Baseball Musings
Baseball Musings
November 07, 2007
The Kevin McHale Starter

The six-man rotation gets broached in Boston:

Rather than thinking about trimming back to the traditional five-man rotation, general manager Theo Epstein yesterday said the Sox will at least consider using a six-man rotation next season.

"I'm sure that topic will come up a lot," Epstein said. "It's an interesting concept given the personnel we have, but it's not something we've fully explored yet."

As much as I hate to see expanding rotations, this is as good a situation as any for six men. Schilling probably works better on long rest at his age, and Lester and Buchholz are young enough that the Red Sox may want to limit their innings. If they can work it out that Beckett and Matsuzaka pitch every fifth day, with Schilling, Wakefield, Buchholz and Lester in a rotation around them. Then, when someone gets hurt, you just collapse to a normal five man rotation. Keeping Josh and Dice-K to every fifth day instead of every fifth game may even squeeze an extra two starts out of them.


Posted by David Pinto at 08:42 AM | Pitchers | TrackBack (0)
Comments

Dice-K pitched with 5 days rest in Japan. If they do this I'm sure he gets extra rest as well. That just leaves Beckett.

Posted by: Rally at November 7, 2007 09:09 AM

Matsuzaka accumulated the most PAP of any pitcher in 2007... would returning him to a Japanese routine (less starts, more pitches/start) actually increase or decrease his PAP?

Posted by: Pat Senechal at November 7, 2007 10:14 AM

Unless they're going to 6 man - why else would they resign Schill? Does that mean Beckett gets 27 starts?

Posted by: Bandit at November 7, 2007 10:31 AM

You can never have too much pitching. I can certainly see them starting out with a six-man rotation, but no team ever gets through the whole year with the same rotation they had on opening day. These things have a way of working themselves out. Someone will get hurt or pitch poorly enough to be removed from the rotation.
Re-signing Schill was a no-brainer once he agreed to the incentive-laden contract. Picking up Wakes option was also a no-brainer at 4 million for a guy who won 17 games.

Posted by: nomars_girl at November 7, 2007 10:55 AM

I'm not sure how viable a 6-man rotation is, especially during the early season with scheduled off days. But these things do have a way of working themselves out as was noted. I think Beckett needs to go every 5th game at minimum to assure 32-33 starts if possible. If the other starting staff had a program of throwing twice between starts, they would likely be available to relieve on those days, particularly Wakefield, Lester and Buchholz. Such a program might actually strengthen young arms....bill

Posted by: Bill McKinley at November 7, 2007 12:22 PM

I doubt the Sox are seriously considering the six-man rotation. For one thing, it would further constrict the 25-man roster -- unless they cut the bullpen by one, which seems unlikely. Of course, after their experience with two Japanese pitchers and that country's methods (including the six-man rotation), they may have discovered some reason to try it here. Maybe it does help pitchers stay healthy. Maybe they can go deeper into games if they don't start as often.

The most likely scenario for the Sox is that they just mix-and-match their rotation to limit the total innings of Schilling and the youngsters. You might see Wakefield and Tavarez in and out of the rotation, as they either (a) give their usual starters a midseason rest, or (b) deal with the inevitable injuries. Schilling may well get an extended break even if healthy, in order to prepare him for the postseason.

It should be interesting to see how the Sox approach the situation. We might be witnessing the birth of some new pitching strategies.

Posted by: jvwalt at November 7, 2007 05:18 PM

They are figuring that either Wake isn't healthy enough to start the season or they are going to start Bucholz in AAA. There's no way they are going to start the season with open dates with a 6 man mix and match rotation - that hurts them both in the short run and long run

Posted by: Bandit at November 8, 2007 09:59 AM
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