BBTF's Sox Therapy Discussion :: Pitchers Go Down, So Pitchers Come Up

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1. Phil Coorey. Posted: April 24, 2008 at 02:13 AM (#2756704)

I'm looking forward to it. The start is 3.35am out here, I might get up for it.

edit - Hansen did look good today. Threw one bad pitch and Kotchman hammered it.

2. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: April 24, 2008 at 02:17 AM (#2756707)

This biological warfare S!@# is just low

3. villageidiom Posted: April 24, 2008 at 02:18 AM (#2756710)

To answer a question posed in Game Chatter: Boston currently has 37 players on the 40-man roster. They don't need to DFA nor outright anyone to make room for Masterson. They will need to make room on the 25-man roster, with presumably Hansen the victim, so to speak.

4. villageidiom Posted: April 24, 2008 at 02:23 AM (#2756713)

This biological warfare S!@# is just low

Between the stiff necks/stiff backs/hamstrings and the flu, they were playing with an 18-man roster tonight.

5. Nasty Nate Posted: April 24, 2008 at 02:43 AM (#2756750)

Anyone know when Dizzy will make his next start?

6. Phil Coorey. Posted: April 24, 2008 at 02:45 AM (#2756756)

Between the stiff necks/stiff backs/hamstrings and the flu, they were playing with an 18-man roster tonight.

Multitude of Casualties...

7. Dan Posted: April 24, 2008 at 03:16 AM (#2756830)

I'm excited to see Masterson pitch, but disappointed that this probably means Hansen gets optioned back to AAA.

8. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: April 24, 2008 at 03:59 AM (#2756997)

Why don't they just DFA Timlin?

9. Fourth True Outcome Posted: April 24, 2008 at 04:12 AM (#2757013)

Boston currently has 37 players on the 40-man roster. They don't need to DFA nor outright anyone to make room for Masterson.

Aha! Well, that makes that easy, doesn't it? I'll echo others about Hansen; it sure would be nice if he actually has that slider we heard so much about when he got drafted. We certainly could use one more good arm in the bullpen.

10. Phil Coorey. Posted: April 24, 2008 at 04:33 AM (#2757030)

Why don't they just DFA Timlin?

Because he is a dirt dog!!!!

Third True Outcome - his slider tonight looked great

11. Dan Posted: April 24, 2008 at 04:35 AM (#2757032)

Yeah, Hansen's slider was good. His FB was good too, other that the one that tailed right back over the heart of the plate to Kotchman. He was throwing harder than I thought he threw.

12. Chip Posted: April 24, 2008 at 06:56 AM (#2757056)

Hansen was indeed optioned out to bring Masterson on-board. Tito said they told him he probably would have stayed longer if it wasn't for the need for a starter.

13. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: April 24, 2008 at 11:20 AM (#2757065)

Frankly, given the that the Sox clubhouse is currently reenacting Outbreak, Hansen was probably happy to get the hell out of there and back down to presumably non germ-ridden Pawtucket.

14. villageidiom Posted: April 24, 2008 at 12:26 PM (#2757082)

Hansen was probably happy to get the hell out of there and back down to presumably non germ-ridden Pawtucket.

Bartolo Colon has the flu.

I had to add his first name to that sentence to avoid confusion.

15. villageidiom Posted: April 24, 2008 at 12:34 PM (#2757086)

And it could get worse. From the Globe:

Francona was appreciative he had a team to field and one that could compete. What he's dreading, after Justin Masterson makes his major league debut this afternoon, is the flight to Tampa. The last thing he wants is for a team that's already spreading germs like wildfire to be on a plane together.

Despite that the whole article makes it sound like Cafardo is worried more about Cafardo getting sick than about the health of the players, this is a real concern. 25 planes for 25 players?

16. The Marksist Posted: April 24, 2008 at 01:41 PM (#2757129)

Yesterday I was hoping to be able to go to the Sea Dogs game tonight to watch Masterson. I guess I'll settle for "watching" him on gamecast.

17. Jim Furtado

Posted: April 24, 2008 at 03:36 PM (#2757230)

I saw Hansen pitch the other day at Pawtucket. He was regularly hitting 95 with his heater. Going back to his old mechanics seems to have brought back the zip on his fastball and the bite on his slider. We'll have to wait and see about his command and his ability to shoulder the load of his funky delivery.

18. Dan Posted: April 24, 2008 at 05:15 PM (#2757359)

Hm, no chatter for today?

19. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: April 24, 2008 at 09:17 PM (#2757912)

Annoying game, but I thought Masterson was impressive. He has an excellent sinker, and the slider and change both looked a lot more advanced than advertised. Obviously there are some command issues, but Masterson looked very close to ready. That's exciting.

20. OCD SS Posted: April 24, 2008 at 10:31 PM (#2758009)

Masterson was sent down and Corey was brought back up.

21. JB H Posted: April 24, 2008 at 10:54 PM (#2758017)

Masterson looked a lot different than I was expecting. Didn't realize his delivery was so funky, and I expected him to just throw a big fastball with lots of downward movement over and over again. He reminded me more of Arroyo than Lowe. His slider is pretty sweet. I think he defiently has the stuff to be a big-time starter.

22. Dan Posted: April 24, 2008 at 10:55 PM (#2758018)

Corey? Ew.

23. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: April 24, 2008 at 10:59 PM (#2758021)

Arroyo? The one with the pin-straight fastball? I don't see it.

24. Chip Posted: April 24, 2008 at 11:29 PM (#2758061)

The movement on the sinker was very reminiscent of Lowe.

Similar height, too, which may contribute to that.

25. Matt Clement of Alexandria Posted: April 25, 2008 at 12:54 AM (#2758188)

I was not aware Masterson was Jamaican.

I agree that he's not as much like Lowe as I expected - the sinker looks like Lowe's, and he's like eight feet tall, but everything else is different. They both throw sinker/slider/change, but Masterson's slider is much more 3-to-9, and he uses his straight change a lot more. And as JBH noted, he's got a funky delivery - I can't think of a good analogue.

I agree that Arroyo, who throws a bunch of different kinds of sliders and doesn't work off a sinker, isn't right either, but I'm not feeling the Lowe comparison.

26. Darren

Posted: April 25, 2008 at 02:07 AM (#2758298)

Wow, the little I saw of Masterson was exciting. Heck, he can put up a 1:1 BB:K ratio as well as Lester can, only with a bunch of groundball outs. Let's put him in the rotation and make Lester a reliever.

I think the best comparison for Masterson is a far, far better Brandon Webb.

27. RobertMachemer Posted: April 25, 2008 at 02:12 AM (#2758300)

I assume you're saying that Webb is far, far better than Masterson, yes?

28. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: April 25, 2008 at 02:13 AM (#2758301)

I was not aware Masterson was Jamaican.

He's not really Jamaican. His parents were missionaries in Jamaica when he was born. The more you hear from him the more you'll realize that he's probably the most religious person in baseball. At least he's good natured about it though.

29. Darren

Posted: April 25, 2008 at 02:18 AM (#2758305)

No, I'm saying that Masterson is better. It's my way of poking fun of our tendencies to compare young prospects favorably to established stars.

30. Dan Posted: April 25, 2008 at 02:35 AM (#2758318)

They both throw sinker/slider/change, but Masterson's slider is much more 3-to-9,

Watching Lowe pitch last night, he had a 3-9 slider that he never had with the Red Sox.

31. Enrico Pallazzo Posted: April 25, 2008 at 06:01 AM (#2758381)

It's clear to see that with some extra command, Masterson's stuff could definitely dominate on some nights, and be a very good big-league starter overall. He has a sinker that could get him out of ten-thousand jams in his career, and at least has fairly big movement on his slider and enough mix-up in that change to give him a good rounded repertoire. And he looks cool when he pitches. And wears his socks up. And he has gangly long arms. And he was born in Jamaica.

There's been a bunch of talk about him probably ending up a reliever eventually, IIRC. What's the general consensus on that idea around here?

32. tjm1 Posted: April 25, 2008 at 06:41 AM (#2758390)

Masterson reminds me of Mike Smithson, but better. I think the idea behind using him as a reliever is probably that these sinker/slider guys with low three-quarters/sidearm motions almost never work out as starters for very long. You might get a Jeff Weaver or someone who has a few good years, but eventually managers start stacking their lineups with left-handed hitters, and then these pitchers struggle a bit more. Why it takes two or three times around the league to figure that out, I don't know. I think Masterson can be one of the rare exceptions, like El Duque, who will be able to get lefties out, because he has that nice change-up in addition to the sinker/slider.

33. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: April 25, 2008 at 11:23 AM (#2758419)

What this team really really needs right now is a LONG reliever. Somebody has to step up and eat more than 1 IP at a time. Because Timlin is probably dead.

Re: Masterson - I think I underestimated his stuff, but overestimated his command. That's gonna need some work.

34. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: May 04, 2008 at 11:39 PM (#2768825)

Hansen up due to Moss's appendectomy.

Seriously, we have THREE players on the bench. THREE.

Also, MDC is broken right now. needs to be fixed.

35. villageidiom Posted: May 05, 2008 at 06:14 PM (#2769452)

Seriously, we have THREE players on the bench. THREE.

And that counts Kevin Cash as a "player".

36. RB in NYC (Now with New iPhone!) Posted: May 05, 2008 at 06:28 PM (#2769473)

Hansen up due to Moss's appendectomy.

Does it seem like there have been more appendectomies lately? Maybe Beltre started a trend.

37. Dan Posted: May 05, 2008 at 07:36 PM (#2769548)

Who's our backup at first right now if Youkilis isn't in the game? Cash? Drew? Lowell?

38. Social media assassin (Templeusox) Posted: May 05, 2008 at 07:41 PM (#2769554)

Probably Lowrie. But I mean, really, anyone can play 1B in a pinch.

39. villageidiom Posted: May 05, 2008 at 07:47 PM (#2769558)

Heck, Tim Wakefield was drafted as a 1B.

40. Darren

Posted: May 06, 2008 at 01:29 AM (#2769964)

Steve Buckley was saying something about Delcarmen having a new workout/diet regime this offseason and that he may be getting used to it. He was also pretty sick and lost some weight.

41. IronChef Chris Wok Posted: May 08, 2008 at 11:45 AM (#2773362)

Who's our backup at first right now if Youkilis isn't in the game? Cash? Drew? Lowell?

Darren McCarty *ducks*

42. Mattbert Posted: May 08, 2008 at 12:11 PM (#2773369)

David McCarty. I know Whitey all looks the same to you, but c'mon. The Big Stupid Swing put up a 214 OPS+ in his last season in Boston. Show a little respect.

43. villageidiom Posted: May 08, 2008 at 12:21 PM (#2773370)

I think Wok meant a platoon between Darren and Dave McCarty. McCarty would bring the offense and defense, while Darren would bring the disrespect for Francona that Sean Casey is lacking.

44. ellsbury my heart at wounded knee Posted: May 08, 2008 at 05:37 PM (#2773775)

It would be nice to see the Red Sox get something interesting from the Rockies for Tavarez. In my wildest dreams they get Iannetta or something interesting. Tavarez seems like he could be easily replaced by like 5 different guys, but I think he's done a better job as a swingman than he's generally given credit for.

That said, I cringe every time he comes into a game.

45. Dan Posted: May 08, 2008 at 05:54 PM (#2773790)

No way the Rockies part with Iannetta, he seems to be getting a hold on the starting job. That said, I really have no idea what the Rockies would offer. Spillborghs maybe? Or Cory Sullivan?

46. Dan Posted: May 08, 2008 at 05:54 PM (#2773792)

Scratch Sullivan, he's a LHH, I had mistakenly misremembered him as a RHH.

47. Darren

Posted: May 09, 2008 at 03:01 AM (#2774338)

I bet they'd give up Helton straight up.

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