Changing pitching rotation to match opponents?

There is a lot to be said for having consistent rest and a set routine for preparation. Regardless of who your opponent is, at some point, your #2 guy has to trot out there, particularly when you get to states.

By "skipping" over to the #1, you may either make your #2 work on short rest or start #3 missing a start entirely for #2.

But, what you've really said is "I don't trust you ... and I don't want you to have experience competing against tough competition. We'll just gamble when we get to the states."

Not a good message. Have your #1 start that game, but go limited innings and get someone else some experience in an extended relief outing.

It really depends on our schedule and how many days we have between games. We usually play conf games Tues Fri with non conf game either on Weds or Thurs. We dont move our rotation around unless they both have rest and we can move #1 to the conf game and #2 the other conf game and #3 the non conf game. Most of the time we just leave it intact 1 2 3 and dont change. We never want to send the message to our pitchers that we dont have confidence in them. And we dont want to tell our team that one game is more important than the other. Hit the ball and play defense and it wont matter.

Our conference has an even # of teams, therefore allowing the #1 & #2 to swap on the 2nd go 'round. That means the opponent doesn't get to see the same guy twice.