6 man rotation for next year?

[Animal100]

I was wondering what other people thought about going with a six man rotation for next year? If you assume our potential starting pitching candidate pool is Yo, Free agent, Estrada, Fiers, Peralta, and Rodgers, I think it may make some sense. Several of these guys still need to build endurance and I don't think they should be expected to go 175+ innings.

 

Obviously, I would be very hesitant to expect Rodgers to make a big innings jump, but I also have too much hope for him as a starter to move him to another role. Plus, I really think that with Narveson coming back from injury, that he should be the designated long reliever this year. Also, Fiers wouldn't admit it, but I think he lost his effectiveness the last 1/4 of the year because he had a tired arm. Would repeating a 150-170 innings year be a more effective way to builld up his arm strength that pushing him to 185+ next year?

 

I know it is more than likely that a club would use more than 5 starters in any given year, so normally a club will just move one guy to the pen or AAA until the injury happens, but what if an injury doesn't happen? Or, what if they make it to the stretch run before a guy goes down and then you don't have the guy from the bullpen stretched out for those critical games? Also, are the younger guys learning what they need to learn and building up enough endurance coming out of the pen? I think Rodgers is the only one who could benefit from more time in AAA, but he's out of options. In the Brewers particular case, I don't think that AAA provides any solutions to ease the log jam of good potential starters.

 

Can anyone speak to the benefits or negatives of a six man rotation when it has been tried at other clubs? Does it make it too difficult for starters to get on a roll because there is too much time between starts? Does it allow them to go longer in games because their arm has more recovery time? Would fewer than 185 innings per starter help prevent injury?

[TURBO]

I can't imagine that starting Yo and another free agent vet once every 6 days would go over very well with them... Imagine a FA being asked to come and join a 6 man rotation? Our chances of signing anyone with that notion would be about zero percent.

 

I applaud your creativity, but no way should we even consider this idea in the real world.

[jerichoholicninja]

Seems kind of pointless when Yo and the free agent are good for 30+ starts and 200+ innings and Estrada should be good for almost a full season's workload. Maybe something where keep Yo and the free agent on a regular 5 day schedule but use the other 4 in a mini-rotation where they fill in the rest of the days.

[Animal100]

I could understand a free agent being upset about pitching less if they were a Cy Young candidate or had a ligitimate shot at a significant individual accolade, but otherwise why would they be so upset about a slightly lesser workload? The free agent would still get paid their market value at the time of signing, and they would potentially have less wear and tear on their arm for future contracts. I also doubt pitching five fewer games a year would lower their market value once their contract expires. I can understand being a competetive person and wanting to play as much as possible, but a part of the reason a free agent would decide to sign here is because they would recognize that we have some young talent on the team which will need to fill a significant role in order for this team to make the playoffs.

 

Besides, if it turns out that one of the new guys just can't cut it in the rotation (or gets hurt), then you go back to a conventional 5 man rotation. Easier to start the season that way that transition a bullpen guy to the rotation at some point down the road...

[stoutdude04]

"but otherwise why would they be so upset about a slightly lesser workload?"

 

Like someone smarter before me once said...Its all about the Benjies!

 

Plus, I would prefer we have our best pitchers pitching as much as possible.

[monty57]

I could understand a free agent being upset about pitching less if they were a Cy Young candidate or had a ligitimate shot at a significant individual accolade, but otherwise why would they be so upset about a slightly lesser workload? The free agent would still get paid their market value at the time of signing, and they would potentially have less wear and tear on their arm for future contracts. I also doubt pitching five fewer games a year would lower their market value once their contract expires. I can understand being a competetive person and wanting to play as much as possible, but a part of the reason a free agent would decide to sign here is because they would recognize that we have some young talent on the team which will need to fill a significant role in order for this team to make the playoffs.

 

Besides, if it turns out that one of the new guys just can't cut it in the rotation (or gets hurt), then you go back to a conventional 5 man rotation. Easier to start the season that way that transition a bullpen guy to the rotation at some point down the road...

 

Five starts is about 15.6% of a starting pitcher's projected workload. That's roughly the equivalent of asking an everyday player to sit out around 25 games.

 

First, it hurts the team, as you would presumably sign a free agent who is better than the guy he's replacing, so you would limit starts by better pitchers to add starts by worse pitchers. The 25 or so starts going to the 6th guy are directly taken away from the five better pitchers (Gallardo, Fiers, the free agent, etc).

 

Second, the players want to play and they want to put up numbers. Braun would have a hard time shooting for the MVP if you asked him to sit the bench for 25 games, and a starting pitcher would have a hard time posting 20 wins or notching 200 k's if you only let him start 25 times in a season.

 

The fact that we have "extra" pitchers is why I'm a bit confused that so many are saying we absolutely need to acquire a veteran starter for the rotation. However, if we do acquire a veteran starting pitcher (without giving up one of our other MLB starters) then I really hope he is expected to pitch every fifth day.

[JohnBriggs12]

If the Brewers do sign a FA vet, they have some tough decisions regarding their rotation. As I see it, right now they have enough solid arms to man the 3-5 spots in the rotation. If they lack anything in the rotation, it's the guy to pair with Yo at the top of the rotation. Some of the names linked to them could do that, but they'd come at a premium price and overpaying a Dempster or a Lohse could backfire. If they sign a middling guy, who do you push out? Rogers is out of options and while some suggest him in the pen, he's never relieved. Fiers certainly deserves a spot initially to prove that last year wasn't a fluke. Same goes for Estrada. Then there's Peralta, who's the one guy with top of the rotation upside. Could he be ready now. The fall back guy is Narveson.

[Baldkin]

They used 11 different starting pitchers last year.

 

I don't see why having depth is a bad thing: It both improves the bullpen, and gives you more options if someone falters. They will most likely never have another season where they only use 6 starters like they did in 2011.

[TheCrew07]

It's an interesting concept in the minors from a development standpoint, but I'm not sure it's such a great idea for the major leagues. It's hard enough to find 5 good pitchers...

[nate82]

It's an interesting concept in the minors from a development standpoint, but I'm not sure it's such a great idea for the major leagues. It's hard enough to find 5 good pitchers...

 

It could work if you had 5 good-average young players coming up at the same time and a really good veteran pitcher. It would allow you to manage the younger players innings without putting them in the bullpen. This would be a very highly unlikely scenario.

[RockCoCougars]

No way. They already carry too many pitchers on the roster as it is. With a six man rotation, they'd have like 14-15 pitchers.

 

Even though pitchers are babied a lot these days, it seems like there are just as many injuries. I think that basically some guys have durable arms and some do not. I can see limiting pitch counts to some extent, but I don't like these inning caps or the six man rotations.