Pittsburgh on Wednesday

 

The mystery comes up later in the following homestand. With a day off on Thursday and then one the following Monday, it would seem like there is an opportunity to skip Narveson in there ad still have the top 4 guys on 5 days rest throughout the schedule. Will be interesting to see how they handle this. If they stay in order 1-5, that would leave Marcum with a full week off between starts (Wed vs the Pirates and then again the following Wed vs the Cards). Seems to me the best route would be to skip Narvy (possibly getting him some pen work if needed in that span to see if he may have a role there in the post-season) so as to throw Marcum, Wolf, Gallardo vs the Cards.

 

Will be interesting to see how they handle this. To my way of thinking you want the top 4 guys in their routine as much as possible.

[DHonks]

personally, I want them to get extra rest. Given our lead, I'd rather give them extra time now.

[pebadger]

Yeah, the other side of the argument is that if you do skip Narvy, he pitches tomorrow and then the next start would be September 4 in Houston. Which is also a long time for him to go without pitching, especially since he hasn't pitched since the last trip to Houston. Not really an optimal situation for him either.

[PrinceEatMeat]

Yeah, there's no way we skip Narveson with as big of lead as we have. I doubt we'll bother trying to play matchups at this point. Wolf, Gallardo, Greinke will go against the Cubs, and Narveson, Marcum, and Wolf against the Cards. That's not ideal matchups wise, but I don't think they'll skip Narveson. That sets up Marcum, Wolf, Gallardo for the second Cards series though. And Greinke, Narveson, Marcum, Wolf for the Phillies series. Somehow I just doubt they'll be looking at matchups with the lead they have.

[pebadger]

I wouldn't advocate for any strategy predicated on matchups, either. Just a matter of comfort zone for the guys in the rotation. Probably not tht big a deal for Marcum to be off 7 days (and the other guys 6, which is fairly normal with a normal day-off situation in the team schedule as he'll be right back on the 5 day rotation after that.

[obobo55]

It really does get interesting in the month of September with as many off-days as the team has. I went through the schedule and was trying not to have too much juggling and not any real long stretches of non-use and I ended up with 12 "extra day of rest" starts for our top 4 and only 4 starts for Narv/Estrada.

 

I don't know how an extra day or 2 extra days affects a starter. I will be very interested to see how they wind up the last week though in trying to set up the playoff rotation if they have it sewn up at that point.

[jimmyjeromehardy7]

Yeah, there's no way we skip Narveson with as big of lead as we have. I doubt we'll bother trying to play matchups at this point. Wolf, Gallardo, Greinke will go against the Cubs, and Narveson, Marcum, and Wolf against the Cards. That's not ideal matchups wise, but I don't think they'll skip Narveson. That sets up Marcum, Wolf, Gallardo for the second Cards series though. And Greinke, Narveson, Marcum, Wolf for the Phillies series. Somehow I just doubt they'll be looking at matchups with the lead they have.

I think RR said he planned to keep the 5 starters in line through the end of the season or until we need to align things for the playoffs. I wonder if they would use Narveson on Sunday vs. the Cubs and Greinke on Tuesday vs. the Cards. Since they both pitch today they have that option. Not sure if it would be ideal for Greinke to pitch Monday and then 8 days later is the only thing.

 

 

[markedman5]

Narveson is indeed being skipped

 

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/128318603.html

[ReverendBrewmeister]

With Narveson going to the pen until after the September 1 call ups, that puts 4 guys in the pen who can easily go multiple innings (Narveson, Estrada, De La Cruz, Dillard). It also means that the pitching staff with 4 starters and 9 relievers.

 

This situation sends the clear message to bring up at least one bat from AAA. This gives more options off the bench on offense. It also makes the player eligible for the playoffs. Basically, the Brewers would have a week to "preview" what managing the playoff roster would be like, with the notable exceptions of Gomez and Weeks [both on DL].

 

Either Dillard or De La Cruz should be dropped for either Gamel or Green before the Cubs series this weekend. I can't imagine Melvin and Roenicke actually going through August 31 with 13 pitchers, but some moves have been surprises before.