There’s a perfect experiment about to take place this week that could help determine who claims the 5th spot in the Padres rotation.

Both Odrisamer Despaigne and Brandon Morrow look to have two starts against the same two teams this week. They pitch back to back games in Colorado on Monday and Tuesday, and then go home to face the Dodgers at Petco on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

It appears for now that the 5th spot is Morrow’s to lose, but a lot can happen against the two division rivals this week to lose/gain manager Bud Black’s favor. Despaigne is filling in for the injured Ian Kennedy who is slated to return to the team as early as Saturday. This means the experiment could take place entirely within the confines of Coors Field. Hmm. Even when you bring your “A-Game” to Coors a lot of nastiness can occur.

Either way, I’m not about to advise anyone to start either pitcher this week. This is why we are calling it an experiment – it’s for observation and recording purposes only. Let’s wait and see how the two perform against two very potent lineups.

As for the rest of the two start pitchers, there’s not a great deal to choose from out there as we get into the 4th and 5th starters of most rotations. What’s worse is who they happen to be facing. There seems to be many tough offenses this year. In fact, I would go so far as to say that our current “pitcher’s era” peaked last year and we are about to see it gradually trend the other way.