Concerned about the bullpen

[UPRedsFan]

I'm worried a bit about the pen. It doesn't have the same dominating feel that it had last year.

Cordero, Rhodes, Masset (appears to be back) and Herrara inspire confidence

Lincoln, Logan O. do not. Burton needs to find it.

Who replaces Weathers? They need one more dependable guy for the 6th and 7th.

Something needs to shake loose there. Obviously Lincoln needs to be released and let some other team depend on him resurrecting himself. Why not move Owings into that role and call up Lehr or Maloney to be the long guy?

Or, crazy thought alert... if Chapman dominates his first 3 starts, why not put him in the rotation and move Leake to the 6th/7th inning role? Or is there a chance Walt can trade Vlad, Miles plus something else for a solid middle reliever?

[sivman17]

Or, crazy thought alert... if Chapman dominates his first 3 starts, why not put him in the rotation and move Leake to the 6th/7th inning role? Or is there a chance Walt can trade Vlad, Miles plus something else for a solid middle reliever?


I don't think they would ever, ever move Leake to the pen. They drafted him in the first round last year to be a starter. He dominated in spring training. He's definitely staying a starter. I don't know what they will do though once Chapman starts throwing out gems in AAA.

As far as the bullpen, I do agree that they were pathetic in the first two games. Lincoln will not do any good for us. I've never been much of a fan of Burton either. I hope they have something planned.

[sabometrics]

There's can be a certain healthy amount of concern, but suggesting Leake be moved to a role as a reliever before he's even made a Major League start is beyond that threshold.

Anything that gets Lincoln off the roster (short of pushing Leake/Chapman into a reliever role) I can't object to though.

[UPRedsFan]

I don't like the idea of Leake or Chapman in the pen either. I was rooting for Leake to make the rotation in spring. But we clearly do not have the 12 best arms in the organization on the staff and that needs to be fixed.