Chapman to start? Maybe not

[AtomicDumpling]

I'm not against making Chapman a starter, and in a vacuum the move would have my full support.

But I do admit to real concern about this move for this ballclub this season.

I look at this lineup and see, finally, the lefty righty balance the team has lacked. Better OBP. The removal of all the Stubbs Ks. Other than CF defense, I see a ballclub that really seems top notch.

So now, we take a key element out of the late inning bullpen. We leave Brox and Marshall as the two main late inning guys. There's even a chance Hoover won't be in the pen, which IMO compounds the problem - he has late inning stuff.

I said last year that I thought the Reds bullpen was overrated in the sense that, remove Chappy's numbers, suddenly the group doesn't appear so special. Now the Reds are actually going to do that, and I think it could have a huge impact.

The other concern is how much we can expect from Aroldis as a starter in the year of this switch. Yes, for the long term it may bear fruit, but I hate potentially to have the pitching fall back for this season which is so very promising.

Part of my view is that I really wasn't dazzled by Brox last year. He didn't seem to be comfortable pitching multiple games in a row and at time seemed hittable (which Chapman was not). Jonathan can help solve my concern with a lights out season. Hoover can help solve my concern as well if he pitches in the late innings and does well.

I see this as a very tough call for the Reds. I'm not really against it, I'm just holding my breath.

Those are all valid concerns, but they are also removing 179 innings of Mike Leake's 4.58 ERA from the starting rotation, which should help to improve the rotation's overall stats and increase the average size of the lead the rotation hands off to the bullpen to preserve.

The Reds have decided to have one of their best pitchers pitch more innings and have their weakest pitcher throw fewer innings.

Upgrading the rotation means the bullpen will have more leads to protect and those leads are going to be bigger and easier to protect. So removing the Missile from the bullpen and putting him into the rotation actually makes the bullpen's job easier in some ways.