The Rotation (2025):

[nobleisthyname]

Parker, for his sake, needs to be sent down. Just a reset.

He does, but who takes his spot in the rotation?

[welch]

He does, but who takes his spot in the rotation?

That's the question. Nobody in Rochester. Three guys in Harrisburg might be ready next year: Bennett, Clemmy, Susana. No reason to think they are ready right now.

Rutledge is the only pitcher who has started and had at least a game or two of success. He has been tried before, and is not a genuine MLB starter. But the team needs to hide Parker somewhere.

[Slateman]

Rutledge is not a viable option. He hasn't been successful as a reliever. He has an ERA over 6 as a starter.

Lara seems to have been converted to a reliever.

Just call up Alvarez.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Parker, for his sake, needs to be sent down. Just a reset.

does anyone think there's an alternative in the minors? Do you move other cannon fodder like Ogasawara or Pilkington into the 5th starter slot?

[imref]

Not sure luckham, Alvarez, Cornelio, or even Susana would be worse right now.

[Smithian]

He does, but who takes his spot in the rotation?

A starter off the street willing to sign a near minimum contract. Decisions should be made for long term development, not short term wins.

[nobleisthyname]

A starter off the street willing to sign a near minimum contract. Decisions should be made for long term development, not short term wins.

Might as well just have it be Ogasawara or Alvarez then.

I don't disagree fwiw, but it will probably be ugly. Though with Parker it already is so it's not like we're losing much.

[Slateman]

Send Parker down, have him pitch out of the pen. I think he would be a really good reliever

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Send Parker down, have him pitch out of the pen. I think he would be a really good reliever

this was always his projection in the minors even while starting. He wouldn't be the first failed starter to become a good reliever

[welch]

this was always his projection in the minors even while starting. He wouldn't be the first failed starter to become a good reliever

Will he improve his control just by being in the pen? I guess he can't be worse than he is when he starts.

[Slateman]

Will he improve his control just by being in the pen? I guess he can't be worse than he is when he starts.

93 becomes 96. His breaking stuff will be harder and sharper. That will make up for walks.

[welch]

93 becomes 96. His breaking stuff will be harder and sharper. That will make up for walks.

Seems possible. Meanwhile put Rutledge into the rotation until the end of the season. The starters in Rochester are terrible.

[Slateman]

Seems possible. Meanwhile put Rutledge into the rotation until the end of the season. The starters in Rochester are terrible.

No. You can DFA Rutledge now. He ain't coming back. Call up Alavarez

[welch]

Alvarez is not much. Adrian Sampson has been better. Not much future in either, but maybe Sampson will be halfway to mediocre. Otherwise, Rochester "offers" Adon and Shuman and not much else.

[Slateman]

I'll take either of them.

Its pretty obvious that Parker is broken. If we're serious about player development, it means being able to move guys out of the majors, put them in Triple A, have them work on fixing stuff, and bring them back.

[imref]

Speculating on the 2026 rotation:

Locks: Gore, Lord, Cavalli
Battling for 4 & 5: Gray, Parker, Irvin, Alvarez, Lara, maybe Ogasawara
Longshots: Cornelio, Bennett, Clemmey

On the shelf for 2026: Sykora, Susana, Tyler Stuart

If DeBartolo is the GM next year, he has work to do.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Eder is in the mix, too.

[nobleisthyname]

Jackson Kent, #20 prospect, is in AA as well. Could be added to the longshots category.

[imref]

Entire rotation is home grown fwiw.

[Slateman]

We won the game and its not all his fault, but Parker didnt make it through 5.

[imref]

We won the game and its not all his fault, but Parker didnt make it through 5.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

We won the game and its not all his fault, but Parker didnt make it through 5.

with a 7-0 lead

[tomterp]

with a 7-0 lead

Low stress, should have cruised.

[Slateman]

with a 7-0 lead

Low stress, should have cruised.

Agreed.

Im starting to think its time to pull the plug on Parker as a starter. In 2024, he had an amazing April and a good June, and then every thing else was 4/5 land at best. This year is worse. Just April with a sub 3 ERA. June was 4.60. May, July, and August were over 6.

So in 11 months, he has 3 months with an ERA under 4. Four months with an ERA under 5.

What's interesting is that his fastball is getting hit hard. That kind of makes sense. It gets good IVB, but no run to the arm side. Despite great extension, he only throws 92-93. And he throws it a lot. Which makes sense. His split is not good. His slider is average at best. And his curveball is solid. But he is essentially a two pitch pitcher to either side of the plate. He throws the slider to lefties and the curve to righties. If he throws the split, it gets crushed.

Now, despite his poor first innings, he has still been better the first time through the order. Which makes sense. Once opposing batters see the two pitches they need to worry about in the first at bat and make an adjustment after. Then they just wait for him to hang a fastball/splitter.

I propose moving him to the bullpen plays to his strengths and masks/mitigates his weaknesses. His. 92-93 bumps up to 94-96 in one inning spurts. With his extension, hes basically throwing upper 90s with a harder braking ball.

If we could spend on a decent pitcher to fill his spot, Parker out of the pen would could make the pen a real strength next season.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Good points about Parker. Coming up, he was always projected to be a bullpen guy. With Cavalli, Lord, maybe Alvarez, this has been a nice year for starter development, and with some of the guys in AA getting close for 2026, regardless of the vet signings, moving Parker to the bullpen makes some sense.