Greensboro mix and matching with a crowded rotation

With another name in the mix, the Grasshoppers will have to continue to be creative with their rotation.

Scott Randall was the return in the Diego Castillo trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks. After missing all last season, Randall has slowly worked his way back onto the mound and was recently activated by the Greensboro Grasshoppers.

He enters an interesting situation. The Grasshoppers have already been forced to get creative with their rotation and will need to do so even further with the addition of Randall.

All five members of their original rotation—Hunter Barco, Patrick Reilly, JP Massey, Wilber Dotel, and Alessandro Ercolani—remain with the Grasshoppers. They’ve also added Derek Diamond after the righty began the season on the injured list. Dominic Perachi has been pushing for longer outings with his recent play, which also saw him getting promoted to Altoona briefly.

The Grasshoppers originally had Diamond work out of the bullpen in piggyback situations, slowly building him up until he was deemed ready to take over a rotation spot.

Over the last 15 games, Greensboro has used six different starters and another one out of the bullpen as a multi-inning guy.

Here’s a quick look at each pitcher that has had a start so far this season for the Grasshoppers.

Hunter Barco—The Grasshoppers’ Opening Day starter, and despite having a pair of rough games in a row, he’s still having a solid season. Barco has thrown just 9.2 innings over his last three starts due to the struggles. There will likely be some innings limit in his first full season back from Tommy John, so having this kind of depth helps if they want to start dialing him back slightly for a brief stretch.

Patrick Reilly—After spending most of his career at Vanderbilt as a reliever, Reilly has arguably been their most consistent starter lately, at least regarding innings pitched. He’s thrown five in each of his last three starts. The walks are starting to creep back up, so it will be interesting to see how they manage his workload from here on out.

JP Massey—He’s thrown just twice in the last 15 games for a total of 3.2 innings pitched. After a strong start in Bradenton last year, walks have caught up to him, and he has struggled since getting to Greensboro. There is some intrigue as a reliever, but it doesn’t appear they are ready to make that move.

Dominic Perachi—After beginning the year as a multi-inning reliever, Perachi is starting to force his way into more and more playing time. He’s made two starts in the past two weeks, arguably taking Massey’s spot in the rotation. He’s also seen time in Altoona already.

Alessandro Ercolani—He’s been in the bullpen since allowing nine earned runs over 2.1 innings pitched on May 22 against Greenville. The move has helped, as he’s allowed just two earned runs on three hits and two walks while striking out 13 across eight innings pitched (three games). At just 20, this seems the perfect way to further his development while pitching at High-A.

Wilber Dotel—He got off to a strong start this year but has struggled lately. Dotel posted a 1.17 ERA in four starts during April but has a 9.46 mark since then. He seems like a strong candidate to slide to the bullpen to get some multi-inning work, as Ercolani has lately done.

Derek Diamond—The numbers don’t tell the story, but Diamond logged over 100 innings last year between Bradenton and Greensboro. He’s back at Greensboro and doing well outside his latest start, where he only lasted an inning. The strikeouts are up, and the walks down, in his second tour in Greensboro.

Scott Randall—It’s unsure how he will initially be incorporated into things, but he will likely be on a tight pitch count early on, which will help get everyone innings for now. In his brief time in Bradenton, he showed a nice fastball/curve combination with some solid pitch-shape characteristics.

Due to their age and the fact they are both over halfway to their 2023 innings totals, it does seem like the most logical course of action would be to have Ercolani and Dotel throw in multi-inning roles out of the bullpen—or even as openers like Anthony Solometo in Double-A—at least for now.

It wouldn’t be a permanent move, but with yet another starting pitcher joining the mix, this may be the best opportunity to continue to get them all the kind of work they need at their stage of development.

Promotions could happen, but the Altoona Curve are also dealing with the same thing with their rotation.

That being said, it’s a good sign to see the Pirates have this kind of problem at multiple levels as well. Even reaching down in Single-A, they have a few names that have also played their way into making a case for a promotion.

It’ll just be a matter of each player taking advantage of each opportunity given, putting themselves in the best position to take the next step forward.

In an ideal scenario, they all have their own rotation spot, but with further restrictions on the number of players you can have in the minors, having this depth can ensure everyone makes it through the entire season healthy without overworking anyone.

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