August 21, 2008
Left In
Sean Gallagher and Justin Duchscherer both hit the disabled list for the Oakland Athletics, setting a team record for DL use. It also leads them with an all-lefty rotation:
The A's recalled left-handers Dana Eveland and Dan Meyer from Triple-A Sacramento to join the rotation. Eveland, in his second stint with the A's this season, is scheduled to start on Saturday. Meyer is scheduled to pitch Sunday. He is also in his second stint with Oakland this year.
The team now has an all left-handed, five-man rotation -- including Thursday's starter Greg Smith, Gio Gonzalez and Dallas Braden. The only other time Oakland has had an all-southpaw rotation was in 1973 with a four-man staff of Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman, Darold Knowles and Paul Lindlad.
Sounds like something sinister is going on in Oakland. I can't imagine an all-lefty rotation works that well. Most hitters are still right-handed, after all.
"I can't imagine an all-lefty rotation works that well."
Yeah, that 1973 rotation only made it as far as World Champs.
The problem is not the handedness of the pitchers, it's their quality. There were good reasons for Eveland and Meyer being in the minors. Unless their control has improved, it looks even more dire for the A's than it already has been over the past month.
Oakland may have used Blue, Holtzman, Knowles, and Lindblad as the rotation for awhile in 1973, but not for long. Catfish Hunter was still with the team then. Knowles did make five starts and Lindblad three, and fellow lefty Dave Hamilton made 11, but righty Hunter made 36 starts and Blue Moon Odom 24. So that wasn't anything like their regular rotation.
