25-Man Roster Crunch

[Hubs]

I have seen this in several threads, that going to a 6 man rotation makes the roster a lot tighter, but I'm confused on how this is a huge problem. Essentially having a 6th starter who is also your DH, even if it's 3 days a week, means that you have a deeper bench on days he is the DH and a shorter bench on days he is not. I'd also not be surprised if they just have a 5 man rotation and have JC Ramirez spot start semi often, to give everyone another rest day.

 

Here's my 25 man roster prediction post Ohtani-signing.

SP

Ohtani

Richards

Skaggs

Shoemaker

Bridwell

Heaney

 

RP

Johnson

Parker

Bedrosian

Middleton

JC Ramirez

Wood

Alvarez

 

1B Valbuena/Cron

2B TBD

SS Simmons

3B TBD

C Maldonado

LF Upton

CF Trout

RF Calhoun

DH Pujols

 

C Perez/Graterol

INF Cowart

OF TBD

 

Signing a guy like Cozart to play 3rd or 2nd gives us a back up SS. Also, Calhoun can fill in at 1st, if they need him to. So presumably will the guy they acquire for 2nd, whether it's Neil Walker, Howie Kendrick, or even Cesar Hernandez. Right now, the above would look slightly different, as they would have Valbuena at 3rd and Cron at 1st. But it depends on who they acquire.

 

[Blarg]

Ohtani is not the DH. He will be given two, maybe three games between his starts to DH but he is a pitcher and not a position player that covers a utility role. With Pujols playing the field only part time it requires a first baseman for the rest of the week. 

So you've really only added a part time DH, reducing your bench depth by one player to compensate for the 6th starter. With a five man rotation this isn't an issue.

[Hubs]

Day 1: Ohtani starts. Pujols is DH

Day 2: Ohtnai off. Pujols is DH.

Day 3: Ohtani DH. Pujols 1B

Day 4: Ohtani DH. Pujols 1B.

Day 5. Ohtani DH. Pujols off.

Day 6. Ohtani off. Pujols DH.

 

 

[greginpsca]

Agree on Cozart. Tropeano would slot into the vacant rp spot. Eppler has said he want bullpen guys who can go 2 innings. Trop will fill that and cheaply, without trading prospects or paying a free agent. And Hermosillo as 4th of'er as he can play all 3 spots.

[krAbs]

2 minutes ago, Hubs said:

Day 1: Ohtani off. (Richards Starts). Pujols is DH

Day 2: Ohtnai starts. Pujols is DH.

Day 3: Ohtani off. Pujols is DH.

Day 4: Ohtani DH. Pujols 1B

Day 5: Ohtani DH. Pujols off.

Day 6. Ohtani DH. Pujols 1B.

 

 

Where presumably Cron (or I guess valbuena) is 1b on day 1, off on day 2, 1b on day 3, off on day 4, 1b day 5,  off on day 6, correct? Which means, if its Valbuena, we have an extra utility infielder on day 2, 4, and 6. But then we're stuck with Valbuena...

[Hubs]

Sometimes on Day 6, Pujols would play 1B if there is a day off somewhere in the middle. I doubt he'd play three straight days at 1st.

If Day 1 is Monday, for instance, and Thursday is a day off, then Pujols would get a break between Day 3 and 4, meaning, he can then be the 1st baseman on Day 5.

This would result in roughly 75 games each at DH and Pujols getting 65 starts at 1B.

 

[Hubs]

2 minutes ago, krAbs said:

Where presumably Cron (or I guess valbuena) is 1b on day 1, off on day 2, 1b on day 3, off on day 4, 1b day 5,  off on day 6, correct? Which means, if its Valbuena, we have an extra utility infielder on day 2, 4, and 6. But then we're stuck with Valbuena...I

I edited the daily lineup, to make more sense.

[HaloNArizona]

If we go six starters, I can see us going six in the pen

Giving us four bench players.

 

[Hubs]

10 minutes ago, HaloNArizona said:

If we go six starters, I can see us going six in the pen

Giving us four bench players.

 

Because a few of the starters would be available for 1 inning of relief in between starts?

[arch stanton]

The basic problem is that Cron and Albert are redundant and since Albert isn't going anywhere Cron has to. His spot has to be filled with someone who can play first or third(this eliminates Cron) and handle left (a must) or right (will be needed from time to time) handed pitching. Solve that and everything else falls into place. This player will get plenty of at bats but not be counted on as a top of lineup guy. This is why I like Frazier

[Warfarin]

20 minutes ago, arch stanton said:

The basic problem is that Cron and Albert are redundant and since Albert isn't going anywhere Cron has to. His spot has to be filled with someone who can play first or third(this eliminates Cron) and handle left (a must) or right (will be needed from time to time) handed pitching. Solve that and everything else falls into place. This player will get plenty of at bats but not be counted on as a top of lineup guy. This is why I like Frazier

Right.  I think Cron's days are numbered in this current set-up.  Realistically, we need a utility IF who can cover 2B/SS/3B and a 1B/3B RH utility IF who will effectively platoon with Valbuena. Marte is our current option for that kind of utility corner IF, but I am hoping we can find an improvement.