[BigRapidsJackass]

Rodrigo Lopez is done for the year (actually, done forever as a Rockie) and I'd be astounded if Hirsh comes back.

Add to that the fact that Jimenez has struggled mightily his last couple starts.

We're down to Cook and Francis and Fogg and pray for a hurricane to postpone 2 games in a row.

So where to go now?

I've got to admit that I liked the Harikkala + 3 other relievers "emergency start" on Sunday. The other options were to pick up someone else's cast-off (Joel Piniero/Sidney Ponson/Casey Fossum type -- in other words, someone who's been nothing short of awful for an extended time) or to bring up a sub-replacement level pitcher from the farm system (Mike Esposito/Kevin Walker type, since that's all we've got other than Morales right now, and they clearly don't want to throw Morales in the mix just yet).

Which brings me to an interesting point: can the Rockies patch together a pitching staff to make it to September 1? When rosters expand in September, you could potentially carry 15 or 16 pitchers (actually even more if you wanted to) and try to pull off the Harikkala+3 thing a couple nights a week. Dessens may be ready to be activated in a week or so, Fuentes should be back, and then you've got reasonably good relief candidates like Morillo, Morales, Josh Newman, and Steven Register available in the minors. Plus you can always go dumpster diving for another Herges type or two. Or they may even be able to make one of the trades they should've already made, like the D'backs acquisition of Joe Kennedy. You could very realistically use 6-8 pitchers a game in September, driving opposing managers nuts by constantly exploiting righty-lefty matchups and using your worst relievers against only the weakest part of the lineup. It would also have the advantage of allowing Jimenez to move into more of a relief role, where I think he could very possibly thrive.

It seems to me that clubs have never really taken advantage of the September roster flexibility the league provides them. Could that be the direction the Rockies go in? After all, good studies suggest that relievers carry an ERA advantage over starters of approximately .80 runs per game. A collection of slightly better than replacement level relievers should therefore be able to outperform a couple sub-replacement level starters (and other than David Wells, that's what's out there for the taking right now) by at least a run per game. I like it, and I'd like to see them go for it.

Now if they can only make it to September without losing contact with the other playoff hopefuls ...