A starting rotation will ebb and flow throughout the course of a 162-game season.
At any point, however, when a starter is pounding everything-but-the strike zone on a nightly basis, that can place unnecessary pressure on even the most potent of offenses.
Vince Velasquez put the Pirates in a hole which it could not climb out of -- and perhaps stepped into the wrong one himself, literally -- as the home opener after the home opener was dropped to the White Sox in a snowballing fashion, 11-5 at PNC Park Saturday night.
"It's frustrating as it is, starting off on a good note and then things just kind of collapsed," Velasquez said.