Ok, so the Sox have to bull themselves up by the boot straps and get it together.
Tonight they start a AA prospect (Pauley) against a team with whom they are battling for first place. Not sure this is what I would have done, but what other choice do they have? Perhaps if they just cut Willie Harris loose (with Wells hitting the DL), they could have brought up Lester and Hansen. What about Ginter?
More intimidating is the fact that their pen is in shambles. If this kid goes 5 good innings (and what can one expect? 5 IP 4-5 Runs I would think, at best), then the Sox have to get bring in someone from their pen...
Seanez? Riske? Tavarez? 6+ million dollars of no thanks...
Van Buren? He looked good the other night.
Delcarmen? At some point probably..
Foulke?
Papelbon? 2 innings tonight, if close...
By the way, that is 7 relievers. And one is reliable. 3 decent, and 3 no!
Of course, the Sox will have to get to Lilly for any of this to matter, and we know how well they do against this guy...Oh, and Loretta is out...meaning the bottom of the lineup is Gonzalez and Cora again.
At least Toronto can't take over first place tonight.
But the Yankees could...
However, it looks like Sheffield is hitting the DL again. Damon might be going there as well. So Williams and Cabrera and someone else in the OF. This, of course, has been pointed out, shouldn't be so bad for them. They still go to battle with the 6-1 Mussina, Posada, Giambi, Jeter, A-Rod, and Cano. But even I have to say that's a lot of injuries, at this point.
Of course, as is usual with NY, they get little guys to step up. Who would have thought Wright would be pitching like he is???
Other thoughts...
Dontrelle Willis (according to an article today) is going nowhere...
A new "confirmed" article on MLB.com says that Clemens HAS accepted a deal with Houston for $14MM.
Who's left? Is there a chance the Anaheim of Los Angeles of that part of California of the West Coast Angels start unloading any of their pitching? What about some NL guys? Do the Sox just have to throw caution to the wind and bring up Lester and/or Hansen?
I am "pondering" other things, but this is a fairly long post...
Like I said a week ago, this is the time for the Sox to be getting some separation between them and the Yanks.
ReplyDeleteBecause as much as they are hurting and getting worse by the day, at some point this season, they very well may get a healthy Sheffield, Damon, Posada, and perhpaps even Matsui. And we know what these guys can do.
The Sox struggles, as you point out, are Seanez, Riske, Clement and to a lesser extent Tavarez. I just don't see these guys stepping up.
Of course there are moves to be made. And the young guns could contribute in a big way. Its just every day the Yanks run Melky Cabrera and T-Long in their OF yest stay even with us is a victory for them.
"Do the Sox just have to throw caution to the wind and bring up Lester and/or Hansen?"
This part scares me. If they do bring them up, I hope it is not throwing caution to the wind but will be done in a controlled manner.
I agree that the Yankees will probably have all those guys back in some capacity soon. And I also agree with the getting as far ahead as soon as possible.
ReplyDeleteThe pen, with Timlin on the DL, is truly terrible.
The starting pitching, Beckett, Schilling, and Wake aside is in trouble. Wells looked good until the line drive.
With that said, it might be easier (and I know that this may bring on the yelling) to get a top closer this year as opposed to a top starter. If you look at the contending teams, they all seem to have someone set in the closer role.
My take is that the Sox should get Hansen and/or Lester up here and see how they do in the starting role. If they can't cut it, move them to the back of the pen.
This team cannot march DiNardos and Pauleys out there and compete.
Ok, I take that back about Pauley...Completely unfair as he hasn't thrown yet. I will just say "Dinardos" for now...
ReplyDeleteThe thing about the Yankees...even if you take out all their guys who have been hurting (or sucking): Damon, Sheffield, Posada, Matsui, Pavano, and Randy Johnson...they still have the highest salary in MLB. It's pretty sick.
ReplyDelete