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There are two nice little Lookout Landing posts that are worth your while this morning.  The first one, "Solving the logjam in the Seattle Mariners starting rotation," would Exec Sum about like this:

1) For ANY Mariners starter to "take a step forward" -- as Dipoto believes they can do -- would create more of the staple peanut butter-type youth that Dipoto has pinned your (nay, our) hopes on.  For ANY M's starter, whether it be Erasmo, Moore, Povse, Miranda, Gonzales, whoever -- to chip in 2.0, 2.5 WAR would be big, because in Dipoto's mind he's got dozens of these players.

2) This is questionable.  (Remember, we are Exec Sum'ming LL.)

3) The Mariner fan needs to remember that there is pressure on the 15-25 roster slots if the M's want a Wild Card slot.

4) The 10-day DL is what the LA Dodgers used to "navigate" a 7-man rotation in 2017 and according to 538.com, extended rest (5+ days) reduces the probability of rest by 20%.

5) Dipoto and Servais have both explicity talked about how wide-open they are to a 6-man rotation, during the season, even without using the 10-day DL to "game" the system in the M's/Dodgers' favor.

6)  The M's could combine these two ideas.

7) Lance Lynn and Alex Cobb remain quite reasonable supplements to this idea.

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DR's R/X

1) If a 6-man rotation would reduce James Paxton's odds of a serious injury by 20% ... what are we waitin' for.  :: Trainer Mick accent ::

2) I like Marc-O's odds this year, like 'em a lot.  Count me as right there with Bat571 on the injury-arc bandwagon.  Leake and Erasmo are givens.  That leaves Miranda, the talented Andrew Moore and Max Povse as vying for slot #6 even if you ain't going to use the DL.

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ARTICLE TWO

LL discusses Erasmo's cut fastball at some length.  The Mainframe sees this as quite simple.  If LH batters were previously able to lean out over the plate and take exorbatant hacks at Erasmo's low-release little 92 fastball in the past, but now he can back them up with a gloveside cutter, then it's a short conversation.  Still and all, take a look at LL's article.  They pile on with some good stuff about his deceptive release point.

Ramirez had 0.4 WAR in the last month of 2017, or 2.4 prorated, and a 7.8/2.2 CTL the second half.  He's always been able to hit the mitt, and if he now can cut down on enemy batsmen's alacrity, he's a walking Quality Start.  We'll be watching for the gloveside cutter in March.  Ramirez' days-of-rest splits are hard to decipher because he spent half the year throwing 2 IP on 3 days' rest.

Paxton on 6 days rest last year?  18 IP, 20/3/0 slash line with a 2.41 ERA.  5 days' rest?  40 IP, 46/15/4 with a 2.68 ERA.  The rest of the time, a 3.27 ERA.  < ---- that's gobbledegook because James Paxton, when right, is the personification of strike three and what we're looking for is that so-called Twenty Per Cent.

Wolf Pack Pitching, indeed.  Might wind up talking more about a pack of starters than a pack of 5th-inning reliever.

Go Marc-O,

Dr D