IMO whoever gets removed from the rotation (Gonzalez or Owings) will be put in the pen. I don't think either will be sent down to the minors this year unless they have a major collapse
That might be an excessive amount of pitchers on the staff.... Obviously, there would be the starting 5..... Then Nippert is essentially a long-reliever since he's accustomed to pitching several innings at a time along with Juan Cruz.... Lyons, Medders, Slaten (serving as the LH specialist) as the 7/8 inning set-up men..of course holding fort until Valverde and Pena (he should be assigned the closing role once a weak to take strain off Valverde).
That would leave the either Owings or Edgar Gonzalez pitching mop-up duty and that might be seldom... In order for them to be effective, they must be starting at a regular basis, so due to this #s game Owings might be the odd man out because they'd rather not lose Gonzalez.... Juan Cruz is expendable, but to me he has the best pure stuff on the staff, but we all know it's mental regarding why he's been so erratic.
13 position players sounds right at this time as well... Just soon it will be Quentin on the roster rather than Barden. I don't see DaVannon rushed-up any time soon. He's still recovering and then will go through some extensive rehab, but we know how injury-prone he's been throughout his career, so expect him back on the DL some time before the season is over with.
I still think there might be something wrong with Davis and I envision him being placed on the DL relatively shortly. I know he's had control problems in the past, but not to this extent.. That's why I'm deducing some form of injury to justify his struggles...
