I would like to hear some opinions on using a four man pitching rotation.  Can this be effective, or will your staff wear out?

I prefer a four man rotation.
Yes
Trim the pitch count a bit to prevent fatigue.

You'll obviously need a deeper bullpen.

I use a 4man all the time. The durability of my 4 starters is 33,27,21,23...anytime the 33 is going to be 100 the next day I plug him in, as he is most likely to be recovered by the time his 4th day comes up and that could give the other guys an extra day if needed.

I have a couple of pitchers in my bullpen who are starters. Once in awhile I have to plug one in for the odd start, probably about every 10 games or so.

I like all my starters to have 27+ durabilities, but you can definitely get away with less if you trim pitch count.

I think it's the best way to get the most innings from those 30 dur guys with stamina over 55.

It also makes it fairly easy to have a 11 man staff as you can have 7 in the bullpen.

Steve,

You're using a 4.5 man rotation, then.....If your bullpen has to start 16 games a season.

Thanks Moe, that was very helpful.

I use the same strategy as steve - My Trenton team has about 6 guys that could start but to utilize the four best pitchers I rolled with a 4-man rotation and then threw in a fifth starter when the pitchers were getting a bit fatigued. I got 36,35, and 34 starts out of my best three pitchers but because one the fourth starter was injured for more than 10 days couple of times he only started 30 games.

Ask Death. He uses like an 8 man rotation. 

No need to drag his personal life into the discussion.

I just assumed everyone was running a 4-man rotation.

Why give your 5th starter 30-something starts when you can give him half that, and give your better guys an extra 3-4 each?

It means you start guys the cycle they are 100% rather than waiting an extra cycle, but if you're online often enough to keep close tabs on your rotation, it's a no-brainer.

Hi gussie - 

I strongly prefer a 4-man rotation, but it took 3 seasons to pursue the right kind of starting pitchers to do it: DUR 28+, STA 90+.  With pitchers like that, there's no real need to reduce pitch counts. Some of my guys routinely are set at 110/125, and barring injury they get really close to 300 innings on the season. 

 Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Franchise Profile

While it's not strictly necessary to have all 4 pitchers meet the DUR requirement, it saves a lot of headaches and time. If just one pitcher has a STA of 20, for example, then the rotation might require regular tweaking.

Last season, 3 pitchers with 20+ wins.  I don't expect the system to always work so well, but it was a nice proof-of-principle.

Posted by zzookeepp on 8/12/2012 11:26:00 AM (view original):
Hi gussie - 

I strongly prefer a 4-man rotation, but it took 3 seasons to pursue the right kind of starting pitchers to do it: DUR 28+, STA 90+.  With pitchers like that, there's no real need to reduce pitch counts. Some of my guys routinely are set at 110/125, and barring injury they get really close to 300 innings on the season. 

 Hardball Dynasty – Fantasy Baseball Sim Games - Franchise Profile

While it's not strictly necessary to have all 4 pitchers meet the DUR requirement, it saves a lot of headaches and time. If just one pitcher has a STA of 20, for example, then the rotation might require regular tweaking.

Last season, 3 pitchers with 20+ wins.  I don't expect the system to always work so well, but it was a nice proof-of-principle.

Do you mean this team?