With a combination of lefties and righties, young players and veterans, the Arizona Diamondbacks have a pitching rotation both now and for the future that many other MLB teams should covet. They have quality all around and if one of their starters gets injured, as Daniel Hudson did earlier this season, this is one of the few teams that can not only sustain the blow, but possibly bring up an even more talented arm from the minor leagues.
So now, it seems that the D-backs are set to utilize a six man rotation. They do not plan on demoting the recently called up Tyler Skaggs and everyone else is either too tenured or playing well enough themselves. The thing is, that six man rotation might not last for long and that's probably a good thing.
It just seems like a waste to me to have such talented arms only throwing once every six days. Ian Kennedy has struggled quite a bit this season, especially in his last stint against the Padres, but he still headlines the rotation. After that, it's all youth; youth that can sustain a heavy pitch load. Trevor Cahill, Hudson (who is recovering from Tommy John surgery), Patrick Corbin, Wade Miley, Skaggs and another veteran in Joe Saunders; all of them are above average pitchers.
It would seem that instead of playing all six of those players, the Diamondbacks could flip one of them into a different asset such as a corner infielder or another talented shortstop.
They might be trying to do that, as many reports suggested yesterday that the D-backs had reached an agreement with an unidentified team to ship off Joe Saunders. Saunders has been a nice veteran presence for the team this year, but with all of the young arms behind him, it's probably best that he is on his way out.
So the six man rotation, although it is implemented now, might not be there for much longer. And that's probably a good thing.
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