Sisco's Future: In the Rotation or the Bullpen?

This will be one of the big questions in the offseason. The Royals' bullpen appears to be one of the strengths of the team next year. The Royals have 5 hard throwers in the bullpen. But, with 4 pitchers (Sisco, Burgos, Affeldt, MacDougal) with closer stuff, the Royals have a logjam here. The Royals have other options for relievers as well with Wood, Nunez, Cedeno, Bayliss, and Gobble. The Royals should also add a veteran reliever to stabilize the young bullpen as well. So, with all of these options in the bullpen, moving Sisco to the rotation seems very feasible.

Pros:

Need-based Reasons: The Royals need more quality starting pitching. The Royals' rotation has been one of the worst in baseball now for some time. The starting pitching depth isn't very good and the Royals are relying on guys who have had injury problems (Hernandez, Snyder, Bautista) and young starters who have had limited success so far. Sisco's upside as a starter is very high. Sisco's stuff could help him become a #1 or #2 starter. If the Royals want to get an edge in the AL Central, having 3 aces would be a good start. If Greinke, Bautista, and Sisco develop as projected, the Royals would have 3 aces.

Statistical Reasons:

1. Sisco has dominated both lefties and righties this year. Lefties have a .508 OPS against Sisco and righties have a .658 OPS against him.

2. Sisco gets better as he pitchers deeper into a game. Here are batter's splits against Sisco based on how many pitches he's thrown, notice the improvement as his pitch totals increase:

1-15 pitches: .289/.402/.422 .824 OPS
16-30 pitches: .138/.239/.138 .377 OPS
31+ pitches: .071/.133/.071 .205 OPS

3. Sisco's strikeout rate has been very impressive. He's struck out 50 in 45 innings. The Royals could use a good strikeout pitcher in the rotation.

4. Sisco has three good pitches that could make him effective as a starter. He has a good fastball that gets a lot of strikeouts. He throws a solid changeup and slider/curve (can't decide which it truly is) as well.

Cons:

1. Sisco has had some problems as a starter in the minor leagues. Sisco has had trouble with his conditioning and lost effectiveness in the second half of last season as a starter.

2. Sisco has been very good in relief for the Royals this year. He has the lowest ERA in the bullpen. Sisco has shown that he can be an effective reliever, but don't have a very good idea if he can be a good starter. The Royals run the risk of hindering his development like Affeldt's if they constantly switch his roles.

3. Sisco's control hasn't been very good this year. Sisco is averaging 5.4 walks per 9 innings. He also throws a lot of pitches and might not be able to go deep into games.

Overall, I think the pros outweigh the cons. Sisco could become a dominant starter, which the Royals could really use. The Royals have a surplus of good arms in the bullpen and don't have a very good rotation. So, moving Sisco into the rotation would make sense to me. I'm not sold on Bautista as a starter and he may end up in the bullpen. But, if we try both Sisco and Bautista in the rotation, then the chance that one or both will become top starters will increase. Otherwise, Bautista may end up in the bullpen and the Royals might have Bautista, Burgos, Sisco, Nunez, Affeldt and MacDougal in the bullpen. That'd be a great bullpen. But, if the starters aren't putting the Royals in a position to win a lot of games, the great bullpen won't be terribly useful.