Bobblehead":3ts9gz6i said:
There's been some talk about a 6 man rotation, what do you all think of that?
I"m just concerned that if that happens, and you don't have good starters, won't your bullpen be shy since, you need another starter?
Honestly, I'd say that baseball (as a whole) has been moving in that direction for some time now. It's just that it's taken a long time for a lot of baseball purists (I would lump myself in that category) to get on board with that idea.
Seriously though, take a look at the pitching landscape in baseball. How many guys threw complete games last year? How about the last few years? How many guys are honestly even going 7 or 8 innings consistently anymore? Even the ones who DO get up into the 7th and 8th inning -- just how effective are they (in general) at that point?
We are seeing pitchers throwing harder than ever ... and they are basically done after 90-100 pitches (at best) anymore. For me as a long time MLB fan (and a fan of the Mariners), there's a part of me that just flat out makes me sick. Seriously, I remember well the days of Nolan Ryan ... and Randy Johnson (when he was with the M's) regularly being up in that 120-130 pitch range ... and going into the 8th and 9 innings with regularity. You just expected that.
That's not the case anymore in baseball at all. You are seeing a lot of move towards specialization in pitching. MLB clubs are looking for that hard throwing middle relief guy you can bring in in the 6th or 7th inning that can get you to the 8th or your closer in the 9th. Many clubs are really beefing up their bullpen (ergo, which is why you're seeing JeDi do the exact same thing over the course of these last few days).
Things are changing ... and I guess I'd just say that the Mariners are pioneering (leading the charge) towards what we are going to eventually be seeing throughout baseball. I expect 6 man rotations to become fairly commonplace in the next 5 years or so.
And it makes sense -- especially from what we saw from this M's team last year, it makes definite sense. Some day, if someone ever asks you, "What does it look like when a club has great offense, but no pitching?" -- you can honestly say -- "See the 2017 Seattle Mariners." They are the quintessential textbook example of what happens when your pitching goes awry. We'll see if it works. If the powers that be honestly think it might help, I'm game for virtually any kind of innovative idea at this point. With the status of the division and how it looks to be shaping up once again, it certainly can't hurt. Yeah, sure. Why not?
