Harang, Arroyo, Cueto, Bailey, Chapman, Leake, Maloney, Lecure, Lehr, Wells and maybe Owings, Lincoln and Smith are all guys in camp who could be in a rotation somewhere whether its Cincy, AAA or AA. These guys are all going to need to go 5 innings or so pretty soon in order to be ready for the season.
The top 4 are set and maybe Harang, Arroyo and possibly Cueto and Bailey pitch in minor league games (I'd have Bailey pitching to big leaguers) to get their work in while leaving innings on the big club for the others. Meanwhile the leaders prior to spring in the 5th starter race - Lincoln ('cause of the money), Lehr (Last year's audition) and Maloney (The next kid in line) are the least impressive and the guys who we thought would be early elims (Leake, Wood, Chapman and even Lecure) have all been pitching quite well. It will be hard to send the kids down when they've been pitching well and will be hard to get them all ready if they keep everybody around. How do they thin the ranks in time to get them all enough innings for the season? Some thoughts:
1. Owings and Lincoln become bullpen only options and stop working more than an inning or two freeing longer stints for the others.
2. Harang and Arroyo get their next two or three starts in minor league games.
3. Smith, Adkins and maybe Viola go down to thin the ranks just a little.
4. B Games galore.
I think the team may go deep into spring before making significant cuts if they all continue to pitch well. If so, I can't see how they can get them all ready for a starter's load. Its a nice problem I guess, but I hope it doesn't backfire and lead to an injury.