Starting Rotation Thoughts

[evolver115]

Wandy Rodriguez will crowd the current rotation to six possible starters. What are everyone's thoughts on what the Bucs should do with the surplus arm? Six man rotation? Drop Correia? Skip J-Mac for a turn until he gets straightened out?

What's your plan?

 

[Darkstone42]

I would skip JMac just once, then move whoever is pitching most poorly to the pen. Correia's been good lately, but he still always makes me nervous. Bedard's turned in a couple good starts in a row, but he's been up and down this year. Burnett and Karstens are in there to stay, and I think after a little extra rest between starts, JMac will establish himself as permanent, too.

 

[sychmd]

giving jmac a rest by skipping a start might be a good idea, especially since the competition is weak and have him rested for the stretch run.
1 aj
2. jmac after rest
3 karstens - seems to be in a great groove since getting healthy
4. wandy - what an awesome 4
5. i would use bedard as good to have another lefty, but he is on a short leash with correia winning 6 straight.

i still think a deal might be in order to package bedard or correia and a middling BP arm and a prospect/presley for a good corner OF bat from a team deep in OF and short on pitching.

 

[sychmd]

assuming no trades or injuries, adding wandy, who do you send down.
watson is my choice but the only L in pen
resop - makes me nervous if something is on the line. he usually pitches great when we are >2 up or >2 down.
meek - not enough track record to be counted on yet.

 

[pixburgher66]

Gorkys is probably going down along with Meek for the Wandy addition and Marte call up. I'd skip JMac once, give him some time to recooperate (esp. since next start is Cubs again...), and look into moving Correia. Just a thought. If he can be a piece of a trade, it's an idea. He has been great lately, but we have a surplus here, and I'm not sure how he'd look in the pen.

 

[magnumo]

The current starting schedule (according to the Pirates' page at ESPN.com) is:

Thu 7/26...Burnett against Houston
Fri 7/27....Karstens against Houston
Sat 7/28...Bedard against Houston
Sun 7/29...McDonald against Houston
Mon 7/30...Correia against Chicago (Dempster)
Tue 7/31...Burnett against Chicago
Wed 8/1....Karstens against Chicago
Thu 8/2.....OFF DAY

- I like the idea of McDonald making his next start against Houston, the weakest team in the league.

- On his regular schedule, Wandy's next start would come on Saturday 7/28.

- Bedard has pitched well with extra rest.

- The odds of Correia beating Dempster again seem VERY long.

- The two lefties (Bedard and Rodriguez) ideally should not start back-to-back.

So..... I would line it up this way:

- Have Burnett and Karstens pitch the first two games against Houston as scheduled.

- Start Rodriguez in Bedard's spot on Saturday 7/28.

- Let McDonald start as scheduled against Houston on Sunday 7/29. This allows him to "catch his breath" against the weakest team AND splits the lefties.

- Then plug in Bedard in place of Correia against Dempster in the opener against the Cubs on Monday 7/30, after a couple extra days rest.

At that point (if Correia hasn't been traded), Hurdle can make a decision about skipping Correia and pitching Burnett and Karstens as scheduled, or plugging Correia back into the rotation on Tuesday 7/31 after an extra day of rest, and bumping Burnett and Karstens back a day. At this point in the season, extra rest might very well help the starters.

After the off day on Thursday 8/2, the Pirates are scheduled to play 20 games in 20 days, before their next off day on Thursday 8/23. I would NOT go so far as to advocate a 6-man rotation..... but having an extra starter provides for a lot of flexibility.

 

[thecrow124]

Right now we have 11 pitchers on the 25 man roster. Six of those are starting pitchers, I actually think i like the roster this way. Lincoln can go long or short, Hughes and Grilli in the late innings, and Watson against lefties. Then that still leaves us the extra starter for any number of scenarios. Unfortunately, Karstens may be the best guy for that role, but i don't want him out of the rotation.

 

[pixburgher66]

Ahh, four game series against Houston. That changes my opinion on JMac. I'd want him to go against the Astros. That could be a big boost. I definitely think we need Wandy to start in his next scheduled slot. With so much changing he needs a bit of normalcy, so a start on the right day in his normal park could be a good transition. Really does complicate things. I agree that giving Bedard long rest is a good idea.

 

[Etrius24]

Mags

Again not to start a freaking flame war...

What if we let Wandy start on the 28th in place of Bedard and pushed everyone back 1 day... This would give McDonald an Extra day of rest... It would Give Bedard an extra day of rest.

I know several people here stated they wanted to see McDonald pitch against the astros because they are a weak team... I agree that is a decent option.. but the cubs are not world shakers and Long term it might be best if we started to sneak in an extra day of rest for Bedard and McDonald whenever possible.

Again not an attack.... just a thought