Depth is essential at every position, but starting pitching may be the most important position to acquire depth at. This is due to their unreliability, injury rate, and the likelihood that you have more of them than any other position in your starting lineup.

True, if you play in some leagues, especially those without minimum innings pitched requirements and without strikeouts, you can use a lot of middle relievers in any number of strategies including Ron Shandler's famous LIMA plan.

But most leagues are designed to make it very difficult to compete without starting pitching depth. As the season progresses, injuries pile up. And there are any number of young arms floating around the waiver wires right now that bear monitoring.

Here's a look two young arms that you may be considering rostering with their current status. One note of caution, these are two are young starting pitchers we're talking about here. If you look up unreliable in the "baseball dictionary," they should be listed there:

1) Justin Germano, SD - Germano is in a pretty darn good situation right now. His home park is very kind to pitchers and while he pitches to contact and doesn't blow hitters away, he is getting the job done for the Padres, having lasted at least six innings in all three of his starts, while giving up only two runs. Furthermore, the pitcher he replaced in San Diego, Clay Hensley, has been awful this season.

The other thing to like about Germano is that he has been very vocal about his desire to stay in the rotation. This isn't a kid in his first audition. Rather, it's a 24 year-old who has gotten a couple of chances already, and understands that the tag "minor-league lifer" can get applied rather quickly. Bud Black has taken a liking to him and publicly stated that he will likely stay in the rotation. That may not seem like it matters, but if you don't have an opportunity, you can't perform. So in the very least, Germano will stick around until he gets lit up on the regular.

Over the long-term, San Diego would probably like to see Hensley back in the rotation, but it should not come at Germano's expense as long as he pitches well. Maybe David Wells will get gout again.

Germano cannot maintain this level of success, but it would not be surprising for him to stick around and provide decent help in ERA, WHIP and W. Just understand that he is a  liability in Ks. Use him in all NL-only leagues and most mixed leagues until his opponents start figuring him out.

2) Jorge De La Rosa, KC - When you first glance at his numbers, this guy is pitching like an All-Star. He has four wins, a 3.59 ERA, and 1.21 WHIP. And he's doing it for the Kansas City Royals to boot. So why in the world are we talking about him here on the fringes of a fantasy roster?

It has been the way that De La Rosa has gotten those numbers that keeps his fantasy owners on edge and keeps him bouncing in and out of starting lineups. This guy has been the model of inconsistency this season. At times he looks great. But he also throws in starts where he appears to be pitching batting practice.

In five of his starts, he has allowed two runs or fewer and lasted at least six innings. In the other four, he has allowed at least four runs. And what is more baffling is who he dominates and who he gets destroyed by.

In his last two starts, he pitched at Coors Field and in Chicago against the White Sox. Two parks where you don't like to see your pitchers starting, right? But he was masterful, giving up a mere three runs over 13 innings.

Hey, good pitchers pitch well regardless of where they throw, right? But De La Rosa hadn't pitched very well prior to those starts. He got absolutely lit up by an Oakland offense that was struggling, and two starts before that, the woeful Seattle Mariners tagged him.

So what do you do with him? In AL-Only leagues, I think you put him in there and ride this wave until he throws a few clunkers in a row. In mixed leagues, I think you still have to spot start him against the right match-ups. Chicago and Colorado play in hitter's parks, but their offenses have been pretty craptacular to date. Both rank in the bottom five in the league in runs scored.

Also, any time you have a talent like Zack Greinke sitting around the bullpen, an unestablished pitcher like De La Rosa isn't assured of anything. Especially on a team like the Royals making the player management decisions (see Butler, Billy), De la Rosa is guaranteed nothing.

Both Germano and De La Rosa are ideal candidates to fill in while you have a pitcher on the 15-day DL, or while one of your "more reliable" arms is going through a little funk. Neither will win you the league, but if used correctly, they can help prevent you from losing it while your more talented arms aren't in game shape.