SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – On Wednesday of last week, we wrote about how Antonio Senzatela might be able to win his battle for an Opening Day roster spot because of his ability to excel in a role that modern baseball doesn’t see much of these days. He could become a swingman, we said, capable of pitching multiple innings out of the bullpen and making occasional spot starts.
While specialization in pitching becomes more and more popular, and defined roles have become security blankets for players, Bud Black confirms that he believes in his 23-year-old can combat that trend and carve out an exceptionally valuable place on the roster.
BSN Denver asked if Senzatela could see himself go back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen, maybe even all season.
“I think with Antonio where he is in his career, and how we need at the big leagues, he’s capable of doing that,” says Black. “We saw good work out of the bullpen when we moved him there last year. We saw good work in the rotation early in the year. If he starts the season in the bullpen, he’ll be a great weapon there to give us length if we have a short start or if there’s an extra-inning scenario. If there’s a time where we just need his innings because others guys are down, he’ll be there and we feel comfortable with that. He’s had a very good spring, throwing strikes. His arm is strong. His pitches are where they need to be. We feel good about Antonio helping us win games if he’s on the roster to start the season.”
They feel good about him helping them wins games whether he starts the season with them or not. Like David Dahl, who was sent down this week, and a few other guys who may find themselves on the minor league side as the season begins, they will need him at some point. The volatile nature of the game of baseball says it will be sooner rather than later.
“You need a guy with length every night,” says Black, “If Chris [Rusin] is our only guy with length and we use him, what happens the next night? I think the way our bullpen is going to be constructed, we have a lot of short-spurt guys, one-inning guys. We need a guy who can throw 35, 45, 55 pitches. Antonio fits that bill.”
