soon enough, he's gonna get to the point where hitters have made adjustments to him. ill temper my opinion on Bard once I see how he counteracts those adjustments
They haven't had a true leadoff hitter since Damon left after 2005. They have guys with the characteristics of a leadoff hitter but for whatever reason, no one has claimed that spot as theirs. Youk is about the only guy that has done well there but his bat is needed in the middle of the order.
He's got incredible stuff but it's irrelevant unless he can harness his stuff to develop into a consistent reliever. No walks in his last 8.2 IP is a very nice sign though.
I have no idea what his value is, I'm not a GM or a baseball insider. All I know is that he could be valuable to teams who lose out on the Halladay sweepstakes
I don't think this situation is as black and white as that though. There are several factors greying the entire case. Penny has been remarkably durable this season and one would think he could break down at any point now, especially considering his tendency to fall off in the second half over his career. He almost certainly has no place on this team next season and there remains a glut of starting pitching on the sidelines with Buchholz and Dice-K.
It's a pretty unique case of being able to help the team for the future without hurting its chances now
well yea, its frustrating when batters foul off 8 pitches and then get a single leading to a 35-pitch save and then having him unavailable the next night....all im asking for is a little perspective on the big picture
It's a 1:07pm start and I can totally see myself sleeping right up until the first pitch so I'll start the GT a smidge early
BOS: B. Penny (6-3, 4.71)
vs.
TOR: M. Rzepczynski (0-1, 3.00) (I sooooo c/p that)
I really wanted to settle in and watch this game tonight....f***ing ball hockey
EDIT: Sox lineup...
Drew - RF
Pedroia - 2B
Youkilis - 1B
Ortiz - DH
Bay - LF
Lowell - 3B
Varitek - C
Ellsbury - CF
Green - SS
Buchholz - SP