Colorado Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd has announced that his team will stick with their unconventional four-man rotation into the 2013 season, reports Troy Renck of the Denver Post:

They were breaking bad, so they broke convention. On June 19, the Rockies were 25-40 and their starting pitchers were historically awful. At that point they switched to a four-man paired rotation, believing there was never a better time to examine the 75-pitch-limit model. Sixty-four games later, the Rockies have shown enough improvement that they will continue using a form of the four-man rotation moving into next season, according to general manager Dan O'Dowd.

The Rockies have used a rotation of seven pitchers to fill four rotation spots over the second part of the season. According to Renck, Colorado would ideally like to add an eighth pitcher to the mix for 2013.

Renck explains the idea of the Rockies’ rotation; you have four starters on a seventy-five-pitch count and four other "hybrid" pitchers who are limited to fifty pitches. Each would be paired with another and asked to fill the role of a regular starting pitcher.

If the Rockies get their way and enter next season with eight pitchers for the eight roles, Renck projects the following rotation breakdown; Jorge De La Rosa, Jhoulys Chacin, Jeff Francis and Drew Pomeranz as the starters, followed by Tyler Chatwood, Alex White, Juan Nicasio and Christian Friedrich as the hybrid pitchers.

News initially reported by Tracy Ringolsby of Root Sports.

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What are your thoughts on this unconventional approach?

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