At least we can replace Rusch rather than move to a 4-man rotation and wear down our pitchers. Research shows that a 4-man rotation would have no adverse affects on pitchers' health. It's high pitch counts that contribute to injuries. I wouldn't be surprised to see Boston try a 4-man rotation at some point this season. I don't think a 4 man rotation would work for the Cubs. Maddux is getting older and Marshall and Guzman are young. Wood and Prior will be on strict pitch counts when they come back. It may work for Boston but not for the Cubs. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=2633 According to the research, you're right about making sure young arms don't throw too many pitches. Throwing too many pitches per start helped end Doc Gooden's career, for example (well, that and cocaine). But the research pretty definitively shows that a four-man rotation is no more rough on a pitching staff than a five-man. It's not that there's little difference in risk of injury; there's no observable difference. There is a big injury risk when pitchers throw past the point of fatigue. For most pitchers, that's about 100 pitches, but for young ones it can be 90-95. Dusty, unfortunately, is one of the worst managers in MLB as far as having his starters throw too many pitches. Kerry Wood and Mark Prior both threw way too many pitches per game in 2003 as did Big Z. I really expect some forward-thinking team to try a four-man rotation and watch pitch counts closely. It could work for the Cubs if Dusty weren't the manager. I'm not disagreeing with you. My point was just that it wouldn't be a good fit for the Cubs considering the young pitchers we have and the pitchers coming back from injury.