MLB: Could Managers Get Creative with Rotations, Bullpens in Short Season?
Summing up how interesting the 2020 MLB season will be.
Managers will have arsenals of previously unimaginable breadth at their disposal all season long. This will certainly benefit the teams with deep starting rotations and powerful bullpens, just like 162-game seasons do.
The separator will come by way of craftiness.
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Will Joe Maddon unlock new potential from a lackluster Angels pitching staff using a shorter rotation and bullpen games? Can Kevin Cash and the Tampa Bay Rays continue to lead the way and act as MLB’s pacemaker when it comes to rotational creativity? Could the opener give way to four different pitchers going 2-3 innings a game?
The options really do seem limitless at this point, and because my baseball mind has been shuttered and locked deep in the back of my mind since the lockdown began, I’m open to thinking far too long and much too hard about this.
I am someone who was already intrigued by the idea of pitching multiple starters in a game last season. As a Dodgers fan, I got to see Ross Stripling and Julio Urías combine for a win. Piggybacking off each other and bringing vastly different arsenals to the table, I got excited for things to come. I wanted to Dustin May work as a part-time high leverage arm and part-time opener and Alex Wood bridge the gap between May and Tony Gonsolin.
dark. Next.
In a 162-game season, that may have been too much variability to ask for. Sure, postseasons allow for whacky managerial moves, but not regular seasons. But thanks to this short season, I think my 2019 hopes and dreams may still come true, even in this wildly different nightmare that we call 2020.