While it may come across as brave and cutting-edge, there is a reason why most people are laughing at the St. Louis Cardinals and their decision to go with a six-man rotation. In Jeff Jones' latest for the Belleville News-Democrat, he touched on manager Oli Marmol's logic to go in this direction. He wants to reintegrate Steven Matz into the rotation without moving off fellow left-hander Matthew Liberatore.
Although Sonny Gray, Andre Pallante, Erick Fedde and to some extent Liberatore have all pitched well to start the season, Miles Mikolas has really struggled and Matz is working his way back from being in the bullpen. All the while, the Cardinals are 9-10 on the season in the most winnable division in the National League. I can only imagine how a six-man rotation is going to break this poor bullpen down.
Marmol's quote about this being a way to combat potential injuries down the line is not the right call.
“You do everything you can to keep guys healthy. Every organization is trying to do that. And then baseball happens, and you can’t control it, right? So it’s unfortunate, but you have to continue to get guys ready and plan for that – and not that.”
St. Louis may be getting good stuff out of its pitching staff top-to-bottom for the most part this season, but every little decision made on that side of the ball will inevitably effect what the team becomes later on. If the hitting improves for the team, it could take some much-needed pressure off the Cardinals' rotation and bullpen down the line. If it does not, then they may be heading for trouble.
Given how fans feel about Marmol, this six-man rotation idea could be what does him in this season.
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St. Louis Cardinals' six-man rotation could blow up in Oli Marmol's face
Look. I am all for innovation, but the Cardinals going with a six-man rotation has me very uneasy about their future. In the even that it does work, they will only have a competitive advantage in this department for maybe another year or two before the rest of baseball figures it out and adopts what they do. My greatest concern is what happens if this not-so-calculated risk does go horribly wrong...
Let's say that in a best-case scenario the Cardinals use their six-man rotation fantastically and end up winning the NL Central going away. How is that going to help them in the postseason? You only need three starters in most instances. Half of the Cardinals rotation is going to be relegated to bullpen roles they have not been in for much of the year. Unfamiliar territory is how you get burned later on.
It is the same sort of issue when it comes to basketball. Having a deep rotation may help a team during the regular season, but come playoff time, the best players play the most. There are only many minutes or innings to be had. It is not about who your fifth-best starter is or who your 10th man in the rotation is. It is about your frontline dogs! There is also one other thing I would be concerned about...
What if it does not work, as in somebody in the six-man rotation ends up getting hurt anyway. The way your roster is constructed will have to be altered with the bullpen becoming even more important. What people regularly fail to realize in baseball is the health of a bullpen, and a starting staff to some extent, are reasons why we have not see a repeat World Series champion in 25 years.
On paper, a six-man rotation is an okay idea in construct, but baseball has been played for 150 years.