Danny Graves / Scott Williamson

[Swing for the fences]

Danny Graves hasn't exactly been doing his best D Lowe impersonation thus far this spring. If he keeps this up does anyone think they will put him back in the closers role and bump Williamson to setup man?

[Arlo]

Anything's possible in this situation. If Graves does falter (and I still feel he has a good chance to succeed), he may be the one to move to a setup role if Williamson is pitching well...

[Trojan Pony]

man, if that happens...talk about getting screwed over.

[jwhands]

Ummmmmmm, no. Graves will start the season in the rotation. You have to realize that spring stats for veteran pitchers proves absolutely nothing. They are basically tinkering with their mechanics and experimenting with new pitches.

[BigT]

will williamson's finger injury have any effect on his pitching? they say it is a minor fracture, but that word is just plain scary

[EricF]

I agree with jwhands. Graves feels like he is getting better and more comfortable with pitching using a windup, even though he is giving up a lot of hits. Look for him to improve in his next few starts and end up a solid member of the rotation.

[Wolf Howl]

JW- Normally I would be inclined to agree, in this situation its still iffy IMO. Veteran pitchers do use spring training to do as you stated, however, 95% of the time that pitcher has been in that role in the recent past, not the case with Graves or with Lowe last season. Spring stats in this case could very well give more insight into what to expect, at least early on in the season.

With that said, I believe Graves will begin the season in the rotation and end it there as well. He's a good pitcher and he knows how to win games and has the mentality to be really good as a starter.