Hold Off Rushing Harden To The Rotation?
A'S MUST MAINTAIN ROTATION'S SEASON-LONG CONSISTENCY
Minnesota's fireballing Francisco Liriano blew out his elbow Wednesday against the A's. Should this be a cautionary tale for the A's to look closely with their own youthful flamethrower?
A's manager Ken Macha said yesterday that Rich Harden threw 30 pitches with no pain in his sprained elbow. His slider looked so sharp that he's slated to throw 60 pitches in a simulated game at the Coliseum Saturday. He added that Harden may be back by next week and only as a starter.
So, what happens if the precarious elbow of Harden pans out until the end of the regular season with say, minimum to good results? Do the A's include him in their post-season rotation? He is, when healthy, by far their most dominant pitcher, but it might not be a good idea to go with a four-man rotation in a best-of-five series and tinker with a rotation strong enough to actually win the division with Harden for most of the season.
What wrong with Barry Zito, Joe Blanton, Dan Haren and the recently smoking-hot Esteban Loaiza?
Why not bolster the bullpen with the hard-throwing Harden for an inning at a time or shelve him for the rest of the season. He's that valuable and unique to the A's organization to be that cautious even with the playoffs looming.
At least, it's better to be someone like Harden, who is working hard to return, than to be Bobby Crosby whose curiously sore back has rendered all baseball activity useless in addition to his season.
Minnesota's fireballing Francisco Liriano blew out his elbow Wednesday against the A's. Should this be a cautionary tale for the A's to look closely with their own youthful flamethrower?
A's manager Ken Macha said yesterday that Rich Harden threw 30 pitches with no pain in his sprained elbow. His slider looked so sharp that he's slated to throw 60 pitches in a simulated game at the Coliseum Saturday. He added that Harden may be back by next week and only as a starter.
So, what happens if the precarious elbow of Harden pans out until the end of the regular season with say, minimum to good results? Do the A's include him in their post-season rotation? He is, when healthy, by far their most dominant pitcher, but it might not be a good idea to go with a four-man rotation in a best-of-five series and tinker with a rotation strong enough to actually win the division with Harden for most of the season.
What wrong with Barry Zito, Joe Blanton, Dan Haren and the recently smoking-hot Esteban Loaiza?
Why not bolster the bullpen with the hard-throwing Harden for an inning at a time or shelve him for the rest of the season. He's that valuable and unique to the A's organization to be that cautious even with the playoffs looming.
At least, it's better to be someone like Harden, who is working hard to return, than to be Bobby Crosby whose curiously sore back has rendered all baseball activity useless in addition to his season.
