Jeff Manship- Possible 5th Starter

[Omar 382]

Jeff Manship may land in Phillies' rotation

It looks like we're starting the season
1. Lee
2. Burnett
3. Kendrick
4. Hernandez
5. Manship/Buchanan/MAG

MAG hasn't been impressive, and Buchanan has never pitched in the majors. From what I've seen this year, he's looked OK, but not someone I'd really want in my rotation. I'm not thrilled with Manship either. We have to hold our breaths until Hamels gets back, which in my opinion, will be a while.

 

[Cedrique]

Never heard of Buchanan. In Manship's few "cups of coffee" in the majors he has some pretty scary numbers. (scary as in bad).
The Phils aren;t the only ones with pitching injuries though. Medlen might be injured for the Braves and Doug Fister is having problems too.

 

[powerchord86]

Manship is not SP material.

 

[Omar 382]

Hopefully the fact that you only really need 4 starters in the first 2 weeks of the season will help this team. But still, seeing Carmona/Hernandez is our 4th starter, the rotation will probably struggle regardless. A lot of it depends on Burnett and Kendrick. If Kendrick can get off to a hot start like he did last year and Burnett can pitch similarly to how he did last year, we can tread water until Hamels returns.

 

[Caligula]

Don't teams go with a four man rotation for the first month or so due to how the schedule plays out?

 

[northeastphillyguy]

The Phillies have just 3 off days in April. The 3rd,the 8th and the 28th. They most go with 5 starters or their bullpen will implode. Most starters will only last about 6 innings during the 1st 2 weeks of the season.

 

[Cedrique]

How will their bullpen implode if they go with 5 starters instead of 4? I would think they would be better off going with 4 starters and a long reliever. There is also a chance of some rainouts early in the season too.

 

[northeastphillyguy]

How will their bullpen implode if they go with 5 starters instead of 4? I would think they would be better off going with 4 starters and a long reliever. There is also a chance of some rainouts early in the season too.

I stated that it would implode with a 4 man rotation. They should use 5 starters to start the season in order to see what they have. Plus pitchers can get an extra day of rest the 1st 2 weeks. It will be hard to expect most starters going beyond 6 innings in the early going,so the pen will see a lot of work. The only other factor to keep starters in a game would be the Phillies hitting and scoring. When the Phillies have a comfortable lead a starter may stay in a little longer. But hitting and scoring does not look like it will be favorable at this point.

 

[Cedrique]

Yeah, I was a little mixed up. What I meant was if they went with 4 instead of 5 then they could take one of the starters and use him as a long reliever so when one of the 4 had a bad outing they could bring him in to eat up the middle innings and not burn through all their relievers.

 

[northeastphillyguy]

Hernandez was impressive today. He went 5 innings and only allowed one hit. He could be a number 4 or 5 starter if he keeps it up.

 

[Cedrique]

Hernandez was impressive today. He went 5 innings and only allowed one hit. He could be a number 4 or 5 starter if he keeps it up.

Isn't that what they are counting on?

 

[northeastphillyguy]

Isn't that what they are counting on?

Possibly. but if Hamels becomes healthy they have 4 certain starters. The 5th starter was up for grabs until injuries took place. Then there is always the Cuban guy. But it seems he is destined for the minors. perhaps Manship will become a long reliever when the smoke clears.