sk7326

I think if De La Rosa had shown he could be the "other" short righty out of the pen to go with Tazawa, this would have been a more interesting discussion. But Workman has clearly won that battle - so it becomes "who is the multi-inning reliever". Dempster is really the only solid choice left.

He has been striking guys out at a good rate too - and (just going from my hazy memory) the first time through the order he has been pretty solid - it's the other stuff that has been wobbly. The fastball will play up in the pen ... I think for 6 outs at a time in a situation where he can focus on fastball-splitter he can be an asset late in the season.

Gostkowski yanked an extra point after the 3rd touchdown

I am more confident in Dempster - he's closed and the strikeout rate has been solid all season. He has had issues turning over a lineup, but his stuff has been swing and miss this year and the fastball will play up a little with the job change. I figure Workman is safe as the second righty too - though more looks and more "unplanned" chances does not hurt. Morales v Thornton is probably the actual decision for the staff.

Also another thing about Workman mopping up here ... You figure that Farrell will go with 10 pitchers for the playoff roster. You have your Top 4 starters and Dempster moving into the swing spot. That leaves 5 relief spots. Brelow, Tazawa, Uehara are locks. Workman, Morales, Thornton are probably "competing" for 2 spots. I think Farrell will take the time here to get as many looks at all three guys as makes sense.

Given the cigarette prices in Massachusetts, this was probably $25 down the drain for him

apparently a slo-pitch has broken out here ...

I don't disagree - just speculating on his logic here. Certainly to me it's a signal he is counting on a key role for Workman in October. Part of that might be just getting him experience with getting up for these stints - both in high and lower leverage scenarios. Once we get to the big games, not going to have the luxury to space out Workman's appearances. I would have just promoted Wright for an occasion like this - but I do see the aspects of just getting guys ready for the postseason.

If they want to give X a chance to earn the everyday job - that is one thing. But absolutely - to think we chose the wrong SS between Drew and Iglesias is folly. Drew has been very good this season - the optics of how much he strikes out I think throws some fans off the scent of how valuable he has been.

I don't want X up here if he is not going to start - he is young enough that the AAA reps do not hurt at all. If you want Drew and Middlebrooks to man the fort next season, by all means but let it be them. Drew I think has had a good season and is clearly a Top 10ish shortstop. But I suspect somebody will offer him a multiyear deal - and he has, like Beltre did with us, rebuilt his value - and I don't think I'd want to do that.

I wonder how much of it is just developing his ability to just get up on short notice - they seem to be grooming him to be Tazawa insurance here (given Tazawa's occasional cold streak and homerun bug). He has been starting and been stretched out so much, he might just need some work at just being ready for more condensed work. Only thing I can think of.

Holy crap - I remember when Jeremy Bonderman was the Tigers #1! (like 2006 ...) now mopping up a September game.

They are leaning hard on Verlander and Scherzer clearly ... Verlander has been way inferior to Scherzer this season, but he probably gets the call for Game 1

There we go - if they can't land a guy like a Choo or something ... seriously, Nava/Gomes as a 2-headed left fielder is plenty effective.

I think I'd settle for him being to spoil sliders low and away. We know "approach" is born and not made. He's never going to walk a ton and he's never going to see a ton of pitchers. That's fine - Nomar and Vlad Guerrero made fine livings being up there to hack. He just needs to square up the pitches he wants and being able to at least get a bat on the stuff that bothers him.

2 years for a durable starter - you look at what the market pays for guys like Edwin Jackson for instance ... guys whose central virtue is that they never get hurt ... and that everybody is drowning in money (you know it's a buyers market when BJ Upton got what he got from the Braves - and it was "reasonable" for the free agent class). Dempster at 2/26 is a very fair price. I've been annoyed with the inconsistency, but he has been there every fifth day - and in a sport where you want your Kyle Weilands as far the hell away from any start that matters as possible, that is a talent in itself. We do not get to the playoffs without his contribution.

It is - it also helps give you an idea at the sort of reliever you give real money to ... Rivera, your 2006-2008 Papelbon, prime Joe Nathan, Koji if he had more of a long run track record of 2013

Oops - what I get for typing while you sent this

Dempster has been able to turn over a lineup once reasonably well ... that second time is where things have been touch and go.

Schedule is here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130903&content_id=59414608&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb TBS covers Wild Card and Division Series - NLCS. FOX does ALCS. NL Wild Card is October 1 - those division series start October 3 ... so 2 day turnaround AL Wild Card is October 2, ALDS start October 4 ... 2 day turnaround. It's still a pretty tight turn. NLDS A and B: October 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 ... the travel day between Games 4 and 5 is new ALDS A and B: October 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 NLCS: October 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 ... remember in 2004 we had the rainout before Game 3 which eliminated that Game 5/6 travel day ALCS: October 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20 WORLD SERIES: October 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 30, 31 The 3-day break minimum before the World Series is a bit long. But at the same time, baseball did not alter its schedule to avoid Sunday Night Football so go figure.

What is interesting about it is that Koji's history has been very much a fly ball pitcher ... and he has had a homerun problem as a reliever holding him back from amazingness ... he is still more flyball pitcher than a groundball one, but the solid contact has been far far less. http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=9227&position=P

What is interesting about it is that Koji's history has been very much a fly ball pitcher ... and he has had a homerun problem as a reliever holding him back from amazingness ... he is still more flyball pitcher than a groundball one, but the solid contact has been far far less.

Foulke's had a bit more movement ... but yes it sets up the other stuff and Foulke's changeup was ++, and his durability was crazy. The big revelation with Uehara has been usage - nobody was sure he could actually answer the bell this regularly.

What is fascinating about Uehara is that his fastball is very ordinary - decent velocity, arrow straight. But he locates it very well - he gets ahead by hitting the black with the fastball. The other thing is that his splitter is very very odd among the world of splitters in that it doesn't have a ton of movement. It moves, but more subtly and often stays in the zone (Rod Beck's splitter for instance - was much more the norm). He is pounding the strike zone to such a degree that grinding the at-bats out is very hard. He is getting a lot of swing and miss for sure - but he is around the strike zone with all his pitches, I am not sure the hitters can take a chance on taking some of those pitches. The game plan to get him might actually be counter to your suggestion - sit dead red and go for the first good fastball you see. It's almost always going to be a strike, and it's almost always a hittable speed. Basically Uehara is dominating closing as a sort of lower middle class version of mid 90s Greg Maddux - it's fun to watch.

That is true - but there was also the case of just getting good movement on it, and that has been inconsistent. Lot of bite last night - with all of his pitches. Of course the location was very sharp. Yes, the pitch mix was important to keep guys off balance, but the cutter had a ton of late movement that had been missing most of the season. Last few starts he has been very good, but last night we saw more uncomfortable looking at bats/swings than he has shown all year. A lot of good hitters looked very uncertain.