We have documented here quite well how right handed pitcher Josh Collmenter has struggled to start the season and through spring training for the Arizona Diamondbacks. And for the most part, we have been supporters of the patience and faith that manager Kirk Gibson has shown in him.
But four starts into the season and he is still struggling.
Now, a season ago, the naysayers said that he would be better suited for the bullpen with his funky delivery that makes it hard to locate the ball. as a starter, they said, as he gets deeper in the game, the less effective he can be. However, time and time again he stepped up and performed well.
But now there is some reason to move him to the bullpen. His first two starts did not have consistency. He made improvements in his third start, putting together three straight great innings. In his start on Tuesday, he was effective for three innings.
Notice a pattern? He can be very good for three innings. That is not a starter. That is a reliever.
Before Wednesday's game versus the Philadelphia Phillies, Gibson was not yet ready to announce who would start on Sunday and Monday. Using who has been in the rotation, those days would be Wade Miley and Collmenter.
Sounds like things are a little uncertain.
If I were the manager, this is what I would do. I give Collmenter one more start. He has a pattern so far of throwing three great innings. If that happens again, then it would seem that, at least for now, he would be best suited to relief.
Of course, that leaves the starting rotation in flux, but there has been chatter about the young arms like Patrick Corbin in the minors. Corbin pitched great in the spring and has been very good to start the season in AA Mobile.
Can Collmenter turn it around? Certainly. he showed that a year ago.
But for now, it seems like he would best serve the team in the pen.
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