Baseball is a unique game, filled with traditions that date back to the early 20th century. Many of its “traditionalists” bash any new model of thinking that is evolutionary or against the grain because it is not the way baseball is meant to be played. Traditionalists thought “moneyball” would never work. Or that matchup-based relievers (lefty on lefty or Brad Ziegler types against right-handed hitters) was a ludicrous idea because that would take away starting pitchers from throwing complete games. Yeah, let’s tell the two-time reigning division champion A’s that these ideas should be stuffed in a sack and thrown away. Let’s tell the Rays that the crazy lineups Joe Maddon cooks up don’t work because they aren’t of “traditional” thought. The bottom line is that these teams are winning with one radical idea after another to atone for either their disadvantage when it comes to payroll or home ballpark. Today I am going to unveil to you a new way to look at the traditional starting rotation. This system has one team specific in mind, and that team is the Colorado Rockies.
Background:
It is no secret that the Rockies play in the most hitter-friendly ballpark perhaps in the history of baseball, thus leading to their pitching staff being abysmal year after year. They have tried to build their team around offense in the 90’s and early 2000’s with players such as Larry Walker, Todd Helton, Dante Bichette and Andres Galarraga. Didn’t work. Fast forward to 2007, and they went on an all time torrid run, winning 21 of their last 22 games to get into the postseason and eventually the World Series. But, despite this short-term success (I’m being generous, it was really only one season) the Rockies consistently find themselves in the cellar of the NL West due to their pitching staff getting shelled in the not-so friendly confines of Coors Field. It does not matter how good of an offense you have (and currently their’s is only good, but not great) you will never win a World Series without at least respectable pitching. So, how do the Rockies solve this problem? I am glad you asked.
The Theory:
Disclaimer: this is a bold move that would require a complete “all in” attitude from every person in the organization. This includes an alteration in the way you manage your minor league pitching staffs as well.If I were running the Colorado Rockies I would acquire as many young flamethrowers, submarine pitchers, and left-handed specialists as I could and form a nine man rotation. WHOA, A NINE MAN ROTATION?? MADNESS! Having a nine man rotation would mean that three pitchers would be designated to throw three innings every third day. That’s right, digest that!
Here is my thought process: hitting a baseball is all about timing and the more that a batter faces a pitcher, the more likely he will succeed. I think this is exactly what happens to starting pitchers on Colorado’s staff time and time again. By the time they make their way through the order a third time, they lose their advantage and let their ballpark take over the game. It is either that, or their pitchers just aren’t very good (shaking my head in agreement). It is extremely difficult to face a pitcher only one time in a game and expect a hitter to succeed. This is why we see so many failed starters morph into relievers and have such great success. Cough cough Phil Hughes.
Sample Nine Man Rotation:
* ANY YOUNG PITCHER THAT THROWS HARD EVER.
1. Alexi Ogando (hybrid starter/reliever)
2. Andrew Cashner (hybrid starter/reliever in his career, although he seems to be settling into being a premiere starter now)
3. Brandon Morrow (one of my favorite pitchers)
4. Joe Smith (sidearm delivery with nasty movement to produce ground-balls)
*No YouTube video of him pitching sadly, but he seems to be a swell guy.
5. Brad Ziegler (submarine fun/ground-ball inducing machine)
6. Pat Neshek (more submarine/wacky sidearm fun)
7. Sean Marshall (nasty lefty that also used to be a starter)
8. Brett Anderson (soft left-handed pitcher to complement the flamethrowers)
He’s also pretty nasty in MLB 2k12 I hear…
9. Randy Choate (another soft lefty with a sidearm delivery)
You would stack the rotation so that on a given day you would have one flamethrower (Ogando, Cashner, or Morrow), one ground-ball producing/submarine specialist (Smith, Ziegler or Neshek) and one crafty lefty (Marshall, Anderson or Choate) throwing three innings per game. This would create a schism for opposing hitters because they would be able to adjust to the different styles of pitching, thus leading to a distortion to their timing. And what do we know about hitting again? Oh yes, IT IS ALL ABOUT TIMING.
It should also be noted that the minor league system would also have to be littered with players of similar skill sets to those I just mentioned (flamethrowers, ground-ball producers, crafty lefties). Organizational communication is key in order to make the nine man rotation work.
If the Rockies had this system, along with pitchers of the caliber that I mentioned (which isn’t exactly unattainable) and their current offense, I think they could win 90 games this season. Who wants to go from facing the flame-throwing ways of a Cashner or Ogando, to the submarine nightmare of a Neshek or Ziegler? I wouldn’t. Pepper in a soft lefty to go with it, and I think you find yourself a very formidable pitching staff in the process.
To you Colorado I ask, why not? Why the hell not?
Big O Blogs 
An interesting proposition, but probably too ambitious to be adopted anytime soon. Colorado has tried building a staff of groundball pitchers to counter-act the longball, but when they can’t keep the ball down it creates problems. I have theorized about a staff with your regular 5 starters, then a few shutdown or high-quality relievers to finish out the last few innings. It’s a bit like the throwback closers who would finish up the last few frames, but instead of one closer it would be the bulk of the bullpen. Great stuff, keep it up.
Thank you for the feedback. I agree that it may be a little ambitious, and that teams will probably be scared off because of it. But, I do think if an organization has the guts to really commit to it, that it could work. Colorado needs to do something to help fix their pitching and get out from the cellar of the division. I love your idea with the “super reliever” as well. A team that did that well was the 1990 Reds and they of course went on to win the World Series.