[BigRapidsJackass]

I'm pretty immune to the "we've got resiliency" "we never quit" kind of stuff, but I am impressed that our Rox are hanging in there when they have to use 10 pitchers a night to get through San Diego's weak offense.

I still think it can't last -- sooner or later running guys out there 4 times a week like Dessens/Morales/Redman is going to have to catch up with you. But I like the new quick-trigger Clint. At this point of the season, you probably can run 5 -6 pitchers out there every night without causing any serious problems. And you're likely to get better overal results that way than in trying to squeeze 5 innings out of a Mark Redman every 5th day. Right now you've got a reasonably good chance to seize the platoon advantage with:

Affeldt/Serafini (c'mon, he must have shown something for O'Dowd to pick him up)/Fuentes against LHH

Speier/Bautista as RHH specialists (both have shown problems with lefties)

Morillo/Bautista/Ortiz/Redman as mop-up guys

Herges/Hawkins/Julio as setup guys

Corpas to close

Pretty much all of these guys (Corpas excepted) are flawed relievers, but they all have strengths that -- if Hurdle uses them correctly -- can get him 5-6 innings on those nights when a guy like Dessens is the designated "starter." Right now I'd go get Wickman if I were O'Dowd. With Dessens down, they'll need yet another arm to bridge the gap.

EDIT: Nevermind. I was wondering why nobody snagged Wickman, so I checked. The D'backs beat us to it. Nobody can tell me that's because he preferred to pitch in Phoenix. In fact, he'd have had a more prominent role with us. Why does O'Dowd let our competitors constantly beat us? Wickman's no great thing, but right now that's not the question. The question is: "Would you rather have him out there than Ryan Speier?" Than Denny Bautista? Than Ramon Ortiz? Because with Dessens down, that's who you're going to be seeing a lot more of.