Down to the wire

[example1]

Papelbon did pitch the 9th inning of the Sox's saturday win over the Yanks. 1.0 inning pitched, 1 Hit, 1 Walk, 0 R

 

Yeah, I just saw that on his splits. Still, not a lot of exposure.

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

I don't think you can comment on Hansen like that. He's pitched for the Sox TWICE. I don't think you can say he's iffy and I can't say he's great. However, given his stuff he WILL be great in the future and COULD be great this year. You're right, he's supposed to have a great slider but hasn't really thrown it well yet. It doesn't make me wonder though, since he's thrown 1.6 innings.

 

Papelbon has been used in big spots recently and has performed more than admirably. He's developed a splitter that is hard to hit (thanks to Schilling). The best part is that I don't think that Yankees have seen either pitcher, which is the first NEW thing to happen to this rivalry for awhile (add too: Aaron Small/Wang and Cano, along with Hanley Ramirez, who won't see any time in the series... I hope)

 

Papelbon's September numbers:

2-0, 9.2 IP, 8 G, 7H, 2 R, 1.86 ERA, .206 BAA.

The fact that he has only thrown 2 innings and hes fresh out of college makes him iffy. You can not seriously be counting on this kid to be like K-Rod in 2002. Sure he will be great in the future but does that mean he will be great now?

[example1]

of course it doesn't mean that he WILL be great now. That would be stupid. I think if he can pitch even close to his potential (i.e., when he leaves the game to be able to say "yeah, I made all my pitches tonight") that he'll be considerably better than Sturtz is. He may get rattled, in which case he's about the same as Sturtz. For both of them, if they start giving up hits then it could get ugly quick. I assume that if the teams are still close in the standings come friday, that the 4th and 5th pitchers would be available for a season saving appearance from the bullpen as well. That means... Arroyo and Clement for the Sox, and Wright/Small for the Yankees, right?

[AlexanderTheGreat13]

of course it doesn't mean that he WILL be great now. That would be stupid. I think if he can pitch even close to his potential (i.e., when he leaves the game to be able to say "yeah, I made all my pitches tonight") that he'll be considerably better than Sturtz is. He may get rattled, in which case he's about the same as Sturtz. For both of them, if they start giving up hits then it could get ugly quick. I assume that if the teams are still close in the standings come friday, that the 4th and 5th pitchers would be available for a season saving appearance from the bullpen as well. That means... Arroyo and Clement for the Sox, and Wright/Small for the Yankees, right?

Chacon/Wright. Small is pitching on Thursday.