Under the plans the four regular starters still will work on a standard five-day routine, but the Rays will use several of the relievers to cover the fifth day, what they will call “a bullpen day.”
And part of the benefit of that is using multiple pitchers who have different looks to only go through a lineup once, or twice at the most. That plays into the bigger picture strategy going around the game.
Source: Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times
My opinion is that there’s no reason that a four-man rotation with strict pitch limits wouldn’t work. I believe that the danger wasn’t in pitching every fourth day but rather consistently throwing 130 or more pitches like they did back in the day. While what the Rays are talking about here is not a four-man rotation, it’s breaking away from the “herd mentality” and trying something different because it fits the talent on hand. I hope it works for them and encourages other teams to be innovative.