At least according to the Daily Southtown;

 

After he was signed to a two-year, $8 million contract, it was widely assumed Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez would follow Mark Buehrle and Freddy Garcia in the rotation. Guillen has decided to go with Jose Contreras in the No. 3 spot, followed by Hernandez and Jon Garland.

 

"I think Contreras pitched real well when we played in Chicago, and El Duque has a lot of experience and he's a good road pitcher," Guillen said.

 

Contreras is 2-1 with a 3.32 career ERA at U.S. Cellular Field and last season had a 1.65 ERA in home starts compared to 4.33 on the road. Hernandez is 31-21 with a 4.12 ERA in road games for his career, 61-40 (3.96) overall.

 

If the rotation stays on schedule, Contreras would make five of his first eight starts at home, while Hernandez would start three of his first four on the road.

Does the position of the starter really matter? If he's a quality starter and he's in a rotation - who cares if he's 3rd or 5th or 1st?

 

More of a general baseball question I guess.

Does the position of the starter really matter? If he's a quality starter and he's in a rotation - who cares if he's 3rd or 5th or 1st?

 

More of a general baseball question I guess.

Nah, doesn't matter. The only time IMO that the order matters is, typically, managers like to split their lefties up so a team doesn't see them in back-to-back games. Personally, I don't agree with that, but most MLB teams seem to operate that way.

 

To me, if you're a good pitcher, you're a good pitcher, and it doesn't matter if you're at the front or the back of the rotation.

S'what I thought.

Does the position of the starter really matter? If he's a quality starter and he's in a rotation - who cares if he's 3rd or 5th or 1st?

 

More of a general baseball question I guess.

It can matter as far as match ups are concerned. You certainly would rather avoid you're #5 going up against their #1 or #2. However, with Jose, he should be fine in the #3 spot, especially with the reasoning behind it.

Does the position of the starter really matter? If he's a quality starter and he's in a rotation - who cares if he's 3rd or 5th or 1st?

 

More of a general baseball question I guess.

 

the only real difference is the #5 is the one teams normally will skip a turn if there is an off day or a rain/snow out.

I think Contreras will have a big year this year.

 

You can see the talent is there.

Having El Duque here will really help him stay loose, and comfortable. Last year he looked like he was afraid to breathe, and he was very tense. This year he will be relaxed.

Edited February 20, 200521 yr by WHarris1

Have you all noticed a bunch of "Guillen said" articles in the last week?

 

I think that he is having fun with the media by just saying random stuff.

It can matter as far as match ups are concerned. You certainly would rather avoid you're #5 going up against their #1 or #2. However, with Jose, he should be fine in the #3 spot, especially with the reasoning behind it.

 

Come the middle of the year with offdays figured in there, those matchups will come, and there is nothing you will be able to do about it.

 

Really, the only time where you are in the rotation affects you, is in the playoffs.

This just in, Guillen said he just saved tons of money by switching to Geico. No link as of yet, but I saw it on Comcast.