I'm hoping Astros go to a 6 man rotation or tandem starting the back end. I just don't expect it during the regular season except temporarily to give pitchers breaks.
With a 6 man rotation, Verlander and Keuchel would each have 27 starts providing they stay healthy. With a 5 man rotation, they would each have around 33 starts. Do you really want to sacrifice 12 Verlander/Keuchel starts for whoever the 6th best starter is?
The Texas Rangers are also looking to go with a 6 man rotation. IMO, the Astros are going to need to make some moves but it's also very early in the Winter Meetings and the off season. We knew the Stanton situation needed to clear itself up and was affecting the overall market. With all that said, the Yankees are pulling out all the stops. The latest rumor is they are very much in play to acquire Cole from Pittsburgh. They have players in the farm system that can land them a Cole or Archer. If they land a SP of that caliber, they are the favorites IMO to win the AL. The Astros have a few holes right now. I think they will try to trade for someone. I don't see them signing Dallas long-term and I don't think that tweet from Ken Rosenthal was just smoke from the Astros end. Dallas wants to get paid and he deserves it. I don't think they should try and break the bank for a guy who hasn't been healthy.
I have wondered about this as well. I am skeptical or 6 starters, especially when they still don't go deep in games. You are burning roster spaces with an extra starter AND starters not going as deep in games. The Cubs are going to a 6 man staff if you believe Bruce Levine (he is the one Theo chooses to break news to). I suppose the Astros could work in 3 more starts for Verlander and Keuchel with rest days and limit the 6th guy to 20 starts. However at the same time, I question whether veterans like Verlander and Kuechel will agree to anything other than getting the ball every 5th day.
Yes. I want Keuchel and Verlander pitching well rested in the playoffs. Let the offense carry the team during the regular season.
Peacock had an OPS over .800 last year, so give him extra time between starts and allow him to DH. #otaniwho
Baseball players do not like change and at the same time excel at adapting to change. Whichever manager can get his pitchers to buy off on a 6-man rotation should win manager of the year. Ron Washington's job with Hatteberg will look easy by comparison.
I foresee teams utilizing pitchers based on their talent level. For example, pitchers like Verlander and Keuchel would get the ball every 5th day with the expectations of pitching deep into the game and only needing 1-3 short late inning relievers behind them. 2nd tier guys like McCullers and Morton would get the ball everyday with the expectation of going 5-6 innings and needing someone to pitch 2 innings followed by a closer. Then 3rd tier guys like Peacock or Fiers would need a real tandem with the expectation of possibly only getting 3-4 innings out of them. In Houston’s case, let’s say they add Darvish and a closer, their staff could be utilized as such: Game 1: Verlander/Harris/Closer Game 2: Darvish/Devenski/Giles Game 3: Keuchel/Musgrove/Closer Game 4: McCullers/Devenski/Giles Game 5: Morton/Peacock/Hoyt But if a team has no aces, they could go to a 6 man rotation with tandems.
The first thing that has to happen for 6 man rotations or tandem pitching to be considered is the pay scales for pitchers be revamped.
I think the push will always be there to get more innings out of your starters than not. Hopefully JV teaches LMJ some crafty veteran tricks to extend his appearances. I always thought Keuchel was a poor role model for LMJ because their stuff was so different. JV is a perfect example of a hard throwing righty who knows how to maximize his outings. If LMJ mixed in a couple of soft contact curves instead of the total wipeout curve, he'd probably be better off.
Eh, I'm not big on Darvish. Would much rather look for an elite reliever. I think Charlie Morton is going to have a big year and a solid #3. At the end of the day we have already 6 guys that could conceivably start. I'd much rather go after Wade Davis.
I’d be for it in June, July, mid-August then shifting back to get playoff ready. 18 extended Games is in play again. Forrest Whitley would be my sixth guy...give him 4-5 starts to see where he’s at in development and adjustments he can go back and work on in the winter, while shifting into a likely dominant force in the pen (maybe even a playoff closer the way the Cardinals used Wainwright his rookie year) Adding a pair of quality lefties (McGee/Watson/Logan) or getting a LH and RH pair (Cishek, etc) is the only real holes on the team. Adding a LH bat is nice but will be costly and Kyle Tucker, Derek Fisher, Moran, A.J. Reed, Tony Kemp, etc provide excellent competition for it. Adding a starter who can be an upgrade of McHugh is going to cost 10+ mil, might not work out and could be a reason Morton doesn’t return or Verlander doesn’t re-up for a year, etc Starter and LH bat is a luxury that said I’d be willing to try and hit a homerun for Yelich
I would like to us try what we did in the playoffs for a whole season. Verlander and DK start every 5th game like normal, Morton,Peacock,McCullers and McHugh just pitch based on availability, with occasional tandem appearances included until injuries inevitably sort it out naturally. Some team is gonna go with a non-traditional approach eventually. Given how many seemingly good, but incomplete starters we have, why not us.
