So, the first guy on the playoff bench will be the backup infielder with a -6 OPS this season, who has played all of 3 innings in a blowout win, but the infielder who has merely started 5 games out of the last 16 games is competing for the last spot on the bench.It’s about the time of the season to start playing the playoff roster game.
This roster shouldn’t be too hard to figure, but there are a couple of areas where the Red Sox brass will have to do some thinking.
We can assume John McDonald will be the backup infielder. Mike Carp and Daniel Nava are the backup outfielders/1B and David Ross is the backup catcher.
Now it gets tricky. In a five-game divisional series with two off-days, all you need is four starting pitchers. I presume they will be Jon Lester, John Lackey, Jake Peavy, and Clay Buchholz. It would also be logical to go with 11 pitchers total, which leaves seven bullpen slots. Felix Doubront and Ryan Dempster, who could be the odd men out of the rotation, would assume two bullpen roles. Then you have Koji Uehara, Junichi Tazawa, Craig Breslow, Brandon Workman, and Matt Thornton.
That leaves us one player short of 25. That one player could be an additional positional player like Xander Bogaerts.
GreenMonster49 said:If the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is true, then there maybe at least one universe whre Nick had Ben Cherington's job.
It's bad enough that Nick is this bad of a baseball analyst, but take heart. If the many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is true, then there may be at least one universe where Nick has Ben Cherington's job.
It's like listening to William Shatner speak
Yes, I was serious about eliminating the intentional walk. I couldn’t care less about the strategy. You’re blatantly telling the pitcher to throw four bad pitches. And no, it’s not like a sacrifice bunt. A sac bunt is advancing a runner, and a player is in motion, trying to beat a throw.
Ex-manager Bobby Valentine said he was against Bard being a starter, but took orders from the front office. Valentine said that only team psychologist Bob Tewksbury and bullpen coach Gary Tuck were allowed to work with Bard during his difficulties.
Never knew that it was Bobby Valentine who fired Mets clubhouse and reputed steroid distributor Kirk Radomski, whose testimony was key in the Mitchell Report.
Humphrey said:He still is carrying the Yankees water in terms of making the playoffs- even though he thinks they are old with a weak farm system.
Carp is in a tough spot because he wants to be good at his job, but not so good that he never gets a chance to be a starting player.
By the end of Thursday’s game, Red Sox fans were already lamenting the loss and why two rookies were pitching in relief. Tazawa and Uehara can’t pitch every day. They will burn out and then won’t be good for the playoffs. These are the late stages of the season. There’s a lot of wear and tear on these guys.
John Marzano Olympic Hero said:Who is asking that question about Tazawa and Uehara? I think that the majority of Sox fans understand this and realize exactly where Boston is in terms of the division race.
It's a goofy strawman that Cafardo created because he's a rotten writer.
Perhaps Mr. Finn could shed some light in a very general sort of way.John Marzano Olympic Hero said:
As much as I dislike Cafardo's prose, some blame has to go to his editors. I assume someone reads this crap before it hits the streets, don't they think that they ought to clean it up a little bit?
joe dokes said:
I'm pretty sure Cafardo can't find a Sox fan over the age of 12 "lamenting" anything about relief pitcher usage or anything else in last night's game.
You do? I don't.The A’s can certainly be perceived as a team that flies under the radar, for a few reasons. You always question how much pressure there is there to win with a fan base that doesn’t show up for games at perhaps the worst venue in baseball. The A’s are certainly not the Giants in terms of fan support in that market. They have also been embroiled, it seems forever, in a quest to get a new stadium in San Jose, with many legal roadblocks
“I played in Tampa and Oakland,” Gomes said. “I’ll tell you this, every player is different, but there are players who really care about winning and losing, so while there may not be the attention that there is in Boston, each player, at least my teammates, felt that urgency to win every day.
Reddick, who has been beset with injuries and a season-long slump, has begun to resemble last season’s version (32 homers).
Humphrey said:When I saw this I googled the issue....could only find an article on Boras and World Series that was dated 2009 and and one from 2007. In other words, old news that Nick is digging up again. No quotes from any owner, who are the ones that would make such a change. So, I'm skeptical that this "story" has any legs at all.
I also liked how Boras (disguised thinly as Nick) threw Texas into the mix for Ells services going forward.
Good for him. Then Herzog, Boring Ass, and Cafardo can go to Florida, buy the biggest, highest resolution TV on the market, and watch it on TV in a neutral location.URI said:
Whitey Herzog brought up the idea in 1998.
Van Everyman said:Barf:
"Dabbling" my ass.
joyofsox said:Some other pitchers with a 117 ERA+: Gene Garber, Dan Plesac, Kerry Wood, Tug McGraw, Gaylord Perry, and Anibal Sanchez.
Wait. If you cheat and later admit it, it's classy? What the fuck is wrong with this guy?
This post should be required reading for every HoF voter and most broadcasters.MyDaughterLovesTomGordon said:I won't go so far as to call Pettitte "mediocre" in the playoffs, but he was hardly a worldbeater. He just got a shitload of starts.
He was 19-11 (in 44 starts), with a 3.81 ERA, a 1.305 WHIP, more hits than innings pitched, 6 K/9, and 1 HR/9. That's above average for a regular season starter nowadays, but hardly the stuff of playoff legend.
And he got worse as the playoffs went on. In the Series, he was 5-4 in 13 games, with a 4.06 ERA and a 1.403 WHIP. Wow. Big-game pitcher right there...
No way in hell is Andy Pettitte a Hall of Famer. No way. He was durable, but he led the league in wins once and never in anything else significant and his lifetime ERA+ is 117. He had nine separate full years with an ERA over 4. Blech.
Edit: Just for comparison, look at Schilling: ERA+ of 127, only three full seasons over 4, led the league in WHIP twice, strikeouts twice, complete games four times, etc.
In the playoffs, Schill was 11-2, with a 2.23 ERA and a .968 ERA. In the Series? 4-1, with a 2.06 and a .896 WHIP. That's what a big-game pitcher looks like.
And most people consider Schilling pretty borderline.
Danny_Darwin said:Only tangentially related, but Grant Brisbee wrote a solid takedown of Boras's neutral-site-for-the-World-Series idea. It includes the phrase "This is the Vernon Wells-for-Mike Napoli of ideas."
http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/9/23/4762642/world-series-neutral-site-proposal-scott-boras
Nope. Doorknobs are useful.Smiling Joe Hesketh said:
PettiTTe is essentially Chuck Finley. Would anyone EVER put Chuck Finley in the Hall of Fame? Well, maybe if one existed for Psycho Ex-Wives.
Cafardo's a goddamn doorknob.
cromulence said:Pettitte's World Series numbers are extremely skewed by his Game 6 disaster in 2001. Yes, they should count too, but he was apparently tipping his pitches and it's one (very bad) outlier. Despite my hardcore manlove for Andy Pettitte, I don't think he's a Hall of Famer, but not because of his World Series numbers.
Ortiz’s homer, a three-run shot in the Sox’ 12-3 win over the Orioles, tied him with, coincidentally, Cal Ripken Jr. at 431 (good for 45th on the all-time list).
Easier to tackle the exceptions rather than the everyday occurences?SydneySox said:Wait, he's getting credit for not fucking up now?
Especially with the ROY award where odds are the best rookies play on bad teams (given that whole draft process and minor league callup thingie)JGray38 said:But the Cy Young and ROY award votes should factor in team success now too?
Dick Pole Upside said:Joe Morgan on the short list of AA MLB Comissioner candidates. Hopeless.
Danny_Darwin said:
To be fair, it sounds like that was a name thrown out by a source looking to get Morgan's name out there. Possibly Morgan himself.