Why start Velasquez?

[jacksonianmarch]

I get the idea of moving Sale to opening day at Fenway, but why take a fragile guy like Sale and push him back a couple days to throw in Boston where the forecast is rainy/overcast and 40s when you could have allowed him to throw in the heat/climate control of Arizona. I get the marketing part, but throwing a terrible guy out there today seems like a punt and pushing Sale to the bad weather seems like a bad idea. It would make sense to stick with the rotation and see if they can work things out

[S5Dewey]

IMO it's all about momentum. They're hoping...hoping that Sale will come through in Fenway and that a win there along with a homestand will get this team back on track.

 

Of course, the danger there is that it doesn't work and if that happens we're going to be waiting for some other pitcher to start a winning streak. But IMO it's worth a try!

[Thunder]

I've been saying this all week, much to the shegrin of mvp. Sale will be gassed up to pitch the home opener, and it wouldn't surprise me if he asked Cora to get pushed back to Tuesday. Who wouldn't be gassed up to pitch on ring day? This will be the ultimate measuring stick in terms of his velocity, and either way, it will provide a spark to the fans and hopefully the team just to be back home.

 

I think the threat of rain on Tuesday might be a good thing. Worst case scenario the game gets rained out, and they get an extra day to get their body clocks back on east coast time. They've been in pacific time for 2 full weeks now.

[Slasher9]

Was there a need to start another Vaz thread? Mal literally started one last night....

[Thunder]

Was there a need to start another Vaz thread? Mal literally started one last night....

 

This is Velazquez, not Vazquez

[Bellhorn04]

Was there a need to start another Vaz thread? Mal literally started one last night....

 

You get the first Mister Magoo award of the day, Slash.

[Bellhorn04]

This is Velazquez, not Vazquez

 

And you spelled them both right. Well done.

[Slasher9]

This is Velazquez, not Vazquez

 

You get the first Mister Magoo award of the day, Slash.

 

Hahahaha. I’m an idiot. Sorry jacksonianmarch. My bad.

[Slasher9]

And now that I actually read it...I would have preferred starting Sale in a warm weather climate.

[harmony]

And you spelled them both right. Well done.

But misspelled chagrin.😊

[Kimmi]

IMO it's all about momentum. They're hoping...hoping that Sale will come through in Fenway and that a win there along with a homestand will get this team back on track.

 

Of course, the danger there is that it doesn't work and if that happens we're going to be waiting for some other pitcher to start a winning streak. But IMO it's worth a try!

 

Ha.

[Kimmi]

I think having Sale start the home opener has a little bit to do with giving Sale that honor, but mostly I think Cora is just continuing to bring the starters along slowly. He wants to give the starters an extra day of rest, in addition to the off day.

[notin]

The entire Sox starting rotation has been getting hammered like a fraternity pledge on Jell-O shot night. Why wouldn’t Cora give someone else a chance? What’s the worst that could happen? The other team’s batting average suffers?

[bosoxmal]

He belongs in Pawtucket taking hitting classes! Make him write WAITM WAIT WAIT, QUICK QUICK QUICK, 1000 times before breakfast.

 

I'm sure histerrible hitting is affecting his hitting also.

[Northern Star]

The way things are going, have a drawing to get an Opening Day starter from the crowd.

[redsoxrules]

Yeah this doesn't make sense. This team is in desperate need of a win and you skip your ace who just signed a big contract. This is not 2018 where every decision Cora made worked.

[Bellhorn04]

Yeah this doesn't make sense. This team is in desperate need of a win and you skip your ace who just signed a big contract. This is not 2018 where every decision Cora made worked.

 

Well, we don't yet know if this one works or not.

[dgalehouse]

Can't blame Cora for this one . The decision to start Velazquez was made by Harold Nerdwell from the analytics department.

[Bellhorn04]

Can't blame Cora for this one . The decision to start Velazquez was made by Harold Nerdwell from the analytics department.

 

I think, on the contrary, it was more of a gut feeling decision.

[dgalehouse]

I think, on the contrary, it was more of a gut feeling decision.

All kidding aside, I think the idea is simply to give Sale the honor of pitching the Fenway opener .

[TylerD]

I don’t agree with it at all. I get people saying it’s a momentum thing right now. Sale pitches good and we get The win at home so it starts a streak hopefully. But at this point we are 2-8. Start him today and get a win. Being swept and start 2-9 is enough to mess with the best teams. It’s going to be extremely nice in Arizona. Not too hot either compared to what they usually get. Perfect weather for Sale to pitch. Leaving him for opening day against the Jays just doesn’t make any sense to me in my opinion.

[jacksonianmarch]

Tuesday is likely going to be rained out. Wednesday is going to cap out at 46 degrees in Boston.

[moonslav59]

I like the idea of giving Sale some extra rest, but I do not think this is the best time, for the reasons Jacko gave.

[moonslav59]

All kidding aside, I think the idea is simply to give Sale the honor of pitching the Fenway opener .

 

...and give him extra rest.

 

(I thought we were going to start the season with a 6 man rotation, since we had no day off for a long time.)

[Larry Cook]

I like the idea of resting sale at this point.

 

Plus all those 89 mph fastballs must have made him really tired!

[jacksonianmarch]

Well clearly Cora knew something that all of us didn’t.

[Bellhorn04]

Well clearly Cora knew something that all of us didn’t.

 

I knew enough to have faith in his decision-making.

[Slasher9]

I knew enough to have faith in his decision-making.

 

For me this wasn’t about neck tat taking the start it was about the weather where Sale has his next start. For me the question isn’t answered until I see Sale in the cold weather start.

As for vquez...awesome start. Loved it of course.

[Bellhorn04]

For me this wasn’t about neck tat taking the start it was about the weather where Sale has his next start. For me the question isn’t answered until I see Sale in the cold weather start.

 

I certainly understand the concern.

 

I would counter-offer that Sale must have good numbers in cold weather considering the teams he's pitched for.

[Maxbialystock]

I get the idea of moving Sale to opening day at Fenway, but why take a fragile guy like Sale and push him back a couple days to throw in Boston where the forecast is rainy/overcast and 40s when you could have allowed him to throw in the heat/climate control of Arizona. I get the marketing part, but throwing a terrible guy out there today seems like a punt and pushing Sale to the bad weather seems like a bad idea. It would make sense to stick with the rotation and see if they can work things out

 

Actually, it looks like starting Velazquez was genius. Cora not only got a well pitched game, but sent a really strong signal to that rotten rotation and positive one to the bullpen.