Oh, Rockies. What ever will you try next? How about a four-man rotation while also limiting starting pitchers to just 75 pitches a start?

Check.

Manager Jim Tracy told reporters Tuesday early evening that starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie has been moved to the bullpen. And, yes, he also said that other thing ...

There's more.

"We had to do something unconventional," Tracy said (Arangure). "We have two rookies in the rotation. You have to be very careful. You can't just throw them loose on three days' rest."

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Here's an idea: If you want to be very careful with starting pitchers, don't go to a four-man rotation. Of course, that would mean leaving Guthrie in the rotation for now, and he's 3-6 with a 7.02 ERA and 1.83 WHIP. The Rockies traded Jason Hammel -- who is 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP for the Orioles -- and Matt Lindstrom for Guthrie this past offseason.

So the Rockies will apparently go forward with Alex White, Christian Friedrich, Josh Outman and Jeff Francis as their rotation -- with pitch-count limits every single game. The super-sized bullpen will have eight guys in it and get plenty of work every game.

Jhoulys Chacin, Juan Nicasio and Jorge De La Rosa remain on the disabled list with 23-year-old Drew Pomeranz pitching in Triple-A.

If nothing else, this qualifies as one of the weirder moves I've seen a manager make with his pitching staff in mid-June.

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