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Giants Still Considering Six-man Rotaion

April 20th, 2008 Shinsano · 2 Comments

How about this? The Giants, with Noah Lowry aiming to come off the disabled list sometime next month, are seriously considering going with a Japanese-style six-man rotation.

Noah Lowry hopes to make his 2008 debut in May. The question becomes which starter gets dropped from the rotation to make room for Lowry? The answer might be nobody, because the Giants are toying with the idea of a six-man rotation.

“It’s something we talked about in the spring, and we’ll continue to discuss it,” manager Bruce Bochy said Friday. General manager Brian Sabean said on his weekly KNBR radio show Thursday, “It’s not a ridiculous idea, with what (Barry) Zito is going through with his struggles, and to protect the young arms.”

I like the protect the young arms part. The Giants are going nowhere, in full on rebuilding mode. Their priorities should be the development of Cain and Lincecum firstly, with a nod toward Sanchez (12.1 K/G in 2008). Correia has actually shown flashes of being a capable No. 5 and if Lowry can impress for a month or two he could be dealt for a prospect.

Zito’s  comment below is interesting. Definitely not an endorsement.

Zito, the most seasoned pitcher on the staff, said it would require “some adjustment on our part. We’d just have to wait even one more day before going out and pitching. Being out there is why we do what we do. Sometimes four days seems like a long time before you go out there. Waiting one more day, or possibly two, would be tough because we’re itching to compete.”

Hey Barry, how about getting your K/BB tilting back to the left and then we’ll talk?

I haven’t seen a good study on the value of a six man rotation. Anyone have an opinion here?

(Found via BBTF)

Tags: Baseball

2 responses so far ↓

  • 1 simon // Apr 21, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    Someone somewhere (harball times?) recommended a 6 man rotation for the Mets so that Santana’s arm would be relatively fresh for the playoffs (there’s an assumption in there).

    The 5 man rotation makes more sense when you’re trying to get the most innings out of your best starters. The 5 day (4.5 man) rotation makes even more sense, but teams are moving away from the 5 day rotation towards the 5 man rotation (which often have 5 days rest between starts, due to scheduled days off).

    But NPB teams carry 28 players on the roster while MLB teams only have space for 25. So an extra starter comes with the cost of giving up a bench spot or reliever, but then again it’s the Giants so they can afford that.

    Here’s an interesting study:
    http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~rickert/BB/daysofrest.html

  • 2 westbaystars // May 2, 2008 at 8:27 pm

    I thought I would pose the question of a 6-man roster to one who has experience in both MLB and NPB - Bobby Valentine.

    My questions:

    When you came to Lotte, didn’t you discuss going with a 4 or 5 man rotation?

    If so, what changed your mind?

    What are the barriers to increasing the rotation size in the Majors and/or lowering it in Japan? That is to say, are the rotation sizes of each league culturally set in stone?

    His answers:

    I’ve also tried a six-man rotation in the States and it seemed to work. What changed my mind here was the amount of off-days. It seemed that everyone was on a routine. They use those off-days to practice. And without the practice in between starts, they weren’t comfortable, so I stuck with the six-man rotation and I saw that the arms stayed healthier, the pitchers pitched longer in the game and they seemed to do just fine.

    I don’t know that it’s culturally set in America. It’s pretty culturally set in Japan. You know, it’s gone from a four-man rotation in the States to a five-man rotation, so the culture didn’t keep it from changing.

    There is a rock and a hard spot now in the States. Guys want to get their starts. They want to get their numbers. And usually, if you have a contract, you get to pitch a lot, and if you pitch a lot, then you get a contract. It’s something that America and MLB really has to deal with.

    Thank you Valentine-kantoku for taking the time to give a thoughtful response.

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