Olsen to get extra rest

by craig on Sep 5, 2007 8:27 AM EDT in News and Rumors

The Marlins have decided to juggle the rotation and push Scott Olsen back a couple of days.

He is the team's winningest starter this year, but Scott Olsen won't make his next turn in the rotation because of his late-season struggles.

Olsen was slated to start Friday in Philadelphia but instead will pitch Monday at home against Washington.

Right-hander Byung-Hyun Kim will start Friday instead of Saturday, rookie right-hander Rick VandenHurk will move up a day to pitch Saturday and Dontrelle Willis will start Sunday. All three will start on regular rest because the Marlins are off Thursday.

In order to determine the cause of his struggles, Rick Kranitz has been studying video. Great. Kranitz is going to set things right. Color me unimpressed.

Olsen will throw extra side sessions with pitching coach Rick Kranitz on Wednesday and Saturday.

Kranitz has been breaking down Olsen's mechanics, comparing tapes from last year to now.

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"Something is wrong," Gonzalez said. "This guy pitched pretty good last year."

Let me see if I can help out with identifying the problem. In 2005 Olsen threw 100.2 innings total between Double-A and the Majors. Then in 2006 he logged 187 innings for the Marlins -- and they are wondering what the problem is.

When a pitcher is extended by that many innings he is almost always is less productive the following season. Not to mention the fact that he has already thrown 156 innings this season, which is his second highest total ever.

Let's just say I have no faith that Kranitz's video breakdown will yield any positive results. In fact it is not clear to me that Kranitz tinkering with the pitchers is a good thing. However, the eight days between starts could do Olsen some good.

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