Rockies to use five-man rotation in 2013

This just cries out for a hybrid bullpen cart.

On Friday… the Rockies, who decided to use a four-man starting rotation in late June, said they will continue to use the traditional five-man rotation next year. The team will continue to use three hybrid relievers, as they refer to a reliever who works on a set schedule and has been called on when a starter gets to a point where he will be facing a lineup for the third time in the game…

While the Rockies have had a quasi-75 pitch limit in the four-man alignment, they will allow pitchers to throw between 90 and 100 pitches in the new approach…

The game workload won’t be much different in the return to the five-man rotation, but the move will afford less bullpen time between starts.

Under the traditional five-man, with a 100-pitch guideline, a pitcher would make six starts and throw 600 pitches with six bullpen sessions in a four-week period, while with the four-man and a 75-pitch limit, a pitcher would make eight starts and throw 600 pitches, but also would have seven bullpen sessions.

Cowboy hat tip to Roberto