While before the season started, despite speculation on the contrary, there was not really any doubt that second-year pitcher Josh Collmenter was going to get a spot in the starting rotation for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Based on his run last season, he earned the trust of his manager Kirk Gibson.
When Collmenter's first start resulted in six runs in three innings, raising questions again about how he will do in the rotation started to get asked again.
Kirk Gibson also said that youngster Patrick Corbin was fight for a spot in on the team. He did not end up making the team, but that does not mean he is stuck in the minor leagues. As it turns out, the days Corbin is scheduled to start in AA happen to line up perfectly with Collmenter.
When asked, beat writer Nick Piecoro was inspired to tweet this in response:
Probably not. RT @JPearlAZ Is it just a coincidence that Corbin is matched up with Collmenter on pitching days?
— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) April 9, 2012
It turns out that Gibson had a plan. While he was set with Collmenter in the big leagues, he wasn't going with blind faith in a youngster. Knowing that young pitchers can experience struggles in their second year following a promising rookie campaign, they arranged things just in case.
If Collmenter struggles for two, three or even four more starts, then a simple call-up could be made and Corbin would not miss a beat, starting when he would have started in the minors.
In the end, the team is being smart about things like injuries and ineffectiveness. Will Corbin end up in the rotation? Likely at some point, yes.
Will it be in Collmenter's spot? Maybe, maybe not.
But one thing seems evident. The D-backs are taking no chances.
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