Fernando Abad

[illinoisredsox]

Robbie Ross is eligible to come off the DL on April 13. While I can see him throwing a couple of times at Pawtucket/Portland in a rehab, he likely will be back with Boston early next week at the latest.

 

Who goes? The obvious choice would be Ben Taylor, since he has options, but one has to wonder if Abad, a guy who seems to be in witness protection, will be the one. He has yet to appear in a game; I'm not sure he has even warmed up. They used call-up Noe Ramirez against the Tigers last week instead of Abad.

 

Thoughts?

[Nick]

Robbie Ross is eligible to come off the DL on April 13. While I can see him throwing a couple of times at Pawtucket/Portland in a rehab, he likely will be back with Boston early next week at the latest.

 

Who goes? The obvious choice would be Ben Taylor, since he has options, but one has to wonder if Abad, a guy who seems to be in witness protection, will be the one. He has yet to appear in a game; I'm not sure he has even warmed up. They used call-up Noe Ramirez against the Tigers last week instead of Abad.

 

Thoughts?

 

Ben Taylor has been impressive. I realize he has options but if he can get the job done at major league level why demote him? I'm really uncomfortable with our lefty situation. I've always liked Ross but he can be so inconsistent with his control. Scott is one batter option. He seems like a luxury at this point. Abad has to get his chance right?

 

It will probably be Ben.

[mvp 78]

Abad will not be pitching for Boston in September.

[moonslav59]

I don't think having more than 1 or 2 lefties in our pen is essential.

 

Once Thornburg returns, we'll have a guy who is better than almost any LOOGY in the league:

 

OPS Against by splits:

 

.531 vs LHBs in 414 PAs

.732 vs RHBs in 496 PAs

 

It's obvious by the nearly identical PAs vs righties and lefties, the Brewers used him vs LHBs much more than a normal right-handed RP'er would see.

[mvp 78]

http://www.overthemonster.com/2017/4/12/15269616/fernando-abad-where-did-you-come-from-where-did-you-go

 

Either way, it’s strange that a veteran like Abad, who was tendered a contract this winter when the team could have just walked away for nothing, hasn’t gotten to throw in a game yet. At this point, it’s entirely unclear what his role on this team could possibly be.

 

...

 

The only issue with that plan is that Abad is out of minor-league options and thus would have to be exposed to waivers if designated for assignment. Even if he cleared waivers, he may not accept a demotion to Pawtucket. As we’ve seen this year with the absurd flu epidemic, keeping depth around is important. With that being said, at a certain point it becomes unnecessary. When the team doesn’t trust a player in seemingly any situation, I think we’ve reached that point.

 

If this is how it ends for Abad and the Red Sox, it begs a couple of questions. For one, why was he even tendered a contract this winter? I know we’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth rehashing very quickly. It’s understandable that Scott came into camp and pitched better than expected. However, it’s clear at this point that Farrell doesn’t trust Abad at all. So, is this a new phenomena? It must be, since one would imagine the manager had some input as to whether they’d keep the lefty.

[illinoisredsox]

http://www.overthemonster.com/2017/4/12/15269616/fernando-abad-where-did-you-come-from-where-did-you-go

 

Either way, it’s strange that a veteran like Abad, who was tendered a contract this winter when the team could have just walked away for nothing, hasn’t gotten to throw in a game yet. At this point, it’s entirely unclear what his role on this team could possibly be.

 

 

...

 

The only issue with that plan is that Abad is out of minor-league options and thus would have to be exposed to waivers if designated for assignment. Even if he cleared waivers, he may not accept a demotion to Pawtucket. As we’ve seen this year with the absurd flu epidemic, keeping depth around is important. With that being said, at a certain point it becomes unnecessary. When the team doesn’t trust a player in seemingly any situation, I think we’ve reached that point.

 

If this is how it ends for Abad and the Red Sox, it begs a couple of questions. For one, why was he even tendered a contract this winter? I know we’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth rehashing very quickly. It’s understandable that Scott came into camp and pitched better than expected. However, it’s clear at this point that Farrell doesn’t trust Abad at all. So, is this a new phenomena? It must be, since one would imagine the manager had some input as to whether they’d keep the lefty.

 

 

I swear, I did not see that article before Mr. Rice linked it. But with Mookie and now Hanley back from the flu, I started wondering when Ross could come off the DL.