In football, a quarterback that doesn't do anything spectacular yet also doesn't make many mistakes is often called a game manager. I think of Trent Dilfer with the Super Bowl-winning Ravens a few years back as an example of this. As long as the player doesn't try to do too much, and simply does what is asked of him, the other presumably stronger segments of the team can do the heavy lifting to get the job done.
In baseball, the back end of the pitching rotation is often a wasteland of has beens and ne'er do wells. If the offense is strong, and the back end of the bullpen is strong, a team would do well to have a 4th or 5th starter that can get through five innings, pitching well enough just to keep a team in the game.
I give you the career numbers of one Mr. Eric Stults as a starting pitcher:
- 20 starts
- 107.2 innings (5.38 per start)
- 108 hits
- 47 earned runs
- 41 walks (3.4 per 9)
- 77 strikeouts (6.4 per 9)
- 10 homers allowed (0.84 per 9)
- 3.93 ERA (112 ERA+*)
- 3.99 FIP*
- .258/.330/.401 opponents' batting line
- 8-7 record (Dodgers are 12-8)
*ERA+ & FIP are estimates
The Dodgers could do a lot worse than Stults in the back end of their rotation.