So we’ve gotten going with pitchers and catchers. That opened on Saturday.
In a move that surprised me, Ron Washington has effectively named his starting rotation. Now. Before position players are supposed to report. If you had a rotation slated to include Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Sandy Koufax, Steve Carlton, and a fifth of Roger Clemens, it seems odd to name your starting rotation this early. Especially when the names are Millwood, Padilla, Feldman, Harrson, & McCarthy.
Millwood & Padilla probably are both good #3 guys, but I’m not sure if either is #2 material, definitely not #1. Scott Feldman has done well for us lately, but I don’t think that’s truly a confident fan choice. Matt Harrison also has done well, but has little under his belt long term, and McCarthy? Can we have John Danks back?
It just seems odd to me to declare these guys the starting five. Obviously, anything can change between now and the start. It probably will, but I don’t understand the mindset of having things declared this early. I saw some line about having our catchers get in sync with the starters. That seems like a pile of bunk, to be honest.
There’s a boatload of other guys in camp that fall under the category of “rotation competition”. Does anyone really believe these are the five we’re going to battle with at the start of the season? I don’t.