Tim Wakefield

[SCM33]

Does anybody think this is his final year in baseball? I havent heard much about him but I do know that he is more reserved than others on the team in terms of speaking to the media. I wouldnt surprise me to see him bow out quietly this offseason. Hes never been one to bring attention to himself.

[a700hitter]

It's time for him to go. He had a good career despite very limited ability thanks to a trick pitch that he mastered enough to be fairly consistent. Age has caught up to him. He had always been a versatile pitcher who could be effective as a starter, long reliever or short reliever. He can no longer be effective in any of those roles. The only thing that prevented this from being a totally embarrassing season for him was that his role was so limited. If he is allowed to continue, he will just humiliate himself. I know that people were rooting for him to pass Cy Young and Clemens for the Red Sox record for wins, but he was not close to being in their league. He had a good career, but he is not a franchise record type of pitcher.

[Station 13]

I wouldn't want Wake to represent the Red Sox win leader either.

 

I think he's done. Doubront is here now and in line up make starts over wakefield next season.

[italstallianion]

I also think that he'll retire at the end of the season. He won't draw unnecessary attention to himself and he certainly won't butcher the club in contract negotiations, and I don't think he's selfish enough to demand a roster spot so that he can pad stats.

 

Granted, I really want Wakefield to get his 200th win before he retires, but I think he'll walk away gracefully at the end of the year.

[SCM33]

Is this his last season?

 

Do the Sox ask him to return?

 

What do you think of the pursuit of 200 wins?

[a700hitter]

I guess he'll keep getting chances at 200 for the rest of the season. With Dice K out for the season and Bulchholz likely out until the end of September, Wakefield's rotation spot is likely secure. Hopefully, he'll get win 200 and hopefully we can win more of his starts.

 

After the season, he should retire. He's had a great career for a guy with no major league talent. 200 wins using nothing more than a trick pitch is amazing. He hasn't deserved a roster spot for the last 3 seasons. He's old and broken down and it is embarrassing that he can't field his position anymore.

[Palodios]

I was so frustrated with all the hate Wakefield was getting on his last start. He pitched a complete game, with only 4 ER, and he was constantly getting hammered in the thread.

 

This is a guy whose stuff has not changed. He can still throw the 60 MPH heat, and knuckleball, the only thing that has changed and will change is his conditioning, and health. His ERA has fluctuated around 4 his whole career, and with his less mobility, this year he's at a 4.90. Some days he gets lit up, some days he goes the distance. If you don't like knuckleballers, fine, but that's what they are.

 

Wakefield is a guy making the league minimum, and being asked to start when two or three guys in front of him cannot. If I said he was a great player, I'd be lying, but sometimes a team needs filler, and that's exactly what he is, decent filler.

[SoxSport]

Tito would have done Wake a big favor (and still can) pitching him at home in Aug and Sept, where he has a much better shot at 200 wins. At home, the Red Sox have a better chance of scoring the 6-8 runs they need for him to win.

 

This team reminds me of the big power Red Sox teams of the late 40s and early 50s, in the sense that they hit well at home and not so well on the road. I think the pitching, however, is better for this team, though they have 3-4-5 starter problems right now with Buchholz out. ERAs of 5 doesn't hack it.

 

Their pitching is what gives them a better road record, though they are in the middle of the pack in pitching due to their back end of rotation problems. It will have to improve for them to win this year.

[a700hitter]

Tito would have done Wake a big favor (and still can) pitching him at home in Aug and Sept, where he has a much better shot at 200 wins. At home, the Red Sox have a better chance of scoring the 6-8 runs they need for him to win.

 

This team reminds me of the big power Red Sox teams of the late 40s and early 50s, in the sense that they hit well at home and not so well on the road. I think the pitching, however, is better for this team, though they have 3-4-5 starter problems right now with Buchholz out. ERAs of 5 doesn't hack it.

 

Their pitching is what gives them a better road record, though they are in the middle of the pack in pitching due to their back end of rotation problems. It will have to improve for them to win this year.

i don't think he has any choice but to send Wake to the hill every 5th day. Miller is not an option.

[a700hitter]

I was so frustrated with all the hate Wakefield was getting on his last start. He pitched a complete game, with only 4 ER, and he was constantly getting hammered in the thread.

 

This is a guy whose stuff has not changed. He can still throw the 60 MPH heat, and knuckleball, the only thing that has changed and will change is his conditioning, and health. His ERA has fluctuated around 4 his whole career, and with his less mobility, this year he's at a 4.90. Some days he gets lit up, some days he goes the distance. If you don't like knuckleballers, fine, but that's what they are.

 

Wakefield is a guy making the league minimum, and being asked to start when two or three guys in front of him cannot. If I said he was a great player, I'd be lying, but sometimes a team needs filler, and that's exactly what he is, decent filler.

I think his conditioning has deteriorated so dramatically in the last 3 years that he can't even achieve the consistency that he had before and that he is not as durable either. I will admit that i don't like knuckleballers, but when he was younger he would hit a streak every season where he was on his game and he would put together a really strong month. That would spell the bullpen and help the team onto a little run if the top half of the rotation was doing its job. He is no longer capable of going on one of those runs.

[Dojji]

He had that streak this year. In case you didn't notice he had a period in I want to say June and early July that dropped 2 runs off his ERA. His first couple starts after being put back into the rotation were rough, and then he hit his run because the league hadn't seen him for awhile, then the team got used to Wakefield being in the rotation again and people are relearning how to wait on the guy.

[stonedtone]

I think we'll see one more year out of him. Why not. He's not a liability when on the mound. He's costing next to nothing. Good guy in the clubhouse. Reliable

[Palodios]

I think his conditioning has deteriorated so dramatically in the last 3 years that he can't even achieve the consistency that he had before and that he is not as durable either. I will admit that i don't like knuckleballers' date=' but when he was younger he would hit a streak every season where he was on his game and he would put together a really strong month. That would spell the bullpen and help the team onto a little run if the top half of the rotation was doing its job. He is no longer capable of going on one of those runs.[/quote']

 

As a starter, he's averaging 6.35 innings a game. And if he hadn't been jerked around for April/May where he needed a pitch count, and was not prepared to start, he'd be closer to 6.50. He has given up more than 5 runs exactly two times this season, one of which was in a situation where the team had jerked him around in the beginning of the season, and the other was when the game was pretty much already won, with a 12 run lead, and Tito gave him leeway to pitch.

 

Once again, we're not talking about greatness here. He is not HOF bound. He is not going to make me smile when he's on the mound. But as a #6, league minimum guy? He's absolutely fine.

[Dojji]

Yeah, Wakefield is one of those guys who always seems to find some way to get 10-15 starts or more for this team, and we'll probably be scrambling a bit to replace him when he goes. I suppose the Pocket Ace could handle his role in the short term but he's got enough work to do in his own role as it is. Aceves is one of the best in the world at what he does, I'd rather keep him in that role.

 

He's fun to watch when he's on though. Watching a guy up there throwing in the high 50's with a fastball in the low 70's and getting big league hitters out with that kind of stuff is just silly.

[AtWork]

Tim Wakefield's ERA is deceiving. He's given up more unearned runs than Beckett, Lester, Lackey and Buchholz combined.

[Palodios]

Tim Wakefield's ERA is deceiving. He's given up more unearned runs than Beckett' date=' Lester, Lackey and Buchholz combined.[/quote']

 

Considering he's made 0 errors himself, I don't see how that's relevant.

[Dojji]

Tim Wakefield's ERA is deceiving. He's given up more unearned runs than Beckett' date=' Lester, Lackey and Buchholz combined.[/quote']

 

And the reason they're determined to be UNEARNED runs is...

[SoxFanForsyth]

I'm sure that has a lot to do with the amount of wild pitches/passed balls that come with the knuckler, not to mention that the ball comes off the bat differently from a knuckleball than a regular pitch, which results in miscues defensively.

 

Personally, I hate the knuckleball, so I'm not a huge Wakefield fan at this point. You can't argue how much he has done for this team in the past, so it's not like I don't like him as a person and don't appreciate him, because I do. Wakefield is just out of shape, old, can't field his position well, and throws a pitch that is incredibly inconsistent. I'd rather see Weiland out there than Wakefield personally. Again, nothing against Wakefield as a person at all, I just don't think he's effective, especially as his innings continue to climb.

[a700hitter]

He had that streak this year. In case you didn't notice he had a period in I want to say June and early July that dropped 2 runs off his ERA. His first couple starts after being put back into the rotation were rough' date=' and then he hit his run because the league hadn't seen him for awhile, then the team got used to Wakefield being in the rotation again and people are relearning how to wait on the guy.[/quote']The best run he has had has been the stretch that he is in currently. and the Sox have lost 2 of those 4 games. He hasn't had more than 2 QS in a row except for his current run. Each time that he has had back to back Quality Starts he has followed those with back to back bad outings.

[AtWork]

And the reason they're determined to be UNEARNED runs is...

 

Becuase they don't count towards the outcome of the game? Oh wait...

[AtWork]

Considering he's made 0 errors himself' date=' I don't see how that's relevant.[/quote']

 

Come on, you're smarter than that. I'm sure you realize that most of the unearned runs that Wakefield allows are a direct result of his pitching style. He's always allowed a lot of unearned runs, it's not just one flukey year.

[Dojji]

They're still called unearned runs for a reason.

[Palodios]

Come on' date=' you're smarter than that. I'm sure you realize that most of the unearned runs that Wakefield allows are a direct result of his pitching style. He's always allowed a lot of unearned runs, it's not just one flukey year.[/quote']

 

Fair enough. But I stand by my belief that he's a perfectly fine #6 or 7 starter.

[rlchange]

Too me, the age decides it. He is 45, 5 years away from 50, which is pretty close.

-He already set for 2000, strikeouts. He has something like 2018.

- If he doesnt win 200 this year, I would play another year because your could also get 600 Games, 3000 Hits Allowed (not saying he wants that one)

So if you look at it, he needs some more milestones that need to be finished, so even if he is not on the Red Sox, I say another year will fit him good. Since is major league debut (2 ERA) he has been always in the 4 ERA.

[AtWork]

Fair enough. But I stand by my belief that he's a perfectly fine #6 or 7 starter.

 

He's OK for a 6th or 7th starter but I'd rather we go a different route once Doubront is healthy and see if we can get a pitcher who's OK for a 4th or 5th starter.

[Palodios]

He's OK for a 6th or 7th starter but I'd rather we go a different route once Doubront is healthy and see if we can get a pitcher who's OK for a 4th or 5th starter.

 

I liked Doubront last season, but he's had atleast 3 injuries since his debut. He might not be healthy enough to hold down a spot for the full year.

[AtWork]

I liked Doubront last season' date=' but he's had atleast 3 injuries since his debut. He might not be healthy enough to hold down a spot for the full year.[/quote']

 

I agree, I was talking about the rest of this year. I'm all for going out and getting another starter this offseason.

[Palodios]

I agree' date=' I was talking about the rest of this year. I'm all for going out and getting another starter this offseason.[/quote']

 

Yeah, but you can't pick and choose when Doubront's going to be injured. This year, the 5th spot was his for the taking, and how did that work out?

[AtWork]

The worst that's going to happen is that he gets hurt again and we're back where we started with Wakefield in September.

[Palodios]

But if we decide to go with Doubront instead of Wakefield, as you suggested, when Doubront goes down, there will be no Wakefield to replace him.