Sox Pitching Staff Discussion

[User Name]

No one can tell either way. It could be, but perhaps it wouldn't. The Royals won the WS with a similar (if not worse) rotation than this one.

[illinoisredsox]

No one can tell either way. It could be, but perhaps it wouldn't. The Royals won the WS with a similar (if not worse) rotation than this one.

 

True, but the Sox bullpen is not exactly a carbon copy of the one the Royals trotted out there last year.

[Spudboy]

I think this team is good enough to win it all with the present pitching staff. For the future, I think they need to find more dependable starters than Buchholz and Kelly, but they could get by without adding another TOTR starter. It would be nice to get one, but not essential. One more decent starter that can put the ball over the plate would help, but I believe they have enough now to give it a good run.

 

Nope.

 

The present pitching staff is not good enough to win in October. Price seems to have trouble in cold weather. Wright is not tested in a playoff setting. ERod may not be healthy all year. Porcello seems to be the only stable guy in the rotation at the moment.

 

Yes. More or less.

[User Name]

True, but the Sox bullpen is not exactly a carbon copy of the one the Royals trotted out there last year.

 

This offense though.

[sk7326]

True, but the Sox bullpen is not exactly a carbon copy of the one the Royals trotted out there last year.

 

This bullpen is pretty good

[jacksonianmarch]

Yes, the Royals won a WS with a pretty roughshod rotation. But they had a dominant pen with 3 guys who were lights out dominant. Kimbrel is a good start and Tazawa is pitching well, but we have seen that narrative before. Uehara has been awesome or terrible based on his velo and splitter location this yr. You would need 2 lockdown upgrades in the pen for this yr to come close to their pen. They had Madson, Herrera and Davis.

[User Name]

That's one of the main issues either way. If the Sox run down Uehara/Tazawa before season's end, they're done, rotation quality be damned.

[Spudboy]

On the bright side, Ross, Barnes, and even Hembree have all looked much better in a (so far) small sample.

 

Granted they are seen more as mid-relief but in a short series maybe they could provide enough?

[Jasonbay44]

Speaking of Hembree, why did he lose a roster spot? Noe Ramirez and Tommy Layne really got to stay on big league roster over him?

[Dojji]

He lost a spot because freaking Buchholz.

[Spudboy]

He lost a spot because freaking Buchholz.

 

A manifestation of a no brainer decision.

[Jasonbay44]

He lost a spot because freaking Buchholz.

Yeah but last night when Kelly was optioned, why wasn't Hembree called backup, instead of Noe Ramirez?

[Slasher9]

Marlon Byrd was suspended for 162 games. PED suspension.

[harmony]

Yeah but last night when Kelly was optioned, why wasn't Hembree called backup, instead of Noe Ramirez?

"a player optioned to the minor leagues may not be recalled for at least 10 days, unless the club places a Major League player on the disabled list during the 10-day window," according to the Transactions Glossary at Baseball Prospectus/Cot's Baseball Contracts:

 

https://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/transactions-glossary/

 

The Seattle Mariners recently faced the issue when shortstop Ketel Marte went on the disabled list. The Mariners could not recall from the minors shortstop Luis Sardinas, who had been on the M's Opening Day roster, because Sardinas had been optioned fewer than 10 days earlier. Seattle instead recalled promising shortstop Chris Taylor for one disastrous start before Sardinas was eligible to be called up again.

Edited June 2, 2016 by harmony

[Jasonbay44]

Fair enough. Still dumb they optioned him in the first place

[Dojji]

True, but the Sox bullpen is not exactly a carbon copy of the one the Royals trotted out there last year.

 

No, but it's not bad, last night's implosion and the inclusion of Buchholz into that bullpen notwithstanding.

[Dojji]

Fair enough. Still dumb they optioned him in the first place

 

Yep. And they did it because freaking Buchholz. To activate E-Rod and keep Buchholz on the roster they had to send Hembree down.

[mvp 78]

Need to keep sending Buchholz out there until he dies on the mound.

[Nick]

Need to look for bullpen depth in addition to #5.....

 

I can't see DD paying another $18M for two years of Koji......Tazawa is a free agent. Layne is very lame (to me)....you just can't have enough bullpen guys.

 

Only concern with E Rod is injury of some sort. He did not walk a batter last night. (Mr. Clay B., take a note and quit whining as to why you don't start)/

[robert vonhalle]

I still see them adding to the bottom of their rotation rather than the top. The simple fact is that all we need is a guy to fill out the bottom of the rotation. Fans being fans we all want the big sexy trade, but it's not what we need right now. going for luxury when all we need is consistency is a good way to overcommit your resources and make contention harder in the next year and the year after that.

 

We already have a lot of dead money on the payroll right now. One thing we absolutely cannot endure right now is taking a big risk and having it flop. And the top of our rotation while not excellent is very durable, which with our offense is enough. That reduces the upside of going for another top starter, since we already have some high quality arms.

 

What we need right now is low risk relatively low cost steady production in the last rotation spot, and that's all we need.

 

that and some bullpen help!

[Station 13]

Kelly has done bullpen work with St. Louis, I would give him a job there to see if he can blows 100 fastballs by hitters. Right now they're in a division race and cannot trot whatever out 5th day without knowing what they'll get. it's time to look for a starter.

[moonslav59]

Need to look for bullpen depth in addition to #5.....

 

I can't see DD paying another $18M for two years of Koji......Tazawa is a free agent. Layne is very lame (to me)....you just can't have enough bullpen guys.

 

Only concern with E Rod is injury of some

 

Never build from the bottom. We don't need a number 5. We have 7 of them. We need a number 2.

[SinceYaz]

All I can say is "Where the f did the bullpen go?" We have NO CHANCE if the bullpen goes down the drain. All the pleasure of watching the offense is lost in a sick, sick feeling of 8 is NOT enough... Holy Cow!

[SinceYaz]

Need to keep sending Buchholz out there until he dies on the mound.

 

I thought he already died ... that body on the mound now is simply a 3-D photo copy of his worst day.

[SinceYaz]

Speaking of Hembree, why did he lose a roster spot? Noe Ramirez and Tommy Layne really got to stay on big league roster over him?

 

Wondering the same....

[southpaw777]

Kelly has done bullpen work with St. Louis, I would give him a job there to see if he can blows 100 fastballs by hitters. Right now they're in a division race and cannot trot whatever out 5th day without knowing what they'll get. it's time to look for a starter.

 

See, this makes way more sense to me than Buch in The pen...Buch should be phantom DL'd and let Kelly go back to the pen where hes had experience. That, and hes got 98. His offspeed stuff will play up MUCH better ( theoretically) and should be able to air it out for an inning or two.

[SinceYaz]

All I can say is "Where the f did the bullpen go?" We have NO CHANCE if the bullpen goes down the drain. All the pleasure of watching the offense is lost in a sick, sick feeling of 8 is NOT enough... Holy Cow!

 

NOTE TO YOUK: See, this is where I/we have learned our lesson(s). At that former forum, I would have just expressed my disgust with a new thread asking the same thing ... unless someone else had started one similar. I LOOKED for this thread before I expressed my disgust. Hehe.....

[southpaw777]

NOTE TO YOUK: See, this is where I/we have learned our lesson(s). At that former forum, I would have just expressed my disgust with a new thread asking the same thing ... unless someone else had started one similar. I LOOKED for this thread before I expressed my disgust. Hehe.....

 

The bullpen started screwing up when Farrell really misused them in that game where Kimbrel threw 40 pitches and the day after. Yes, its the pitchers who arent executing, but it doesnt help how the manager uses them. To me, he wears them out and their performance suffers.

Taz is at 92...thats 2-3MPH below his norm...is he tired! Hurt?

[SinceYaz]

See, this makes way more sense to me than Buch in The pen...Buch should be phantom DL'd and let Kelly go back to the pen where hes had experience. That, and hes got 98. His offspeed stuff will play up MUCH better ( theoretically) and should be able to air it out for an inning or two.

 

Southpaw, you know me. I don't turn my back on anybody in a Red Sox uniform. It just goes against my grain. But Clay is cooked. I honestly don't care if he picks up a ball again. No, that isn't true. I DON'T want to see him pick up another ball in a Sox uni.

[SinceYaz]

The bullpen started screwing up when Farrell really misused them in that game where Kimbrel threw 40 pitches and the day after. Yes, its the pitchers who arent executing, but it doesnt help how the manager uses them. To me, he wears them out and their performance suffers.

Taz is at 92...thats 2-3MPH below his norm...is he tired! Hurt?

 

I'm afraid you're right. All of a sudden nobody can do the job ... even with Wright giving the pen a day off!!!!