Rebuilding A's mulling move traditionalists might hate

Baseball traditionalists still bemoan the loss of four-man pitching rotations to the modern five-pitcher set. Now, the Oakland A’s might be taking it a step further.

A’s GM David Forst recently told the San Francisco Chronicle the team could use a six-pitcher starting rotation to start the season.

“We’ve mapped it out a lot of different ways," Forst said. "Things that look like a six-man (rotation) or an occasional bullpen day or an occasional spot starter. There are a lot of ways to do it. I just don’t think we’ll know what they are until we get really into the season.”

Part of the reason for a six-man rotation is the team’s makeup. The rebuilding A's, who have a lot of youth and new players, had the worst record (60-102) in the American League last season. They could be worse in 2023.

Oakland’s staff is led by ace Paul Blackburn, an All-Star last year with a 4.28 ERA and a 7-6 record. He started 21 games, but in the previous five years combined, he appeared in 30 games. So, he is anything but a workhorse.

The next-most experienced pitcher is James Kaprielian, who started 26 games last year and 47 in his three-year career. Next up is Drew Rucinski, whose last big-league job was in 2018 as a reliever for Miami. Also in the rotation is Ken Waldichuk, who started seven games in 2022.

Add in newcomer Shintaro Fujinami from Japan, where starting pitchers take the mound once a week compared to every five days in MLB. It remains to be seen who would fill a potential sixth spot in the rotation.

Most of the young and inexperienced staff will be on a innings limit. The staff will use this year to build up strength so it can move to a more traditional rotation when the team is ready to compete.

Moving to a six-man rotation allows the A’s to better control the innings without skipping starts or needing random bullpen days. The six-man rotation will also let the A’s continually rotate guys in from the minors to give them experience.

It might be something that traditionalists hate, but for rebuilding Oakland, the move makes sense.