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Will Rangers six-man rotation actually work?

By Zach Houle

ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 26: Cole Hamels #35 of the Texas Rangers delivers a pitch in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Park in Arlington on September 26, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 26: Cole Hamels #35 of the Texas Rangers delivers a pitch in the first inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Globe Life Park in Arlington on September 26, 2017 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images) /
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Will this six-man rotation the Texas Rangers are trying work or be a failed experiment?

The Texas Rangers are a team in limbo. They didn’t make playoffs last year, but the club has a good crop of players that can make a run. Now, the franchise is planning to go with a six-man rotation. One player that isn’t happy with this is lefty Cole Hamels. In reality, he shouldn’t be. The southpaw has pitched for a long time, so he knows what’s best for him. This was his response about pitching in that type of system:

"“That’s the mental side of how you prepare, how you get ready for games, how you condition your body. You throw in the six-man, you might as well be in college. … That’s just not what MLB is to me. That’s not how I learned from my mentors, and that’s not the type of way that I’m here to pitch.”"

  It’s not great when your best pitcher isn’t on board with a grandiose idea. Hamels is a veteran guy so change is a hard thing to do, so that may be why he is so against it. In the MLB, it should be a five-man rotation. There should always be the routine, and that’s what Hamels has done his whole pro career. Why would you want to change that? It’s like when Tom Landry thought swapping out quarterbacks would be innovative, but instead it crumbled into oblivion.

I spoke with a few around the game about if the rotation experiment would work, and they were interested. One scout said “If it limits arm injuries, I’m all for it.” The agent questioned it and said “crazy, who knows. I like the idea. More starting pitchers, more money.” With that said, the Rangers aren’t alone in experimenting in the rotation. The Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Angels are doing unconventional avenues too.

Will it work? Maybe. If the club wants to seriously compete in the division, they should have sign a free agent like Alex Cobb. Although,  luxury tax threshold has been a huge factor for teams, so that has hindered any major activity on that front. They could’ve re-signed Andrew Cashner after his nice season.

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Adding Cobb shouldn’t kill their possibilities in next year’s free agent class; the Rangers should go all in with this team and see what happens. If they added a legit starter, there wouldn’t need a six-man rotation. There’s a very clear — and increasingly affordable — easy fix to this six-man rotation idea: don’t do it and trade for a legit guy.

Thank me later.

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