Ran into an interesting situation in my fictional league and thought I would ask the braintrust here for their interpretation.
I'm the GM of the Portland Roustabouts and last year we won our fourth World Series thanks in large part to the efforts of my #1 pitcher, John Curry. I traded for him six years ago as part of a larger effort to build a championship-caliber team and he has carried more than his fair share of water during that time. Now I know he's approaching the end of his run as a top caliber starter, but I was a little surprised to see that his new role for the 2044 season was as our team's closer.
Here are his career pitching stats (Note- my fictional league plays 122 games a season):
Despite being 34 and losing some of his speed, he turned in his best year ERA/WHIP-wise and managed to increase his strikeouts while also decreasing his walks/HR's to league low levels. He also won the Pitcher of the Year award (called the 'Best Chucker' in my league) for the 2043 season.
On January 2044, this is what his 'Starting Pitcher' profile page looked like:
Now here is what his 'Closer' profile page looks like:
Now I will admit that Curry's stamina has been decreasing slowly over the past few years. He was never a complete game guy to begin with, but he could still get through 5-7 innings a start. His Stuff has been decreasing as well, but his command and control remain as strong as ever. Other than the change in his Stuff ratings between the Starter and Closer profiles, I don't understand why he can't still can't play some role in my starting rotation.
Any thoughts?