but I think since Harden is in the mix it might be a 5 man rotation, with Marshall and Samardzija making up two halves of the last whole.

That is, I think we’d be lucky to get 25-30 starts out of Harden. (Heck 22-24 would be nearly a miracle considering his history) That being the case, I think Lou will continue to baby Harden, throw Marshall out there as his #5 and use Shark or Gaudin as spot starters to keep Harden on as much rest as possible.

Z and Lily could start 35 games in their sleep, and Dempster can probably do 30 easy, but Harden gums up the workd significantly.

I would worry about Hardin too but we pay these guys a lot of money to work every 5th day so why not get out of them what we want. I think last year we saw Lou go on the “modified” 4.5 day rotation, why not up the ante, especially if we don’t sign another starter.

We’re talking about an increased workload on each of our pitchers by 15%. A guy like Zambrano who already have backloaded for the next five years, needs to adhere to that contract if we’re going to make it worth our while.

The Verducci Effect seems to be a good benchmark as to a reason not do do this, and I would be very cautious before risking our best arms before the increased workload of the playoffs.

The Boston Red Sox have devised a sort of “phantom DL” for their guys that seems to work just fine. They put a guy like Beckett on the BS-DL for 15 days and bring up one of their young studs like Justin Masterson to fill the void while he rests his shoulder.

I think just as importantly, our pitching coaches should be stressing ground ball efficiency and defense to protect our pitchers’ arms to limit the amount of fly balls and overall pitch counts.

Because of injuries. This way if one of the top four is out, Marshall goes in that slot and the “6th” guy fills Marshall’s slot. Harden is the prime candidate for being one of the one-to-four that could miss starts, so the Cubs need a “#6”. Is that Gaudin?

I started this discussion a couple weeks ago and noted that if you start Harden earlier in the rotation, you can guarantee him two indoor starts.

http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/1/6/710694/it-s-official-marquis-to-r#11203915

Where’s the credit?!?

Im sure they wont do it, but its an interesting idea and I think it would work well.

I saw the title of the post, and all I could think was, “Al wants a midget pitcher?”

Nice argument, though, even if there are no little people involved.

4 years/60M

Braves have a pretty good staff now, especially if Kawakami can translate in the bigs

By bringing back the same rotation we had last year, I think the last thing we’ll need to worry about is whether they’ll be able to get the job done, barring injuries of course. I’d be worried about burning them out, personally. I know its very optimistic, but I’d rather have our starters be fresh for the playoffs, that way they can pick up the slack when we aren’t hitting.

The Cubs had some success using Terry Mulholland in this sort of role in 1998, although Mulholland made only six starts and was mostly a reliever. He went at least two innings in relief 13 different times.

Relief pitchers going more than an inning?

That’s not really the way Lou rolls… :D

I keep hearing Chad Gaudin as a possible spot starter. I recognize that he’s done this in the past, but now? Really? Did we see ANYTHING that happened last year to indicate that he could do this? I really wasn’t all that impressed with him as a reliever. He sat on the bench pretty well, tho.

I say we roll this idea out that last 1/5 of the season and go into the playoffs with a head of steam.

I really like this idea, and I think if I was a manager I would give it a try. But I think it may be pushing it a bit. Zambrano and Harden are obvious concerns because of the past. I think Lilly and Dempster could handle it. Also what do you think about starting Samardzija every once and ahile instead of Gaudin?

So, apologies if I’m just repeating what others have already said better.

But to me, an idea like this is good in theory and just the kind of wrong-headed mistake Lou Piniella was inclined to make last year.

After an off-season where the Cardinals and Brewers got worse, we do not need to be making moves to maximize our regular season win total at the expense of our post-season strength.

If the Reds’ youngsters step up and they push us for a post-season berth, well, then, this is an idea you can employ at mid-season. But right now, it looks like the Cubs have a comfortable margin on the rest of the NL Central and we should play that way.

You take Harden out of the “rotation.” You have him get on a schedule, and pitch every Saturday. That way, he gets good rest, he gets on a schedule, and then he can get in a rhythm. And Saturday is the best day. You always have a game on Saturdays. Its probably a pretty crucial game of a weekend series. Either we lost the day before and need a bounce back win, or we just won and wanna keep the ball rollin. In that rotation, you would definatly need 4 other guys, so I dont know what to do there. Maybe Marshall is the answer. But I think if Harden owns a day for the whole season, it would be beneficial to him.

Who is the odd man out if Peavy is added to the roster?

…for the reason cited by James and given the cycle of recovery for the pitcher’s arm. Of course, the latter implies that a guy isn’t being pushed to 120+ pitch counts regularly, too, but then he may need 10 days rest not 4. Pitchers have to be managed well within the game and from start to start to start, but if they are not being abused then a 4 man rotation is fine.

I’ve been pushing it for a while and I think it’s also a great way to develop young arms and get them into the MLB faster.