Right now we've got a ton on the DL, but that is the *last* thing we need. We have a ridiculous amount of AAAA starting pitchers, Zimmermann, Wang, Detwiler, Olsen and Marquis on the DL. Clippard didn't succeed as a starter in the majors with us, and has been phenomenal as a setup pitcher. It would be insane to switch him, losing a perfect 8th inning pitcher and having him lose games as a starter again. Not to mention possibly never getting him back where he is now after shaking his confidence. And like I said, while it might not seem it now we have far too many starters in the pipelines now to do anything but trade some, not add another and lose a key bullpen pitcher.
Yup pitching successfully in relief and pitching successfully as a starter are two entirely different things. The stuff that Clippard has just happens to be suited for relief appearances - where you give everything for one inning, use one or two primary pitches, and only face guys once. The idea that a guy does well in relief so can therefore be a starter just isn't correct. He's successful as a reliever and fills and important role there. No reason to think of changing it.
Our pitching depth has been unbelievably thin from the getgo. Injuries just make it worse. I still chuckle when I think about the debate over whether Livo should have been part of the rotation. Even if his numbers weren't as good as he has delivered, it was pretty clear we lacked any level of major league quality pitching depth and he was very much needed. Rizzo seems to have been working on trading for another starter for a while, and that would be a good move. But other than that, they need to continue to try to see what they have in house and wait for some guys to come back from injury. This is not a WS year for this team. So the moves need to be about building the core, making improvements for the long term, and incremental improvements in the short term. Not moves a team makes for a title run.
The nice thing to see is that they realize, despite some of Kasten's BS, that in order to put a legit product on the field (meaning one that can be competitive and target .500 ball), they need to acquire legit pitching from other sources, not rely upon a pure draft and develop strategy.
