By starting on Saturday, Jeff Suppan has been deemed to be new skipper Ken Macha’s choice as starter for the Brewers’ Opening Day game on April 7 in San Francisco against ’08 Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum.
Except I haven’t found any sources that have actually quoted Ken Macha as having said that.
Still, were it to happen, it would be a inadvertent dream come true for me…let me explain:
At least once here, I pondered, “What would happen if a manager opted to use his worst starter at the start of the rotation, proceeded by his best, second best, etc…. This, presumably, would give the team an advantage as they would have their #1 facing their opponent’s #2, their #2 facing their opponent’s #3, and so forth. In essence, they would essentially concede the first game in order to have a somewhat distinct advantage in the next four games. A team that lost every game when their #5 faced a #1, but won every other game would be an .800 team.
Yes, I know there are several flaws in this theory–simply, a lot of teams #2 and #3 guys are better than another team’s #1 starter; also, off days and rain outs mess up the rotations and match-ups before the end of April.
That said, Lincecum is probably the best pitcher in the majors right now…so why waste a good start by Yovani Gallardo by sending him out in a game where the offense may only plate a run or two anyway? Normally, I’d say Dave Bush is the probable #5 starter for the Brewers….but, after his Cactus League performances, may be better in ’09 than ’08, while Suppan’s age might be starting to show.
Ken Macha may be putting this theory to the test without anyone realizing it.
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