Was there tonight. Ross is boss. Great demeanor on the mound, so cool and confident. When that damn error landed between Danny and Denard (I think it was Polanco?) I was sure it was gonna turn into a run. Instead Ross pitches right through it better than any other pitcher I've seen this year (no offense to the likes of Scherzer, Fister and Zinn - they shouldn't have to pitch through the garbage they get behind them).
I think you go to a 6-man rotation for 3 or 4 starts, get some more looks at everybody and give Scherzer some extra rest, we want that dude fresh for October and he's been pitching his brains out. I don't think you take Fister out under any circumstances, he's got the track record to bounce back. Roark goes to the pen too, no question, he's got experience there and shores up an otherwise depleted bullpen. So then it's Gio, Stras or Ross. I don't think Gio has the stuff to make it in the pen, especially because he has made a concerted effort this year to convert to a groundball pitcher (google it - there's a Wapo article somewhere where he cops to it) and he has a track record as a pitcher, not just a hurler.
If Stras has a hell of a bounceback 3 or 4 starts off the DL, you send Ross to AAA to keep getting better in anticipation of 2016 sans Zinn & presumably Fister (AJ Cole who?). Maybe even if they pitch equally, they both give you quality starts, go with the veteran with the electric stuff. But if he can't get it together, I say you send him to AAA to train as a bullpen arm. Can you imagine Stephen Strasburg, the closer? He has better stuff than freaking Kimbrel. If you start soon enough, you might not have to sell the farm for Chapman and/or Papelbon. If they make a lesser trade for say, Tazawa or Benoit, you have a bullpen that looks like...
Thornton - Lefty
Janssen/Carpenter - depth
Roark - Stammen-type guy
Strasburg - 7th inning guy? Setup? Alternate closer? Fireman strikeout guy? Who can also give you 2-3 innings? Hot damn
Storen - 9th
Benoit/Tazawa - Setup
It's a righty-heavy, and maybe it's even a pipe dream, but that is a fierce bullpen. Janssen or Carpenter is the worst pitcher on the staff? Now that sounds like a championship caliber pen. Ah well, a man can dream can't he?
