I think you guys know how I feel about Jim Deshaies -- best TV/radio sports analyst in the business. But I was a little disappointed in him yesterday.
I don't know how it happened, but he and Bill Brown got to talking about the Astros trying a six-man pitching rotation like the Boston Red Sox are contemplating doing. And they discussed how this might be a good thing for the Astros because Mike Hampton and Russ Ortiz are injury-prone and haven't pitched many innings the past several years, so this might be a way to preserve them.
There's just one thing that they failed to mention, especially Deshaies. The supposed sixth man to be in the Red Sox rotation is John Smoltz -- a guy who's going to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame once he retires. And the rest of the BoSox rotation includes Josh Beckett, Brad Penny, Tim Wakefield, Jon Lester, and Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is currently on the DL. The six guys for the Astros would be Roy Oswalt, Wandy Rodriguez, Russ Ortiz, Mike Hampton, Brian Moehler, and Felipe Paulino.
All six of the Red Sox pitchers would be a 1 or 2 starter on most clubs in the majors. Of the Astros pitchers, Roy Oswalt would be a 1. Wandy Rodriguez might be a 3-4 starter. And the only rotation the rest of the Astros losers could make would be the Washington Nationals.
The point I'm trying to make is that it's one thing to go to a six man rotation when you have a staff of aces, but it's another thing to go to a six man rotation when you have a staff of losers. The Astros would just be adding another guaranteed loss by expanding the rotation. And I'm a little disappointed that Deshaies didn't point that out.
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