illinoisredsox

Bob Feller signed at 17 and went right to the Guardians; he was okay but didn't really show his Hall of Fame ability until he was 20-21 and had been around 3-4 years. Sandy Koufax went right to the Dodgers at age 19. He didn't become the pitcher we remember until he was 25.

The difference is Buchholz has a history of doing that. Does ERod? And while ERod said something to the effect of he wanted to be 100%, were those the words of a guy for whom English is a second language and for whom what he meant and the words he used didn't exactly jive. I don't know. There is a difference between playing hurt and playing injured. The former is something pro athletes have to learn to do. The latter is stupid. Pedroia tried to come back and play injured a few years ago and ended up missing the rest of the season. If that hammie affects ERod's delivery and he injures his arm, will people be glad "he toughed it out"?

Vazquez will be back up. One or both of Hernandez or Marerro. Probably a few of the pitchers who have graced the dugout this year: Kelly, N. Ramirez (no idea why), maybe Elias. They will reactivate Hanigan. The Sox seem to only bring up 4-5 guys for September call ups.

He's 18 as of yesterday. This is a very young kid.

I got that. There are those who advocate bringing him up now, though, and if they bring him up any time between now and the end of August (next Wednesday), somebody has to come off the 25 man roster to make room.

Odds are he went through whatever day before start running/routines he has and it tightened up during or right after he did them. Given that he's going to do those drills in the couple hours before game time, 5:30-5:45 is entirely plausible. I do love it when internet tough guys call players soft with no real knowledge whatsoever.

The issue is not the 40 man roster. That part of the equation is easy. If you call him up before September 1, somebody has to go off the 25 man roster.

Benintendi was called up with a month to go until roster expansion, the team scuffling and at a position that was exhibiting both offensive and defensive weakness. They also didn't really need to get rid of anyone with much value to bring him up. As I recall, Michel Martinez (a back-up infielder) was let go to make room for him. Now you have a week to go until expansion; to add Moncada to the roster probably means releasing Hill (who right now is superior to Shaw/Holt and probably Moncada defensively and can also play 2nd well). If it were 2 months ago or even 1 month, I have less issue with releasing Hill. With the team playing well right now, Moncada getting another 6-7 games experience at 3rd in Pawtucket isn't a bad thing. He'll be in Boston, probably iin 8 days.

Well played.

JH is just trying to give him some external motivation. If it works, great, the Sox maybe get a serviceable player out of. If not, it only cost some words.

Here I will disagree. I don't want ANY pitcher, especially one as talented as ERod, going out there with a leg injury. Too many instances of guys trying to do that and ruining their arms because their delivery was altered. A pro athlete has to distinguish between playing hurt and playing injured. The former you have to learn to do, the latter is stupid to do. Would you rather he miss one or 2 starts or would you rather he injure it worse and be gone for the season or worse? It's not a question of toughness.

Unless there is an injury to one of the infielders, he will not be up until September. Hill may not be getting it done offensively, but he is defensively and as such would be valuable the last month. The team is winning right now; I can't see them rocking the boat with only a week to go until roster expansion. Talented as the kid is, he is still very unproven at 3rd base. If he proves himself down the stretch, they'll figure out a way to get him on the postseason roster.

ERod has to be back before that can happen. However, I think Buchholz goes back to the pen since he has been pretty effective there; they certainly could use the help.

It's challengeable, but it doesn't matter; a hit by pitch is a hit by pitch. Makes no difference if it hit the dirt.

Carl Everett agrees with this statement.

Exactly. Archer may well be on his way to a 20 loss season. You have to be a good pitcher to lose 20 in a season; if you aren't, they won't keep sending you out there. If you look at the list of 20 game losers, you see a lot of guys who had pretty good careers. Phil Niekro did it twice, Steve Carlton did it the year after he won 27 for the Phillies. Mickey Lolich. Luis Tiant. Wilbur Wood twice. Way back, Walter Johnson lost 20 twice and and Cy Young 3 times (although it was much more common when guys would start 45 or 50 games a year).

I've described this pen a Forrest Gump's box of chocolates: you never know what you are going to get.

Hadn't thought of that, but yeah, that time off now becomes a major concern. And there's no way he would agree to a rehab assignment, even for 2-3 days.

If I had to pick, I would take my chances with Pap. Papelbon may be a has been at this point, but Kelly is a never was.

You are correct about DL eligibility for postseason, but no matter what or when, they still need to put him on the 40 man to call him up even it's just for a September cup of coffee.

^This. You can't have a guy sit on the bench for 2-3 weeks, never see the plate and the all of a sudden stick him in the line-up and expect him to perform. The NL has an advantage in this regard, as bench players will hit for pitchers 3-4 times (or more) a week. With the DH, it's harder to get back-ups plate appearances in the AL.

Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski the man we call Yaz (We love him) Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski what power he has! Ah, our Boston team is always on the bean, cause we got Yaz We Fenway fans we stop and clap our hands at Yaz's Jazz Those rival pitchers on the mound all shake They dread each windup that they have to make When number eight is at the plate, and then he swings, and wow there it goes again and wow there it goes again, and wow there it goes again A rival batter hits one off the wall And there's Yastrzemski going for the ball They try for two, the runner knows he's through Look at Yaz, wow he threw him out again Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski the man we call Yaz (We love him) Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski he's the idol of Boston, Mass On Beacon hill, he gives 'em quite a thrill In Southie too there's lots of 'whooptee-doo' In the North End they call Carl friend, and they hope the season will never end From Wellsey way they come to watch him play And on Cape Cod they take a holiday From all above they come to shout, "You know for Yaz, the hit was out!' The state of Maine is going quite insane And in Vermont it's only Yaz they want From every state, they come to wait To Yastrzemski at home plate Our Boston team, it's always on the bean, cause we got Yaz We Fenway fans we stop and clap our hands at Yaz's jazz Although Yastrzemski is a lengthy name, it fits quite nicely in the Hall of Fame We love him so, in Boston we all know that when he swings, (Yeah!) here we go again!

To repeat what moonslav said, O'Sullivan isn't on the 40 man roster anymore so he isn't eligible to come up (unless they add him back on). Doubtful that happens.

The season still will come down to can they beat Baltimore and Toronto head to head? If they can't they don't deserve to make the postseason.

But as moonslav has pointed out several times, in the minors he did have issues vs. lefties. And that reverse split in 2015 was based on a whopping 85 PAs.