"not worthy of its own thread" offseason thread

[cardinalkarp]

here's the cards bullpen cart

Dewitt is keeping the powder dry in every facet of the organization.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

here's the cards bullpen cart

Dewitt is keeping the powder dry in every facet of the organization.

AND relief pitchers get a commission on every beer they sell on the way to the mound. It's a win-win!

[Fat_Bulldog]

here's the cards bullpen cart

Dewitt is keeping the powder dry in every facet of the organization.

AND relief pitchers get a commission on every beer they sell on the way to the mound. It's a win-win!

I hope they got that under market value at a flea market.

[Jocephus]

While other teams are pondering using six-man pitching rotations this season, Tampa Bay Rays manager Kevin Cash is going with the opposite mindset and is planning on using a four-man rotation throughout the 2018 season.

Under Cash's plan, four pitchers would still work on regular rest, but instead of going with a regular starter on every fifth day, Cash said it would be a bullpen day where he'd have 3-4 pitchers go through the batting order once.

"Our plan, we're not going to five," Cash said. "We're going to try to stay at four. We're going to have some bullpen days in there. We're going to try and do that for a long period of time. We're going to learn a lot in the first six weeks."

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/2267 ... 018-season

[mikechamp]

What have they got to lose? They're going to suck anyway, and not contend for a playoff spot. Might as well experiment!!

Of course, this backfires on them in the fact that no quality free agent will ever want to sign there, but whatevs...

[MrCrowesGarden]

[Momo]

The experiment probably won't work, but if the Rays actually find a way to maximize bullpen efficiency and slowly get rid of the "starting rotation" role like some have thought possible for years...it could be a big deal.

[ZigZagCardsFan]

Won't that tax the bullpen and decrease flexibility on the other four days especially if one of the four starters gets blown up.

[Famous Mortimer]

Just think of it as using their bullpen a lot more.

[mikechamp]

Won't that tax the bullpen and decrease flexibility on the other four days especially if one of the four starters gets blown up.

It will, but I'm guessing they'll use the AAA shuttle to cycle in fresh arms. It's the Rays. Will there be much difference?

[Enter replacement-level player joke here.]

Now there's news another Rays prospect goes for TJ surgery: Jose De Leon.

From MLBTR:

Tampa Bay will open the season with Chris Archer, Nathan Eovaldi, Blake Snell and Jake Faria in a four-man rotation, with Matt Andriese reportedly likely to jump in as a fifth starter after a few weeks. (The early schedule affords enough off days that Andriese can be used as a multi-inning reliever in the interim.) If Faria can build off an impressive rookie season (3.43 ERA, 8.7 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 in 86 2/3 innings) and Snell can continue at the pace he showed in a very strong second half of the 2017 season (3.49 ERA, 8.6 K/9, 2.9 BB/9), then the Rays still boast a solid mix of starters even with the recent rash of injuries.

Beyond that quintet, the Rays still have lefties Anthony Banda and Ryan Yarbrough in addition to righty Yonny Chirinos waiting in the wings at Triple-A. Nonetheless, Tampa Bay is considerably less equipped to handle a major injury (or injuries) in the rotation now than it was at the onset of Spring Training.