It’s unconventional and something that the team avoided until essentially forced last season, but there are reasons for at least considering an innovative pitching alignment.
There are 3 majors factors that give rise to the notion that the Atlanta Braves should at least consider the use of a 6-man starting rotation… at least for a while: the schedule, the experience level, and the general gimpiness factors of many who would be involved.
We’ve been talking about the Braves’ pitching assets for multiple years now and suddenly a whole crop of them are ripening right before our eyes.
There’s the blessing that makes even talking about this topic even plausible: you can hardly turn around in that clubhouse without bumping into another pitcher who looks all the part of being major league ready.
Yet at the same time, there’s been some fears of injuries. Most of these appear to be more on the lines of precautionary concerns (and I’m one who fell for ‘the sky is falling’ knee-jerk reaction on the initial news), but the bit of great news that most of these players are just fine still leaves the Braves with nearly 2 complete rotations worth of pitching.
With that, let me lay out a case for which this thought process might make some sense.
The Schedule
Early on, this typically isn’t a big issue… many teams don’t even need to tap into their 5th starter until mid-April. However, the Braves’ schedule is a bit more front-loaded this season.
After the usual “make-sure-Opening-Day-doesn’t-get-skipped” days off on March 28 and April 2, the Braves immediately launch in to a stretch of 12 games in a row, which includes a very odd single-series road trip to Denver.
April 15 is that next day off, followed by 6 games, another break (April 22), and then strings of 10, 20, and 13 games through May 26.
That 12 game run from April 3-April 14 would be ideal for using a 6-man rotation… and then the 6 games afterward would fit such a scheme nicely as well.
Beyond that, the Braves could choose any strategy they wished – either reverting to a 5-man set or maintaining the 6.
It was late last season when the Braves were dragged kicking and screaming into a 6-man set… the result of their rain-modified schedule of 58 games in the space of just 60 days.
This opening salvo of games is not nearly that egregious, but the lack of early off-days (6 in April/May with 2 of those coming in the first week) does make the subject worth considering.