cp176

Hopefully everybody realizes that it is a long season. I don't see this as being as much about panic as it is about just being stupid and believing that the same old refrain is going to produce different results. I am guilty of expecting more out of Buchholz and Kelly than they can give. To all of sudden think that buchholz would morph into a durable starter as well as being able to pitch like he has on rare occasions in his career and to believe all the crap about Kelly and his wonderful potential. When E-rod went down we lost our #2 and Kelly should be in the bullpen. Ultimately Dombrowski can and probably will do what needs to be done to get us the pieces needed to make this a very good starting rotation. The but is that there will be plenty of screaming when everybody's bright young star (pick one or two) gets traded. In his case it would be stupid to not make the necessary trades based on the fact that there are only so many positions on a baseball field.

I agree with you here. A little bit of a conundrum though. If you decide to keep Swihart, there is a risk involved. If he does not show marked improvement behind the plate, his trade value really becomes next to nothing. Does he hit well enough to justify a change in position? right now I say no. With Vazquez, there is also risk involved. Can he hit well enough to just be adequate offensively? Although Swihart would make a great backup, I just don't see how that makes any sense at all going forward. i like Hannigan. You don't need an All-Star backup catcher. Just ask Bob Montgomery. I would love to see a package of Swihart and whatever else it takes to bring in one more dependable (emphasize dependable) arm. Team has needed, needs, and will need in the future starting pitching. Clogging up - backing up - call it what you like - this system is a menu for failure if you don't have the arms. Does anybody out there really think that if tomorrow we didn't have Bradley, Castillo, Shaw, Swihart, Young, Holt, Sandoval, or any number of others, this team wouldn't be able to replace them adequately. They aren't chopped lived but seriously we aren't talking guys who are apt to bull ass their way into the HOF.

I do think that they are going the cautious route with Johnson. Plus the fact that he might not be the answer anyway. Reality with Swihart is that he might not be a better or even as good a hitter ultimately than any number of the young guys we have knocking on the door right now. I'm changing my vote - if Vazquez comes up, you send him back to Pawtucket (or you trade him while he has the potential tag shining brightly). Eventually he at worst becomes a solid backup to a very good catcher with a light bat. Within a year or two, they will have all the bats they need at first, third, and in the outfield. He is a great athlete but he is in a tough situation right now. Keep Hannigan.

I can live with Porcello. Price is a great arm. but, even though they are ours, I am just so sick of Buchholz and Kelly. Potential, potential, ********. I would much prefer to watch Wright, Owens, Johnson, and anybody else. I get it - it's only April - give em a chance - it's all going to be alright - don't panic- yada,yada,yada. bottom line- they are ours and we are stuck with them. It is about the pitching and we don't have it yet. We have a ton of very good looking position players. there will not be enough places to play them all. It will take some nuts and guts but eventually the trades will come. Pitching rotation upgrade needed - yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Good pitching? All things are relative I guess.

There is so much preaching here about showing patience. patience and more patience. How many times do we hear give them all until Memorial Day or the trade dead-line. Got to give Shaw a real chance. He is the best that we have at this point in time. For that matter what message is he getting when the current trend is to pinch hit for him so often?

Oh, by the way, Vaz took the ofers today - nuts.

Vazquez will not need to hit much in order to be called up. If he is healthy, he will be coming up. He is just too good as an overall catcher to leave in Pawtucket. It creates a problem. Some would say a good problem - I don't know about that. Swihart is proving that he can hit big league pitching. You going to send him back? why? Is he going to be our catcher of the future? They don't get much better than Hanigan as a backup. Everybody understands the logic with Swihart going down to work on his catching skills. Does it really make much sense? Is that the best move to make with respect to his future? I think it is going to be an issue and I think that there are going to be numerous others similar to this one in the very near future. Glad here that I just get to sit back and watch these stories develop.

I don't think that it is possible to in all reality place a knuckleballer in any "ranking" order. Very much game to game - sort of like Bucholz and Kelly. Maybe they should start throwing knuckleballs.

Trying to break it down and make it sound better than it is is just ridiculous. On any given day, will he better, for sure. On any given day, will he be worse, probably. On the more positive side, he is fairly durable and will pitch quite a few innings for us. A solid number 4/5 starter. Every team needs players like him. Projecting him to be better than he has ever been is as bad as saying that he is worthless.

draino

Vazquez with 3 more hits today. He is going to be like a can of drain. He will be de-clogging things a bit. He might make it tough on the decision makers.

I think that you might be right here. the problem is that we keep hoping that Buchholz and Kelly morph into something that resembles special.

Hey hey now - easy on that fat stuff! Go Pablo.

Wait - You might say thanks Ben! I bet I don't get away with that one.

top 4 guys in Pawtucket's lineup got 10 of the 11 hits. Rutledge - Hernandez - Vazquez - Travis Walk off hit for Travis! great start!

I don't think that Bucholz or kelly will likely stink the place up every time they take the mound. Personally, my days of projecting them to be anything better than what their proven records show them to be, are over. Dependability is very important. I'm sure that Price will not be lights out everytime he takes the hill and I am pretty sure that Porcello will have some good solid outings. I think we know what we have in them. With the other two, not so much. Team is fun to watch!

Problem I have with him is that I over estimated his potential. If I keep what he can do in perspective with respect to what his contract extension says he ought to do, I am ok with him. He is durable and solid for a #4 guy. take what we get out of bucholtz and Kelly but I'm done visualizing anything from those two. A healthy E-Rod comes back and we are going to be entertained.

It is already different from last year. This team can come from behind. Everybody really knew that without a healthy E-Rod there were going to be issues with the starting pitching. Wrap my head around the fact that Porcello is probably a #4 for keeps and I'm ok.

There really is going to be a gray area with this particular rule. A good baserunner can very possibly hit the ground get the bag and make a real effort to take out the fielder. Utley's slide was nasty but within the rules of the game at that time. He plays hard. i kind of like the rule but I think early on there is apt to be an overreaction to what it is supposed to do. I was a second b-man but I think that if there is any question the advantage should go to the baserunner.

A nasty, nasty injury.

What a great matchup today. Hope they play the course and don't get caught up in playing each other.

I try to pump up a little interest with respect to following these kids but I don't follow other teams' young players. As good as we think ours might look, I bet there are other organizations saying the same thing.

He just recently turned 18 not that that is important. He is off to a great start.

whoever scouted and recommended signing these kids should get huge credit. Pretty sure it wasn't the GM, but if he gets all of the credit and all of the blame - on this forum it appears that he might- thanks Ben!