Except that isn't really true. With rest and a hard 80-85 pitch limit, he can still produce at a surprisingly high rate.
What Ozzie did to him in May (118 pitch back-to-back starts in cold weather being the dubious highlight) when Orlando was going very good, is borderline criminal. Ok, El Duque's stuff (velocity, movement, bite) dissappeared not long thereafter, his ERA jumped by 2 full points; he even had to be shut down at two different points....
Then when he was all but writtten off, Orlando regained his 88-91 mph fastball with some movement, slider with bite and produced a couple of quality starts in late July IIRC upon his 2nd return. Then he followed that up with a stretch which alone should have gotten Ozzie fired: Yankees, Mariners, Rangers and Tigers, where Duque was nothing short of excellent early but allowed a total 9 "extra" runs in the final 1.2 innings (1, 1, 5, 2 respectively) - all of which came after 90 pitches...
Yes, Duque spoiled a brilliant outing against the Yankees by 2 errors of his own, including a shut-out breaking botched DP, so I am not going to say Ozzie is to blame for it all, but I'll damned if our arrogant/ignorant skipper didn't play a crucial role in not only destorying ED's ERA and confidence, but also risking a major shoulder re-injury. And that's just a 4-start sample size!
Sox fans should know more than anyone else you can never have suprlus of experienced SP. Duque is still relatively affordable in 2006. But unless he is utilized properly (even if it means he goes 5-6 innings maximum, so underrated guys like Cotts or Bajenaru would have chip in an additional inning), it's almost impossible for him to succeed. Even Joe Torre found it out the HARD way in September and October of 2004 when Duque ran out of gas after a great 8-0 stretch. Make him a long-reliever and if one starter goes down next year, give him another shot.
As for 2005 playoffs, I don't want him anywhere near the mound.
