The pitching staff for Harrisburg is only marginally easier to scope out the candidates than Syracuse. Most of the FA pitchers signed this past offseason seem destined for upstate New York, but it’s indeed possible for some of them to end up in central PA — especially if the brass wants them to work with Sens pitching coach Paul Menhart.
When I assess the possibilities, it seems easier to select the starters and swingmen versus the relievers. Potomac had eight pitchers start 10 or more games, but that wasn’t a function of injuries or promotions. It was reassignment due to failure in the role.
Most of those P-Nats starters-turned-middle-relievers I don’t see coming to Harrisburg. Unfortunately, the bevy of MLB-fringe relievers is going to make it hard for last year’s men in the Sens pen (sorry, couldn’t resist) to make the jump. In other words, it’s not that some of these guys aren’t good enough for AAA — there’s simply not room for them all in Syracuse.
| STARTERS | SWINGMEN | RELIEVERS |
| Danny Rosenbaum | Evan Bronson | Pat Lehman |
| Paul Demny | Jimmy Barthmaier | Hassan Pena |
| Sammy Solis | Cory VanAllen | |
| Tanner Roark | Patrick McCoy | |
| Adam Olbrychowski | Hector Nelo | |
| Josh Smoker | ||
| Marcos Frias | ||
| Joe Testa | ||
| Christian Garcia |
That’s 16 candidates for 12 spots, and that’s not counting the guys that might get pushed down from Syracuse. Presuming I’m even close to calling the field, figuring out the bullpen usage will be a tough task. Even with Josh Smoker or without Cory VanAllen, the bullpen is likely to be one of the oldest in the league, which has been a trend under the Rizzo FO due to drafting so many college seniors and the numerous reclamation projects in recent years (e.g. Segovia, James, Bisenius, Perez).
Next up, we look over the possible pitchers for Potomac — a group which might have some 2011 draft picks (but probably won’t).