What will the Royals do about their starting rotation?

[Chief_Justice]

This is getting interesting:

Less than a week ago Pena set our starting rotation for what he believed to the stretch run. It was as follows:

Darrell May
Runelvys Hernandez (replaced by Paul Abbott)
Jimmy Gobble
Kevin Appier
Jose Lima


May is solid, but Appier is still a bit of an unknown quantity (keep in mind he's pitching with an injury). Gobble is a rookie and was roughed up pretty bad in his last outing. Hernandez has been optioned to Double A, and it was recently decided by Pena that Abbott would take Runelvys' spot in the rotation. But Abbott has been completely ineffective and worthless since we acquired him, and now Jose Lima is either still feeling the effects of the groin injury or he is just plain struggling. We had better HOPE that he is just struggling and bounces back in his next start, because if it IS the groin injury that is still bothering him, what in the hell is Tony gonna do with our starting rotation?

You've got May and Appier and then what?

Are the Royals really that comfortable relying on a rookie down the stretch (one that has only made 3 Major League starts mind you). Can Pena really continue to pitch Abbott every 5 days as bad as he is looking? And what if Lima is still injured? Who can the Royals call up to take his place? And don't forget that Appier is pitching with a 40% tear in his elbow. What if his injury suddenly flares up?

As much as we need him in the bullpen, it wouldn't surprise me to see Affeldt back in the starting rotation REAL soon. But what about the other one or possibly two spots? The Royals have said they will not even consider calling up Greinke this year (which is the right decision, IMO). So who does that leave? Chris George? Kris Wilson? Not a whole lot of solid options right now. I know that Ascencio is set to be back sometime in September, but do the Royals really expect him to be an effective pitcher right away?

I'm getting awfully nervous about our starting rotation going down the stretch.


Thoughts?

[PHOG]

Thoughts? :hmmm: Our starting rotation looks like it may be imploding! :sulk: :(

[Boozer]

Hmm...what DID the Royals do about our starting rotation?

[Chief_Justice]

... a little.


Here's the update:

Baird made a GREAT move in acquiring Brian Anderson. He also managed to piss off the Chicago front-office (an added bonus) by making this trade within the division. And SUPPOSEDLY, Baird is still trying to deal for another starting pitcher before the Aug.31 waiver-trade dead-line. Let's cross our fingers. :grovel:

So our starting rotation looks like this now:

Brian Anderson
Darrell May
Paul Abbott
Jimmy Gobble
Jose Lima


Anderson and May will both be solid down the stretch. I'm pretty confident in both of them giving us a good chance to win every game they pitch in September. I'm still not a big Abbott fan, but he did look MUCH better in his last start against the Twins. Really only made one terrible pitch(3-run HR to Hunter). Jury is still out on him. His next start will tell us a lot. I'm starting to feel a little bit better about Gobble just by putting his starts into perspective. Yes, he has gotten pretty roughed up his last two starts, but they were BOTH against the Yankees. We're not going to be playing anyone the quality of the Yankees the rest of the year, save the White Sox in the last week of the season. I'm still worried about Lima, because I don't think he's fully healed from the groin injury that he had. His next start against Anaheim this weekend will tell us a lot about where he is.

So, in all, there are still some concerns, but it is starting to look a little better. Hopefully Baird is still able to make one big move(Livan Hernandez?) for a starting pitcher before Aug. 31st.

[PHOG]

I wouldn't expect the Spo's to trade Hernandez, being they are just 1 game out of the wild card race.(and they won again today against Philly). :shake: