Skipping Penny in the Rotation Worth It?

Hey BYB community.  I am long time reader but first time poster. Thanks to all of you who post on the Tigers, we have a great fan-base and it really shows on BYB.

Anyway, I did a quick run through of the schedule today and noticed that the Tigers have a few off days coming up.

It might behoove the Tigers to skip a Penny start or two.  This would accomplish 2 things.  Limit the Tigers weakest starter's appearances and get better match-ups vs the Tribe and Twins.  To me the most important idea is to have Verlander and to a lesser extent Porcello and Scherzer matched up against a newly bolstered Tribe.  The Tigers need to win at least 6 more games against the Tribe, with 12 Tribe/Tigers games left.

Now to my suggestion.  Skip Penny on the 4th and again on the 10th and use him in the bullpen as a long reliever or put him in some simulated games to work on his stuff instead.  It will do the following.

1) Porcello against the Rangers on the 4th in place of Penny.  This increases our chances of winning that tough game.

2) Royals - Verlander moves up a day to the 5th.  Followed by Scherzer on the 6th and Fister on the 7th.  This positions the Tigers to set up nicely against the Indians in their next two series.

3) Tribe - we go with all of our pitchers on a healthy 4 days rest, due to the Tigers' off day on the 8th.  We skip Penny again and in his place Porcello gets the start on the 9th, Verlander goes on the 10th, followed by Scherzer on the 11th.  This set of starters is as strong as the Tigers get and it positions the Tigers best to win the series.

4) Orioles - Fister leads on 12th, followed by a reinserted Penny on the 13th, and Porcello on the 14th.  Against a below avevage Baltimore, hopefully this is good for 1-2 wins.  Reinserting Penny positions the Tigers to have Verlander and Scherzer available for the next two series against AL Central rivals

5) Twins - Verlander runs out there on the 15th, followed by Scherzer on the 16th, and Fister on the 17th.  We set up nicely for a series against Minnesota that hopefully puts the Twins away - or close to it.

6) Tribe - The Tigers have an off day on the 18th.  Penny on the 19th, Verlander on the 20th and Scherzer on the 21st.  We get our best two pitchers against the Indians.  And if you wanted to push it you could skip Penny and go with Verlander, Scherzer, Porcello, all on a full four days rest.

These rotation changes are difference makers in an AL Central that almost always seems to come down to the last day or two every season - and if you check the schedule who do we close the season against?  The Indians!

By skipping Penny against Texas on the 4th and Cleveland on the 10th the Tigers greatly improve their chances of winning these two very tough games.  Porcello would start the 4th and Verlander would start start on the 10th.  Additionally, Scherzer would get a start on the 11th against Cleveland in an important divisional game instead of starting against Baltimore on the 12th.

Skipping Penny twice gets Verlander 2 extra start against Cleveland. The way the schedule is set now Verlander would pitch against Baltimore on the 12th instead of Cleveland on the 10th - and against Cleveland on the 20th instead of Tampa Bay on the 22nd.

The Tigers need their best pitchers matched up against Cleveland and to a lesser extent Minnesota (still in striking distance at 7 games out).  The schedule allows flexiblity to do that - without going on short rest.

Dombrowski and Leyland need to show they have the gumption to do this, even if it means making the underperforming Brad Penny a little mad. 

At the end of the day, it is likely the season will be determined in games 160-162, against Cleveland.  Anything the Tigers can do to better position themselves for that series will go a long way.