Sale to Start Next Year?

[bighurt574]

Welp, I see no one has spoken their reason why Sale should stay in the pen yet (I was the first to vote pen earlier today) so I guess I'll air my reasoning. I love Sale's stuff and I think he can (and possibly will) be an awesome starter. The reason I said he should stay in the pen is because of his frame and delivery and risk of injury. My fear is that he is going to be at risk for a career worth of injury with his small frame and long limbs whipping with his delivery. And now that he's conditioned to come out of the pen, I think he'll be at an even greater risk of injury as we stretch him out, no matter how slowly we move with him. We can't afford to waste a young arm like this by having him injured often as his innings pile up. This may just be an irrational fear from my youth that that we're going to break our toy but I am very content with him in his current role. Can anyone allay my fears on this? PTatc?

 

You can say pretty much all those things about Lincecum (apart from the bullpen experience), imagine if the Giants never game him a chance to start. I think you have to give Sale that chance. Starting pitching is just too valuable, especially for a potentially elite guy who can anchor your rotation not just in the regular season but in a playoff series. If he flops for whatever reason, you can move him back to the pen. And if it is any consolation, we seem to be one of the better organizations at protecting our starting pitching from injuries.