GatewayRedbirds.com

Too long, too much, but I'm thrilled.

What does Holliday have to say about Jesus' breakfast burrito?
Can Wainwright pitch without being distracted by his mancrush?

Cronos69 wrote:

JCShutout wrote:I'd rather Smoltz start and Garcia be a swingman/6th starter (not too many innings after surgery plz), and then Smoltz can be a RP in the playoffs.

5th starter is rarely needed to actually start every 5th day (due to off-days); if they need to give him rest they can do so. I'd like to see what Garcia's got. Besides, I'm not sure Smoltzy will go that cheap. At this point I would think he's going to go the Roger Clemens/Pedro Martinez route and sign halfway through the year.

At this point, I'd say Lohse is probably going to slot in as the 4th/5th starter anyways.

Carp
AW
Lohse
Penny
___________

To have a guy coming of injury (or Boggs, ugh) in that #5 spot when Lohse and Carp are slight health concerns is too gutsy for my like. I'd rather have Smoltz giving us 5 effective innings (and Boggs/Garcia mopping up on those 5th days and starting when people are injured/need rest) than start with Garcia coming off of surgery.

Just my preference though, I'm hesitant with pitchers and surgeries and building arm strength and all that.

Cronos69 wrote:

JCShutout wrote:I'd rather Smoltz start and Garcia be a swingman/6th starter (not too many innings after surgery plz), and then Smoltz can be a RP in the playoffs.

5th starter is rarely needed to actually start every 5th day (due to off-days); if they need to give him rest they can do so. I'd like to see what Garcia's got. Besides, I'm not sure Smoltzy will go that cheap. At this point I would think he's going to go the Roger Clemens/Pedro Martinez route and sign halfway through the year.

At this point, I'd say Lohse is probably going to slot in as the 4th/5th starter anyways.

With as much money as we have invested in 4 starting pitchers, I'd prefer we protect those investments with a decent 5th starter so they can occasionally have the extra day off.

cards2468 wrote:

Cronos69 wrote:

JCShutout wrote:I'd rather Smoltz start and Garcia be a swingman/6th starter (not too many innings after surgery plz), and then Smoltz can be a RP in the playoffs.

5th starter is rarely needed to actually start every 5th day (due to off-days); if they need to give him rest they can do so. I'd like to see what Garcia's got. Besides, I'm not sure Smoltzy will go that cheap. At this point I would think he's going to go the Roger Clemens/Pedro Martinez route and sign halfway through the year.

At this point, I'd say Lohse is probably going to slot in as the 4th/5th starter anyways.

With as much money as we have invested in 4 starting pitchers, I'd prefer we protect those investments with a decent 5th starter so they can occasionally have the extra day off.

I'd rather invest the team invest the majority of their money in good starting pitching anyway. I don't think investing in a 5th starter "protects" them in the end. If Carp and Wainwright are going to blow their arms off in the future it will have had little to do with whether Smoltz pitches in the 5th spot or if Garcia does. Or Boggs. Or Wellemeyer.

Worry about the relievers, not the starters, when it comes to durability/injury risk of rotation pitchers, IMO. Because if we lose Carp and Wainwright we're in trouble and we know it. Planning for the worst in this economy leads to bad decisions (Lohse).

your post made it seem like you wanted the Cards to run a 4 man rotation with an occasional spot start in the 5 spot

cards2468 wrote:your post made it seem like you wanted the Cards to run a 4 man rotation with an occasional spot start in the 5 spot

Worked last year with a pretty pathetic crew working the 5th spot.

Or in GRB terms, when you have Carp/Wain/Penny you can have LOL and OMG/WTF in the 4th and 5th spot.

And if we lose the top two then we're done no matter what happens.

Cronos69 wrote:

cards2468 wrote:your post made it seem like you wanted the Cards to run a 4 man rotation with an occasional spot start in the 5 spot

Worked last year with a pretty pathetic crew working the 5th spot.

Or in GRB terms, when you have Carp/Wain/Penny you can have LOL and OMG/WTF in the 4th and 5th spot.

And if we lose the top two then we're done no matter what happens.

yea, it was fine down the stretch... but not for an entire season...

If you have 5 guys start every single game, that's 32.4 starts a piece. Very few teams have done something like that recently, let alone use just 4 primary starters.

We'll need 5 for sure, most likely 7+.

haltz wrote:If you have 5 guys start every single game, that's 32.4 starts a piece. Very few teams have done something like that recently, let alone use just 4 primary starters.

We'll need 5 for sure, most likely 7+.

Seriously. The odds that Carp, Waino, Lohse and Penny all make ever single start is very very small.