Spring Training Audio Diary: Six-Man Rotation Discussions

Didn't hear it but all I can say I don't like the idea of a 6 man rotation how baseball is today. This would have worked when starters actually went 7+ innings. 

With starters rarely seeing the 6th inning now a team would probably burn out their bullpen quickly. The team would also need a very good bullpen to deal with this all the time.

It may also cut down on the amount of bench players a team has to use.

I'd like Ober on the opening roster but I'm usually against a 6 man rotation. Especially in the beginning where teams can get by with a 4 man rotation. IMO there'd be too much time between turns & lose their rhythm. I'd prefer piggy-back Ober & save more the BP.

I'm watching Pablo Lopez pitch to Puerto Rico right now and thinking he should pitch every fifth day. 

Have the Twins had a starting pitcher throw 97 with sharp breaking pitches?

AM I surprised that Pagan is not having a good spring?  CUT HIM

Only reason is Ober is too good and they can't have one of the others drop out. But I'm a 4 man rotation kind of guy so 6 does not do it for me. 

I’d go with a 6 man rotation without blinking.  It’s a match made in heaven for this pitching staff.

None of these guys, with the exception of Ryan, has been able to stay healthy. Maeda, Mahle, and Ober will all have innings limitations.  Adding an extra day in between starts can only help some of these guys.

Also, wasting any of Ober’s limited number of innings in AAA is just absurd.  That’s an extremely poor use of a finite resource.

There are some things that could be done outside of the box here as well.  Some of these guys can be used in tandem occasionally.  Especially early on with the guys with the limitations (like Maeda and Ober).  There seems to be this perception that if a certain process isn’t followed their arms will fall off.  

I’m generally not a fan of a six man rotation, but this might be a team where that makes sense. All of the starters except Ryan have had injury problems. Moreover, I think it’s very unlikely that either Maeda or Ober will pitch more than 120 innings or so this year with each coming off of a major Injury and the few innings Ober threw last year. We only have two days off in April, but we do have five off in May. My thought is to start out with a six man rotation, and by roughly May 1, I suspect either one will have pitched their way out of that rotation or have some kind of injury issue. If the baseball gods are smiling down upon us, and all are healthy and pitching well, I say stick with it.

Pagan seems pretty straightforward to me. He is not pitching well at all. Either put him on waivers with the idea of sending him to AAA or, if he has an option left, option him down. He needs to work his kinks out in the minor leagues if he can, not on the MLB roster. Getting rid of him also allows us to have a seven man bullpen that includes both Moran and Cole Sands, the latter as a Long reliever. 
 

I’m a big believer in performance dictating use. It would be different if Pagán was having a poor ST after a couple of strong years. That’s not where we are. He hasn’t performed since 2019 and should be sent down to AAA to try to find his groove. I think he gets AAA instead of being released because of his $4 million contract.

17 hours ago, terrydactyls said:

You really think they can get by with a 4 man rotation in the beginning?  Between opening day and the end of May, the Twins play 56 games and have 7 days off.  To me, that doesn't sound ideal for a 4 man rotation.  Plus the pitchers are still building up arm strength.  A 5 man rotation is probably the best, but I would have no problem if they use a 6 man rotation.

I didn't say almost half the season, I said in "the beginning" which means the 1st couple of weeks. And I said "some teams" not specifying MN. I did not say I was in favor for a 4-man rotation for MN, actually I'm not. I also said that IMO a 6-man rotation is not beneficial and that I'm more in favor of a 5-man rotation with a type of piggy-back system. Please stop reading into stuff that I did not write.