We could go on and on about Ben, and we probably will. He did some very good things but the team also made some terrible blunders in his tenure. Whether they were all his blunders or not we'll never know. Until Larry Lucchino's deathbed confessions, perhaps.
Late starts to the season can be killers for pitchers. Alex Cobb was absolutely horrific his first few starts.
Pomeranz might not be 100% physically, though.
One more start like last night and he'll be sent to the DL, I expect.
It might be argued that having 2 young catching prospects like Vazquez and Swihart was bound to become a problem at some point. I think we felt it was one of those 'good problems to have'. But I think it turned out to be a problem for Swihart, and perhaps for the team as well.
Somewhere John Farrell is smiling.
Oh well, I guess Sale threw a lot less in the spring, before the games that count started.
But it's pretty hard to minimize the number of pitches thrown by your stud horse when you're in what shapes up as a season-long division battle with the Yanks and you have a short window to try to win it all...isn't it?
Under the Mendoza line in mid-May, though. If anything, the numbers suggest a guy like Vazquez will go on a bit of a hot streak and end the season hitting .240 or so.
That's the way I'm sure team management is looking at it.
Fans tend to just look at the current BA and freak out about it.
I guess JH didn't think much of the last place finishes under Ben.
Say what you want but under DD we have 2 first place finishes and a great start this year.
I get all the cliff talk, but saying he hasn't done well in the short term is kind of stupid, Larry.
I don't disagree that he's been jerked around, but in 2016 they had Vazquez coming back from the injury, and they had Hanigan, who Ben had signed to a 2-year deal. If the plan was for Vazquez to be the #1, where did Swihart fit on the roster?