Need for the 5th Starter

by robertmelvin on Nov 29, 2004 6:11 AM PST

During most seasons the schedule in April and May would be such that a 5th Starter would not be overly used. But this year for the A's it is somewhat different. By my calcs a 5th starter will be necessary a minimum of 6 times as follows:

April 13th vs Toronto
April 19th @ Texas
April 24 @ Anaheim

May 4th vs Texas
May 10th vs Boston
May 29 vs Cleveland

That is assuming that the other 4 starters start every 5th day, as opposed to last year when Macha/Young skipped alot of 5th day scheduled starts to give an extra days rest. I say a minimum of 6 starts for the 5th starter. But with the recent injury history of Mulder and Hudson the powers that be in Oakland may start out the season giving extra days of rest from the gitgo, in which case Blanton, or whomever, will get an opportunity to chalk up as many innings as he can handle early in the year.

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another reason not to trade any of the big 3

we need all 4 of our excellent starters in there, if a fifth starter (rookie Blanton or Etherton, or journeyman) is needed that early. No way do the A's want to go into the season needing two rookies or one rookie and a journeyman in the rotation.

by OaklandSi on Nov 29, 2004 7:04 AM PST reply actions