4-Man Rotation

[davereds24]

Miley was a very good pitcher the first few months of last year. I’d be more concerned if Bauer can get back to the pitcher he used to be.

[westofyou]

Wilbur Wood with 376 knuckleball innings. Was that the year he pitched both ends of a doubleheader?

Saw Commander Cody at the Agora in Columbus. My favorite song is “Mama Hated Diesels”.

Bogarts for me, 1980... I believe that is the year for Wood. I love Wilbur Wood, I can’t explain how much I love him and Mickey Lolich. What a time... deadball baseball for sure

[westofyou]

On pitchers from a Eno Sarris article


“With no games, the question is can pitchers get the needed workload to build up before the season starts,” said Casey Mulholland, founder of KineticPro Performance in Tampa, a facility that trains many major leaguers in normal times. “The repercussions of this time off could greatly alter any future season, but if not managed properly, could alter the careers of many of the game’s top athletes.”

“If we ramp this up too quickly, we’ll have a problem,” said one major league pitching coach when I asked around about possible pitcher injuries due to a rushed preseason. “Too many guys will treat this as a semi-vacation.”

“We get into a 60-game sprint and we may only have a three-week camp … so I’m not even sure we’ll have a five-man rotation,” Giants president Farhan Zaidi said recently. “We may have to tandem guys. We may have to do some unconventional things with the pitching staff to get through nine innings a day to get through the season.”

[M2]

Probably a better chance of a 6 man rotation.

Agreed. I suspect we're going to see a lot of those.

[jup]

Miley was a very good pitcher the first few months of last year. I’d be more concerned if Bauer can get back to the pitcher he used to be.

Bauer is always a hot pitcher in April/May because he comes to camp in mid year form. So in a short season, he could roll right through the half way point as the hitters are getting up to speed and the other pitchers are getting their legs under them.

[jup]

Quote Originally Posted by KronoRed View Post
Probably a better chance of a 6 man rotation.

Agreed. I suspect we're going to see a lot of those.

I doubt this big time.

You will see short starts, but they have to keep the starters on a 5 day track if they want to ever get them up to speed. So going to 6 days just delays getting your starters in the every 5th day groove and would be counter productive.

[JaxRed]

Agreed. I suspect we're going to see a lot of those.

Hearing a lot of talk about essentially tandem starters. Guys who will be able to go maybe 3 innings after the starter. Mahle and Sims would seem ideal for that. And maybe that means an Antone makes team for a couple weeks. Maybe Deleon could fill that role.

So I agree stick with 5. Not 6 and certainly not 4.

[M2]

Hearing a lot of talk about essentially tandem starters. Guys who will be able to go maybe 3 innings after the starter. Mahle and Sims would seem ideal for that. And maybe that means an Antone makes team for a couple weeks. Maybe Deleon could fill that role.

So I agree stick with 5. Not 6 and certainly not 4.

I suspect the Reds would like to get more than 3 IP from Gray, Castillo, Bauer, Miley and Disco. I don't know if an extra day of rest gets them into the 5+ IP range, or if they can do that from the jump in a standard 5-man setup. Maybe Miley/Disco work more of a tandem situation while the others go deeper. I like Mahle a lot for a 3-4 IP role. Antone is a guy who, if he's pitching for the Reds, I assume things aren't going well for the Reds.

[JaxRed]

For some reason they REALLY like Antone. Hopefully they are right. They might go 4 first time out. They certainly would the second time. 6 man just delays that. I'll be very surprised if they go 6 man.

[M2]

For some reason they REALLY like Antone. Hopefully they are right. They might go 4 first time out. They certainly would the second time. 6 man just delays that. I'll be very surprised if they go 6 man.

Do they? I know he supposedly was throwing hard early in ST. Maybe that means he's got room to move as a reliever. Just let him air it out for an inning at a time.

The Reds have more of a set rotation than most (how weird is that?), so they're less likely than others to try a six-man scheme. Yet I do think we're going to see them around the league, especially for the first 2 or 3 weeks of the season.

[jup]

I suspect the Reds would like to get more than 3 IP from Gray, Castillo, Bauer, Miley and Disco. I don't know if an extra day of rest gets them into the 5+ IP range, or if they can do that from the jump in a standard 5-man setup. Maybe Miley/Disco work more of a tandem situation while the others go deeper. I like Mahle a lot for a 3-4 IP role. Antone is a guy who, if he's pitching for the Reds, I assume things aren't going well for the Reds.

The way the schedule has to lay out with 67 days (Jul 23rd - Sep 27th) for 60 games, you are going to have 7 off days over 9 1/2 weeks. Not quite a day per week. So going to 6 man is going to throw starters to 7 days between starts and depending how the off days fall, maybe 8 in some cases. That just isn't going to be workable to get a rotation up to speed.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if the Reds go 4 man for the first 3 weeks minimum. If the schedules lay out the way they have the past few years, they will give extra days off in the first three weeks of the season. Many times, even in a normal year, a bulk of the teams only need 4 starters because of the way they are scheduled. In a shortened spring training year such as this, you have to believe they will focus even heavier on this.

The more likely question for the Reds will be - if 4 man is working, and you are about 30% (3 weeks) of the way through the season, do you ride it the rest of the way or add in a 5th. Getting off to a slow start with months to make up games in the standings is just not an option this year. You have to run your best horses out there and try to win from DAY ONE with a sense of urgency.

[mth123]

The way the schedule has to lay out with 67 days (Jul 23rd - Sep 27th) for 60 games, you are going to have 7 off days over 9 1/2 weeks. Not quite a day per week. So going to 6 man is going to throw starters to 7 days between starts and depending how the off days fall, maybe 8 in some cases. That just isn't going to be workable to get a rotation up to speed.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if the Reds go 4 man for the first 3 weeks minimum. If the schedules lay out the way they have the past few years, they will give extra days off in the first three weeks of the season. Many times, even in a normal year, a bulk of the teams only need 4 starters because of the way they are scheduled. In a shortened spring training year such as this, you have to believe they will focus even heavier on this.

The more likely question for the Reds will be - if 4 man is working, and you are about 30% (3 weeks) of the way through the season, do you ride it the rest of the way or add in a 5th. Getting off to a slow start with months to make up games in the standings is just not an option this year. You have to run your best horses out there and try to win from DAY ONE with a sense of urgency.

I think the obvious issue is that a roughly three week period between when players report and the season starts probably won't be enough prep time for anybody to go more than 5 innings for the first 3 or 4 weeks. This year that's about half the season. I think a 5 man rotation with tandem starters is the way to go. That doesn't mean 5 pairs or 10 different pitchers, but I think it means 5 starters and maybe 3 guys who come in and pitch 2 or 3 innings after the starter is removed. Assuming everyone is healthy, which we know probably won't be the case, I think the suggestions of Sims and Mahle probably make sense. Reed is probably the other one. That would leave the 7th, 8th and 9th to the main guys - Iggy, Lorenzen, Garrett, Stephenson and Strop. A couple extra guys to absorb some innings in blow-outs and that's the staff. That's where the competition comes in for jobs IMO.

[M2]

The way the schedule has to lay out with 67 days (Jul 23rd - Sep 27th) for 60 games, you are going to have 7 off days over 9 1/2 weeks. Not quite a day per week. So going to 6 man is going to throw starters to 7 days between starts and depending how the off days fall, maybe 8 in some cases. That just isn't going to be workable to get a rotation up to speed.

Wouldn't be surprised at all if the Reds go 4 man for the first 3 weeks minimum. If the schedules lay out the way they have the past few years, they will give extra days off in the first three weeks of the season. Many times, even in a normal year, a bulk of the teams only need 4 starters because of the way they are scheduled. In a shortened spring training year such as this, you have to believe they will focus even heavier on this.

The more likely question for the Reds will be - if 4 man is working, and you are about 30% (3 weeks) of the way through the season, do you ride it the rest of the way or add in a 5th. Getting off to a slow start with months to make up games in the standings is just not an option this year. You have to run your best horses out there and try to win from DAY ONE with a sense of urgency.

I would be knocked-over amazed if the Reds, who've got four SPs making money + Castillo, go with a 4-man rotation. Given the investment they've made in Gray, the servicetime remaining on Castillo and their likely desire to keep Bauer, no way they're going to Billy Martin those arms.

[jup]

I would be knocked-over amazed if the Reds, who've got four SPs making money + Castillo, go with a 4-man rotation. Given the investment they've made in Gray, the servicetime remaining on Castillo and their likely desire to keep Bauer, no way they're going to Billy Martin those arms.

Could be true for the others, but when it comes too the guy that is a little different, Bauer, best way to keep him is to let him go on four.

[mth123]

If they would drop to 4 guys and we're basing it all on how effectively they pitch, somebody convince me as to why Bauer would be a lock to get one of the 4 spots. IMO only Gray and Castillo are locks. Bauer is probably the biggest question mark of the 5 at this point. I know he's paid a lot and he has a following for his tweets, but last year he sure didn't prevent runs.