2024 Rotation and Bullpen

[Red(s)HawksFan]

It'll be interesting to see if Zack Kelly moves to the starting rotation next year. He has the stuff and the pitch mix to do it.

With Houck, Crawford, Bello, and Criswell presumably in the mix plus Giolito and Whitlock returning at some point and likely an acquisition or two coming as well, chances seem slim that Kelly cracks the rotation. I can see Kelly coming to camp primed to start, but ultimately I think he is ticketed for the pen. Winckowski is probably in the same boat.

 

[Benj4ever]

With Houck, Crawford, Bello, and Criswell presumably in the mix plus Giolito and Whitlock returning at some point and likely an acquisition or two coming as well, chances seem slim that Kelly cracks the rotation. I can see Kelly coming to camp primed to start, but ultimately I think he is ticketed for the pen. Winckowski is probably in the same boat.

Kelly's stuff is markedly better than Winckowski and Criswell's, but we'll see. I wouldn't mind if Kelly is a late-inning guy, either.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Any word on Michael Fullmer? Could be part of the mix next year although certainly can’t count on it.

 

[Yelling At Clouds]

With Houck, Crawford, Bello, and Criswell presumably in the mix plus Giolito and Whitlock returning at some point and likely an acquisition or two coming as well, chances seem slim that Kelly cracks the rotation. I can see Kelly coming to camp primed to start, but ultimately I think he is ticketed for the pen. Winckowski is probably in the same boat.

Presumably they'll protect Fitts and maybe Dobbins also (?) to join Priester as "next man up" depth in Worcester, too.

(Dobbins is making his AAA debut as we speak, but he strikes me as the type of guy who gets taken in the Rule 5, and he seems like a ready-soon-ish back-end type.)

 

[simplicio]

Any word on Michael Fullmer? Could be part of the mix next year although certainly can’t count on it.

He had a UCL revision last October, I believe those can take longer to heal than initial repairs, so no work this season but I don't think spring training is an unreasonable goal?

 

[simplicio]

Paxton announced he's retiring after this season.

 

[AB in DC]

Last night's goats (Kelly and Booser) sent down. Bailey Horn up and new father Zach Penrod up. (Heinemann DFA to make room on the 40)

 

[ThePrideofShiner]

Holy crap, I worked at a tiny D2 college in Idaho when Penrod played there. Had no idea he was still playing, let alone in the majors.

He has had an incredible journey to reach the majors.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Sox have now had 8 pitchers make their major league debuts this year - a pretty interesting group

Bailey Horn
Chase Shugart
Cam Booser
Zach Penrod
Justin Slaten
Richard Fitts
Naoyuki Uwasawa
Luis Guerrero

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

Crawford is the first Sox starter to lose as many as 15 games since Porcello lost 17 in 2017 (losing 17 games for a team that went 93-69 seems like quite an accomplishment).

 

[loneredseat]

I'm trying to get a little more discussion from the great minds out there concerning the bullpen. If baseball is half pitching and starters typically go about half way through a game (or slightly more) then it makes sense to me to spend a decent percentage of your payroll to have a lock tight shut down bullpen. It seems like it's the aspect of the game that get's the least attention (compared to hitting and starting pitching).
And watching what the dodgers bullpen has been doing has just made me think "I want what they got."
I feel like right now our pen consists of a mix of average guys and might be good (flashes of excellence) guys.
Which if these guys are we truly excited to have out there?
Who is out there that we'd like to bring in, either through trade or free agency?
I'd love to see someone suggest a wish list- a bullpen that we could be excited about.
Thanks folks

 

[Cassvt2023]

I'm trying to get a little more discussion from the great minds out there concerning the bullpen. If baseball is half pitching and starters typically go about half way through a game (or slightly more) then it makes sense to me to spend a decent percentage of your payroll to have a lock tight shut down bullpen. It seems like it's the aspect of the game that get's the least attention (compared to hitting and starting pitching).
And watching what the dodgers bullpen has been doing has just made me think "I want what they got."
I feel like right now our pen consists of a mix of average guys and might be good (flashes of excellence) guys.
Which if these guys are we truly excited to have out there?
Who is out there that we'd like to bring in, either through trade or free agency?
I'd love to see someone suggest a wish list- a bullpen that we could be excited about.
Thanks folks

I'll start. As it sits right now, I like Justin Slaten, Luis Guerrero and Garrett Whitlock. I am wait and see in ST on Liam Hendericks and Michael Fulmer. I'm on the fence on Josh Winckowski as a long reliever.

 

[chrisfont9]

And watching what the dodgers bullpen has been doing has just made me think "I want what they got."

Good news, Treinen is a free agent. He's also typical of relief success stories, alternating years of excellence and injury or ineffectiveness. So, as usual, you can try to get the guy who was just great, but what you really want is the guy who's about to put it together. And, well, GM-ing is hard.

Carlos Estévez is another FA, five years younger, and better stats. Jeff Hoffman and Clay Holmes are other notable free agents, though Holmes will probably stay in NY? I don't really trust him anyway.

 

[loneredseat]

And of course Tanner Scott. If we are working within a budget is it worth spending sorta big on him?

 

[simplicio]

We have a bullpen thread, one of the interesting questions about this winter's market is the quantity (and quality) of really old dudes who are still pitching well all hitting FA.