Comments on: Would you move Duke to the pen?

By: Brad Jensen

Brad Jensen — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 05:04:05 +0000

I think they need to ascertain whether this irritation he keeps feeling is worse if he is pitching in short bursts with lots of frequency or whether its worse if he pitches every five days.

At some point I think they are going to have to go in and find out what is going on in there.

Another issue which often isn’t addressed is that relievers and starters condition differently during the offseason so it isn’t just simply saying someone is going to be a starter or reliever.

By: Oakland Sí

Oakland Sí — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:39:20 +0000

I agree with you about rehabbing a starter. If Duke is healthy enough to pitch they should probably just get him ready to start. Actually, I’m less concerned about the A’s bullpen, which has some good arms and good options already.

By: Jeff Fletcher

Jeff Fletcher — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:32:55 +0000

I just talked to someone about the possibility of Duke moving to the ‘pen and he told me it would not necessarily be a permanent move, but some way to get productivity out of while he’s building up his pitch-count to start. I suppose I like that better, but it still seems a little risky to me. The A’s did try that with Rich Harden and it didn’t work. Say Duke is two weeks away from being ready to start on opening day. Why not just have him make three starts at Triple A instead of risk putting him in unpredictable spots in major league games? You can’t do a rehab assignment in the majors.

By: Oakland Sí

Oakland Sí — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:10:03 +0000

I think one important difference between Harden and Duchscherer is that while Harden has never reallly been a reliever, Duchscherer has been an All Start reliever in the major leagues.

I’m really unsure about what to do with Duchscherer. Of course, if he isn’t healthy he can’t do either — which has to be the greatest concern.