Baltimore Orioles considering six man rotation
By Hayden Kane
The Baltimore Orioles are hoping to be the spot where veteran starting pitcher Johan Santana jump-starts his career. It is a low risk, moderate reward situation that gives Santana a place to give this baseball thing one more shot.
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There certainly will not be a lot of pressure on Santana to be a savior. Rather, the Orioles are hoping he can provide some depth for a rotation that could desperately use it. For a team that will likely be shopping come next month’s trade deadline, they quite frankly might not be hoping for much more than a few months of good work from Santana, depending on how he holds up under a big league workload again.
With that in mind, and perhaps emphasizing that lack of pressure, manager Buck Showalter indicated that the Orioles might run with a six man rotation to make room for Santana.
According to Eduardo Encina of the Baltimore Sun:
Buck said 6-man rotation is a real possibility when Santana is ready. #orioles
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) June 3, 2014
Buck on Santana: "I don’t think there will be anything difficult about it. I’ve been hinting at going to 6 starters anyway." #orioles
— Eduardo A. Encina (@EddieInTheYard) June 3, 2014
While Showalter would certainly never come out and say so, this is likely a tacit acknowledgment that Santana might have to shut things down after a start or two. Nobody wants that to be the case, especially since these shoulder troubles already cost Santana the entire 2013 season. But that is the cold reality of the situation, and one for which Showalter has to try and have a plan in place.