Bullpen ‘22

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

The bullpen consists of:

1 awesome reliever (Whitlock)
2 pretty darned good relivers (Robles, Diekman)
3 decent relievers (Brasier, Valdez, Strahm)
3 meh relievers (Sawamura, Davis, Barnes)
1 pretty bad reliever (Crawford)

A bullpen of Whitlock, Robles, Diekman, and Brasier is ok, but they really need more out of the other guys. Some have better ability (Barnes, Strahm, Sawamura), and it would be great if they would be part of the solution simply by being better. But they very well may have to dip into the minors for intriguing arms (i.e., Bello, Winckowski) or acquire guys from outside the organization.

Taylor is on his way back and should go into your "pretty darned good relievers" group. I'm still optimistic that Barnes can also bounce back into somewhere between that group and Whitlock. But really... this should be fine. Most bullpens are lucky AF if they have a Whitlock and this grouping, no? Even if Barnes can't reclaim some of his (inconsistent) previous form, it should be enough to at least stick around- with Taylor replacing Crawford (who I'm still bullish on but needs more AAA time, clearly)- until Paxton can bump Hill and then Sale can push Houck to the pen.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Taylor had an ERA and FIP just under 4 for the last two months of 2021, so it might be premature to categorize him as pretty damned good.

I love your rose colored glasses, but what have you seen from Barnes that doesn't say he is cooked?

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Taylor had an ERA and FIP just under 4 for the last two months of 2021, so it might be premature to categorize him as pretty damned good.

I love your rose colored glasses, but what have you seen from Barnes that doesn't say he is cooked?

Mostly just his longer term track record, he's still young without too many miles on his arm. Hasn't been diagnosed with an injury. I only saw his two appearances against Detroit and I thought he was throwing the ball well enough.

 

[Lose Remerswaal]

Mostly just his longer term track record, he's still young without too many miles on his arm. Hasn't been diagnosed with an injury. I only saw his two appearances against Detroit and I thought he was throwing the ball well enough.

You did see his two good outings. But you missed his bad one against Minnesota, and his awful second half of 2021.

he had a great run, but we have hardly seen that lately. You should look at the big picture. Not the small snapshots.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

Strahm, Robles, Diekman, and Whitlock held the vaunted Jays offense to one hit/no runs in 4 1/3 tonight. No walks.
There's some talent there.

 

[phenweigh]

MassLive had an article about Jake Diekman yesterday.

https://www.masslive.com/redsox/2022/04/boston-red-soxs-jake-diekman-who-had-colon-removed-living-medicine-free-and-really-couldnt-care-less-about-closing.html

Like Jake, my daughter has had her colon removed. She follows colitis/crohns athletes and has been following Jake since he established his Gut it Out foundation and is excited he's on the Sox.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Expect to see Barnes tonight.

 

[joe dokes]

Strahm, Robles, Diekman, and Whitlock held the vaunted Jays offense to one hit/no runs in 4 1/3 tonight. No walks.
There's some talent there.

Given their usage over the past few games, those are clearly the guys Cora trusts with leverage right now (and, as always, because Cora's pretty good at this, subject to change). 4 trustworthy relievers *should* be enough to get through the early gauntlet in decent shape, as long as *every* game isn't 2-1, and as long as *every* starter isn't gone before 5. I think Cora wants/needs to find out whether '21 Brasier was real before the rosters shrink, so he'll continue to get some medium-leverage time. (His velocity seems to have ticked back up, but his effectiveness not as much). And if Barnes doesn't show anything in low-leverage spots, he may not have a place.

 

[BaseballJones]

Bullpen stats so far:

Whitlock: 0.93 era, 0.62 whip, 10.2 k/9
Strahm: 1.50 era, 0.50 whip, 9.0 k/9
Diekman: 0.00 era, 0.90 whip, 18.9 k/9
Robles: 0.00 era, 0.60 whip, 9.0 k/9
Valdez: 0.00 era, 0.40 whip, 14.4 k/9
Brasier: 2.70 era, 1.80 whip, 13.5 k/9
Sawamura: 3.60 era, 1.00 whip, 3.6 k/9
Barnes: 6.00 era, 1.33 whip, 6.0 k/9
Davis: 6.75 era, 1.75 whip, 13.5 k/9
Crawford: 15.75 era, 4.00 whip, 13.5 k/9

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Bullpen stats so far:

Whitlock: 0.93 era, 0.62 whip, 10.2 k/9
Strahm: 1.50 era, 0.50 whip, 9.0 k/9
Diekman: 0.00 era, 0.90 whip, 18.9 k/9
Robles: 0.00 era, 0.60 whip, 9.0 k/9
Valdez: 0.00 era, 0.40 whip, 14.4 k/9
Brasier: 2.70 era, 1.80 whip, 13.5 k/9
Sawamura: 3.60 era, 1.00 whip, 3.6 k/9
Barnes: 6.00 era, 1.33 whip, 6.0 k/9
Davis: 6.75 era, 1.75 whip, 13.5 k/9
Crawford: 15.75 era, 4.00 whip, 13.5 k/9

As mentioned.... my optimism (based on track record and relative young arm) think Barnes can rebound. The other two at the bottom I'm puzzled over. I haven't been able to watch Crawford... but how does a 13.5 k/0 end up with a 4.00 whip and a 15.75 ERA? Meanwhile Brasier has what I would consider a very awful looking whip for a BP arm and has kept his allowed runs to a minimum. Just all luck? Obvious SSS- but bullpen arms can't really avoid SSS conclusions can they?
But the top of that group is pretty fantastic looking so far, DieKman looks like the real deal and a fantastic pickup by Bloom, along with bringing Hansel back. He's so hot right now! As mentioned by me far too often.... I'm very bullish on Valdez breaking out this year. His breakdown of good innings and bad innings looked like someone who just needed to find consistent arm angle to harness his stuff and so far this season I'm thinking he may have possibly done just that. Again.... I've only caught 3 games so far so mostly just reading stat lines. Thanks for the post^

 

[chawson]

Bullpen by xERA

Strahm - 1.27
Valdez - 1.30
Diekman - 1.55
Whitlock - 1.73
Robles - 1.93
Barnes - 2.93
Sawamura - 3.33
Davis - 7.36
Brasier - 8.31
Crawford - 8.41

That’s seven above-average relievers, with five of them putting up elite numbers so far.

Valdez hasn’t pitched a lot of high-lev but he’s been fantastic with a unique skill set. It’ll be interesting to see if he ever gets out of mop-up duty. Diekman, Strahm and Robles have all been nails, and Whitlock is just something else.

Crawford’s got some intriguing rise on his fastball but clearly needs to tweak some stuff. Brasier is the one who should be sent down. He needs to recover his velocity.

I could see Bloom trading for a rental like Fulmer or Bard, but it seems like it could be a real sellers market with the expanded postseason and so few pending FA relievers. If offense is truly suppressed this year, it may just be better to trade for another outfield bat. We’ll probably see Winckowski, German and Bazardo at some point. The pen looks like a pile of flotsam, but whatever they’re doing is working.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Bullpen by xERA

Strahm - 1.27
Valdez - 1.30
Diekman - 1.55
Whitlock - 1.73
Robles - 1.93
Barnes - 2.93
Sawamura - 3.33
Davis - 7.36
Brasier - 8.31
Crawford - 8.41

That’s seven above-average relievers, with five of them putting up elite numbers so far.

Valdez hasn’t pitched a lot of high-lev but he’s been fantastic with a unique skill set. It’ll be interesting to see if he ever gets out of mop-up duty. Diekman, Strahm and Robles have all been nails, and Whitlock is just something else.

Crawford’s got some intriguing rise on his fastball but clearly needs to tweak some stuff. Brasier is the one who should be sent down. He needs to recover his velocity.

I could see Bloom trading for a rental like Fulmer or Bard, but it seems like it could be a real sellers market with the expanded postseason and so few pending FA relievers. If offense is truly suppressed this year, it may just be better to trade for another outfield bat. We’ll probably see Winckowski, German and Bazardo at some point. The pen looks like a pile of flotsam, but whatever they’re doing is working.

I don't expect the bolded to be the cornerstone of Chaim's reign here but it's exactly the kind of thing I think we all hoped we would be getting when he was brought in. All the good parts of the Tampa braintrust without the downside of having no money. Building a bullpen remains one of the last and biggest imperfect sciences in baseball where it is still possible to find unexpected edges here and there.

 

[bosockboy]

I don't expect the bolded to be the cornerstone of Chaim's reign here but it's exactly the kind of thing I think we all hoped we would be getting when he was brought in. All the good parts of the Tampa braintrust without the downside of having no money. Building a bullpen remains one of the last and biggest imperfect sciences in baseball where it is still possible to find unexpected edges here and there.

Seems related.

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1516792595506151428?s=21&t=IilY7BvecVnCHmhBWM3dRw

 

[joe dokes]

I don't expect the bolded to be the cornerstone of Chaim's reign here but it's exactly the kind of thing I think we all hoped we would be getting when he was brought in. All the good parts of the Tampa braintrust without the downside of having no money. Building a bullpen remains one of the last and biggest imperfect sciences in baseball where it is still possible to find unexpected edges here and there.

Right. Debates about when, whether, and where to spend money are fine, but the last 20 years has demonstrated (pretty conclusively for me) that going for bullpen "names" is the wrong way to go. The result always *looks* like they're being cheap. They aren't. Names cost more money, but (with a minuscule number of exceptions) they are no more likely to be any better than people we've never heard of or who have failed elsewhere.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

Jalen would be nice right now. Who did the Sox get in return for him?

 

[Max Power]

Jalen would be nice right now. Who did the Sox get in return for him?

If you're serious about this question, the answer is Nate Eovaldi. They're better having made the trade.

 

[simplicio]

I haven't been able to watch Crawford... but how does a 13.5 k/0 end up with a 4.00 whip and a 15.75 ERA?

Walking 4 guys in an inning will do funny things to your stat lines in mid April.

 

[sean1562]

I know absolutely nothing about Matt Strahm that isn't on his baseballreference page. 2 great seasons as a reliever in San Diego, one bad one as a starter in 2019, and only 6 innings last season. Good strikeout rates from 2016-2019.

https://www.brooksbaseball.net/outcome.php?player=621381&b_hand=-1&gFilt=&pFilt=FA|SI|FC|CU|SL|CS|KN|CH|FS|SB&time=month&startDate=03/30/2007&endDate=04/20/2022&s_type=2

This page says he never threw a sinker before last August? How much potential does this guy have? I admittedly have not seen him pitch.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

If you're serious about this question, the answer is Nate Eovaldi. They're better having made the trade.

Duh!!! Totally forgot! Yeah. Worth it.

 

[Mueller's Twin Grannies]

Expect to see Barnes tonight.

Given today's date, it will probably forgotten quickly by a lot of people. Hopefully not with good reason.

 

[bosockboy]

I’ve been perplexed why they have held onto Brasier for so long. Completely fungible.

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1518299030199099392?s=21&t=9xvoBBUygJwCzUWy7CSyhQ

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I’ve been perplexed why they have held onto Brasier for so long. Completely fungible.

View: https://twitter.com/redsoxstats/status/1518299030199099392?s=21&t=9xvoBBUygJwCzUWy7CSyhQ

He ended last season just absolutely looking like garbage but somehow escaping any significant runs being piled on against him. Part of me was hoping he would blow a few games so that Cora wouldn't be fooled into using him in high leverage.

Some discussion about bringing him in instead of Houck yesterday is absolutely spot on. I don't know WTF Cora was thinking.... I'm disappointed in Valdez though, who's been great but all in lo-leverage appearances. Didn't really seize the moment.

 

[Max Power]

Some discussion about bringing him in instead of Houck yesterday is absolutely spot on. I don't know WTF Cora was thinking.... I'm disappointed in Valdez though, who's been great but all in lo-leverage appearances. Didn't really seize the moment.

Cora was probably thinking he needs to get back in the dugout from Covid isolation. Will Venable managed the series in Tampa.

 

[YTF]

Cora was probably thinking he needs to get back in the dugout from Covid isolation. Will Venable managed the series in Tampa.

In the post game presser Venable was asked about the usage of Houck and he responded that the game plan all along was to use Houck at the end of the game. I'm guessing that Cora had to be incapacitated not to have been a part of the game plan.

 

[Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat]

In the post game presser Venable was asked about the usage of Houck and he responded that the game plan all along was to use Houck at the end of the game. I'm guessing that Cora had to be incapacitated not to have been a part of the game plan.

Joe C made the comment that given this wasn’t a suspension, there was no reason why Cora couldn’t have been on the phone to the dugout during the game. I almost think it’s more unlikely that he wasn’t.

 

[YTF]

Joe C made the comment that given this wasn’t a suspension, there was no reason why Cora couldn’t have been on the phone to the dugout during the game. I almost think it’s more unlikely that he wasn’t.

Agreed, there's no reason for him not to be involved. In fact I mentioned in yesterday's game thread that I wished Cora was there to address the press regarding Houck's usage.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

They’ve kept Brasier because the current RH reliever depth chart is something like

Whitlock (when available)
Robles
Brasier
Sawamura
Crawford
Valdez
Barnes

i don’t know that it says much about him, just that he’s among a group of really flawed and pretty mediocre relievers, apart from Whitlock.

 

[YTF]

They also had the extra roster spot for the month of April, so this might have been his last opportunity to make good before the season wears on.

 

[TheYellowDart5]

Brasier's fastball is down 3 mph from its 2018 average and he can't command it at all, so it's getting blasted to hell. He's lost velo on his slider too, which was hard and very good back in 2018 but is now middle of the pack because every righty throws a hard slider now and because his hasn't changed its shape in that time. On pure stuff alone, there's no real reason to carry him other than you didn't have better options in the spring (which, well, they didn't).

He's still got an option left, so I doubt he gets released outright, might as well stick him in Triple A and keep him around in case of emergency. As it stands now, I'd bet that he and either Sawamura or Valdez are the top two to go down once rosters shrink (assuming Schreiber and Danish disappear before then). But like Petagine points out, this is a bad overall group of right-handed relievers with little to no reinforcements in the minors unless they move Winckowski or Seabold to relief. It's a spot in need of upgrade.

ETA: It's a good group if you include Houck and Whitlock but those two are needed elsewhere for now and should stay in the rotation unless they can't.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

If they demote Valdez and Brasier, and then Crawford / Danish when Taylor is ready….you’re left with…

Whitlock
Robles
Sawamura
Barnes
Strahm
Diekman
Taylor
Davis

It’s a really weird pen. One excellent pitcher, but he’s not available in two-thirds of games because of how they use him. Four lefties. No long man. Barnes who they don’t trust at all. Sawamura who they don’t trust much.

I dunno. Not sure how this works with the current rotation.

 

[TheYellowDart5]

Brasier's fastball is down 3 mph from its 2018 average and he can't command it at all, so it's getting blasted to hell. He's lost velo on his slider too, which was hard and very good back in 2018 but is now middle of the pack because every righty throws a hard slider now and because his hasn't changed its shape in that time. On pure stuff alone, there's no real reason to carry him other than you didn't have better options in the spring (which, well, they didn't).

He's still got an option left, so I doubt he gets released outright, might as well stick him in Triple A and keep him around in case of emergency. As it stands now, I'd bet that he and either Sawamura or Valdez are the top two to go down once rosters shrink (assuming Schreiber and Danish disappear before then). But like Petagine points out, this is a bad overall group of right-handed relievers with little to no reinforcements in the minors unless they move Winckowski or Seabold to relief. It's a spot in need of upgrade.

ETA: It's a good group if you include Houck and Whitlock but those two are needed elsewhere for now and should stay in the rotation unless they can't.

And just to put a point on this, the guy that Alex Cora turns to to face three of the best right-handed hitters in baseball in the highest-leverage situation of the game is ... Tyler Danish? That's a real indictment of the bullpen construction process.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

If you already have Austin Davis and Josh Taylor (and Darwinzon) why do you then sign Strahm and Diekman? Four lefties in a pen in a division dominated by RH sluggers is interesting, to say the least.

 

[streeter88]

In the game thread @Papo The Snow Tiger made a very relevant point that situation could have been avoided had Houck been with the team as that would have freed Whitlock for this situation.

While I agree, I think the fact that we keep wanting to pull Whitlock back to the pen rather than leaving him to focus on starting is yet another indication that the bullpen is - like the lineup and the rotation - not a strength.

At this point I am not sure what is.

 

[Ganthem]

I was surprised to see on 108 stitches that Evoldi only threw 73 pitches. I think the first step to fixing the bullpen is to stop getting cute with the starters. There is no reason that Evoldi should not have faced the bottom of the order or even the top of the order if he was only at 73 pitches. Houck and Wacha should be going six innings unless they are at 100 pitches or have shit the bed. If Cora and company stop getting cute with the rotation and it epically doesn't work, how does that put the Sox in any different of a position then they are in now? Somebody up above mentioned that Cora and company are trying to figure out what they got in terms of bullpen arms. I think that is true, but even if guys like Stratham, Robles and Diekman are money, the team is just going to burn them out if they keep pulling starters early. I have no idea if this is a Cora call or a Bloom call, but somebody needs to put the kabosh on this.

 

[Sandy Leon Trotsky]

I was surprised to see on 108 stitches that Evoldi only threw 73 pitches. I think the first step to fixing the bullpen is to stop getting cute with the starters. There is no reason that Evoldi should not have faced the bottom of the order or even the top of the order if he was only at 73 pitches. Houck and Wacha should be going six innings unless they are at 100 pitches or have shit the bed. If Cora and company stop getting cute with the rotation and it epically doesn't work, how does that put the Sox in any different of a position then they are in now? Somebody up above mentioned that Cora and company are trying to figure out what they got in terms of bullpen arms. I think that is true, but even if guys like Stratham, Robles and Diekman are money, the team is just going to burn them out if they keep pulling starters early. I have no idea if this is a Cora call or a Bloom call, but somebody needs to put the kabosh on this.

at this point I’m not sure I’d want Houck or Whitlock going 100 pitches in a game.

 

[Ganthem]

at this point I’m not sure I’d want Houck or Whitlock going 100 pitches in a game.

I can see only allowing Whitlock to get up to 70 pitches his next start, but he eventually needs to get to the 100 mark. As for Houck, I am willing to bet he can do better the third time through the order then Braiser or Danish can do facing the batters for the first time.

 

[YTF]

I can see only allowing Whitlock to get up to 70 pitches his next start, but he eventually needs to get to the 100 mark. As for Houck, I am willing to bet he can do better the third time through the order then Braiser or Danish can do facing the batters for the first time.

It's possible, but I'm not sure that we see 70 in his next start. He had a season high 48 his last time out. I'm guessing 60-65 might be the target, but I think the game situation as well as how the pen performs today and tomorrow will dictate how tightly they hold to the pregame plan.

 

[YTF]

at this point I’m not sure I’d want Houck or Whitlock going 100 pitches in a game.

Neither are close to that point, but I'd love for Houck to be in the position (more than twice through the order) to eventually work toward that goal.

 

[Ganthem]

Neither are close to that point, but I'd love for Houck to be in the position (more than twice through the order) to eventually work toward that goal.

I see your point with Whitlock. He should probably be a ways away from getting to a hundred pitches per game. I am not in agreement with Houck. In his first start he threw 78 pitches over 3.1 innings. His second start got him to 89 pitches over 5.2 innings. His third start was 71 pitches over five innings. It seems the whole impetus with how they use Houck is not to allow him to go through the lineup a third time. As I mentioned before I would like to roll the dice on Houck getting through the lineup a third time rather then roll the dice on Braiser or Danish having a clean inning. Even if you feel that Houck can't be successful after the second time through the lineup, then why pull Evoldi in favor of Danish last night when he was only at 78 pitches? Even if the rotation rights itself and Cora discovers three or four reliable bullpen arms, it won't mean anything. Continuing to use the rotation as they have done is going to lead to a very tired and destroyed bullpen by August.

 

[BaseballJones]

I was surprised to see on 108 stitches that Evoldi only threw 73 pitches. I think the first step to fixing the bullpen is to stop getting cute with the starters. There is no reason that Evoldi should not have faced the bottom of the order or even the top of the order if he was only at 73 pitches. Houck and Wacha should be going six innings unless they are at 100 pitches or have shit the bed. If Cora and company stop getting cute with the rotation and it epically doesn't work, how does that put the Sox in any different of a position then they are in now? Somebody up above mentioned that Cora and company are trying to figure out what they got in terms of bullpen arms. I think that is true, but even if guys like Stratham, Robles and Diekman are money, the team is just going to burn them out if they keep pulling starters early. I have no idea if this is a Cora call or a Bloom call, but somebody needs to put the kabosh on this.

It's not "getting cute" with the starters. It's digging one's heels in with a particular philosophy, and it's not good for baseball and not good for the Red Sox. Eovaldi is their de facto "ace". He threw 101 and 95 pitches in his last two starts. Not overworked, but clearly he can handle that number. At 72 pitches, having allowed just 5 baserunners in 7 innings, he was facing 7-8-9 in a tie game.

Now to be fair, in the 6th he gave up two deep fly outs, and in the 7th he gave up a massive bomb to Chapman. But still, he had gotten through the 7th on just 11 pitches, and they weren't really high-stress pitches, since the one run came on a homer. It was like, boom..ok, that's over with, let's get back to work. It wasn't like they were grinding out at-bats and had put lots of base runners on.

If your "ace" can't face the bottom of the lineup, after allowing just 5 baserunners in 7 innings, while having thrown just 72 low-stress pitches, then I don't know what we're even doing here.

 

[Ganthem]

It's not "getting cute" with the starters. It's digging one's heels in with a particular philosophy, and it's not good for baseball and not good for the Red Sox. Eovaldi is their de facto "ace". He threw 101 and 95 pitches in his last two starts. Not overworked, but clearly he can handle that number. At 72 pitches, having allowed just 5 baserunners in 7 innings, he was facing 7-8-9 in a tie game.

Now to be fair, in the 6th he gave up two deep fly outs, and in the 7th he gave up a massive bomb to Chapman. But still, he had gotten through the 7th on just 11 pitches, and they weren't really high-stress pitches, since the one run came on a homer. It was like, boom..ok, that's over with, let's get back to work. It wasn't like they were grinding out at-bats and had put lots of base runners on.

If your "ace" can't face the bottom of the lineup, after allowing just 5 baserunners in 7 innings, while having thrown just 72 low-stress pitches, then I don't know what we're even doing here.

Getting cute was not the right term. Mea Culpa. I guess you just put to words my biggest concern. It seems as if they are digging their heels in with a particular philosophy and damm the consequences. I don't have time to search, but I think I remember Cora last season talking about how he wanted his players to be agressive and attack the ball. When that produced insanely hot streaks, but also insanely cold streaks, there didn't seem to be any sort of reflection and change to the philosophy. It is hard to say if this is strictly Cora, Bloom, or a combo, but it is troubling.

 

[YTF]

I see your point with Whitlock. He should probably be a ways away from getting to a hundred pitches per game. I am not in agreement with Houck. In his first start he threw 78 pitches over 3.1 innings. His second start got him to 89 pitches over 5.2 innings. His third start was 71 pitches over five innings. It seems the whole impetus with how they use Houck is not to allow him to go through the lineup a third time. As I mentioned before I would like to roll the dice on Houck getting through the lineup a third time rather then roll the dice on Braiser or Danish having a clean inning. Even if you feel that Houck can't be successful after the second time through the lineup, then why pull Evoldi in favor of Danish last night when he was only at 78 pitches? Even if the rotation rights itself and Cora discovers three or four reliable bullpen arms, it won't mean anything. Continuing to use the rotation as they have done is going to lead to a very tired and destroyed bullpen by August.

I'm not disagreeing about finding out if Houck can get into the third time around the order. What I said is that if he's not allowed that opportunity he's not going build up toward that 100 pitch count. There's going to be a time where they might benefit from 100-110 pitch performance when his slot in the order comes around and are forced to go to an overworked pen.

 

[Ganthem]

I'm not disagreeing about finding out if Houck can get into the third time around the order. What I said is that if he's not allowed that opportunity he's not going build up toward that 100 pitch count. There's going to be a time where they might benefit from 100-110 pitch performance when his slot in the order comes around and are forced to go to an overworked pen.

Gotcha and I agree one hundred percent. Here is hoping we look back on this in October after the Sox have won 100 games and we can have a good laugh.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

All the lefties and the three batter minimum is a real problem. I think they wanted Strahm in but wanted him to face the bottom of the order so he could avoid the Jays tough righties at the top of the order. Problem is that with Whitlock in the rotation, Houck unavailable, Robles the nominal closer, and Barnes barely on the roster, there’s really nobody you want pitching to Springer, Bichette, or Vlad. So once Strahm failed, they were kind of screwed.

it’s odd to me that Diekman was their big signing and he’s only pitched 4 2/3 innings. With Davis and Strahm, and Taylor soon to be added; I will be curious to see how they fit four lefty relievers on a 13 man staff .

 

[Ganthem]

All the lefties and the three batter minimum is a real problem. I think they wanted Strahm in but wanted him to face the bottom of the order so he could avoid the Jays tough righties at the top of the order. Problem is that with Whitlock in the rotation, Houck unavailable, Robles the nominal closer, and Barnes barely on the roster, there’s really nobody you want pitching to Springer, Bichette, or Vlad. So once Strahm failed, they were kind of screwed.

it’s odd to me that Diekman was their big signing and he’s only pitched 4 2/3 innings. With Davis and Strahm, and Taylor soon to be added; I will be curious to see how they fit four lefty relievers on a 13 man staff .

All of that could have been avoided if they left Evoldi in to pitch beyond 78 pitches. If the backup plan to Strahm is Danish, then that is all the more reason to keep Evoldi in. Dammit I am hungry now.

 

[YTF]

All of that could have been avoided if they left Evoldi in to pitch beyond 78 pitches. If the backup plan to Strahm is Danish, then that is all the more reason to keep Evoldi in. Dammit I am hungry now.

I think the argument is that if Eovaldi comes out in the 8th and gets the bottom of the order out, then Strahm is left to face the top of the order in the ninth. Stupid fucking argument, but that seems to be the case that they were trying to make.

 

[Petagine in a Bottle]

I think the fear was that if Eovaldi let’s a runner on, suddenly Strahm isn’t an option because you don’t want him facing Springer. But seems like they could have stuck with Eovaldi and gone to Danish if he put runners on, which Strahm did anyways. It’s as if they decide Strahm was pitching in the game regardless. It seems like they are treating these games like spring training.

 

[Ganthem]

I think the argument is that if Eovaldi comes out in the 8th and gets the bottom of the order out, then Strahm is left to face the top of the order in the ninth. Stupid fucking argument, but that seems to be the case that they were trying to make.

I just went through eight games Stratham pitched in and it seems they are a little gun shy with him. In his first game he faced the six, seven, eight hitters. IN his second game he got the five, six, seven hitters. In his third game he face the one and two hitters, though that was Grossman and Meadows and it was against the Tigers.He didn't give up any runs, but the Sox lost that game 3-1. When he came in to pitch there was a man on base and two outs. The score was tied one to one. Perhaps he has good numbers against those two or perhaps Cora just didn't fear those two. The next two games are against the Twins. He came in to face the two three four and five hitter. Larnach, the five hitter, doubled when he was pulled. Cora had no problem with Stratham facing Corra and even though they would win that game four to zero, it was not like a comeback from the twins was impossible. The next game he face the number nine two and three hitter. Correa again. His sxith outing he was back to facing the bottom of the lineup. Against The Jays he face the seven eight and nine guys. Against the Rays he faced the seven eight nine and one hitter and then yesterday he faced seven eight and nine. So it seems like YTF is right. Unless it is against the Twins or Tigers, Cora seems to prefer using Stratham for the weaker part of the lineup. He currently has an era of 3.86 and a xfip of 3.26. Perhaps it is time to see if Stratham can handle the heart of the order.

 

[YTF]

I just went through eight games Stratham pitched in and it seems they are a little gun shy with him. In his first game he faced the six, seven, eight hitters. IN his second game he got the five, six, seven hitters. In his third game he face the one and two hitters, though that was Grossman and Meadows and it was against the Tigers.He didn't give up any runs, but the Sox lost that game 3-1. When he came in to pitch there was a man on base and two outs. The score was tied one to one. Perhaps he has good numbers against those two or perhaps Cora just didn't fear those two. The next two games are against the Twins. He came in to face the two three four and five hitter. Larnach, the five hitter, doubled when he was pulled. Cora had no problem with Stratham facing Corra and even though they would win that game four to zero, it was not like a comeback from the twins was impossible. The next game he face the number nine two and three hitter. Correa again. His sxith outing he was back to facing the bottom of the lineup. Against The Jays he face the seven eight and nine guys. Against the Rays he faced the seven eight nine and one hitter and then yesterday he faced seven eight and nine. So it seems like YTF is right. Unless it is against the Twins or Tigers, Cora seems to prefer using Stratham for the weaker part of the lineup. He currently has an era of 3.86 and a xfip of 3.26. Perhaps it is time to see if Stratham can handle the heart of the order.

It wasn't so much that he was coming in to face the 7,8,9 hitters it was trying to keep the lefty away from the dangerous right handed hitting 1-5 of Springer, Bichette, Guerrero, Gurriel and Chapman.

 

[Jerry’s Curl]

There’s a reason Diekman and Strahm were available at bargain baseman prices. They suck, especially the former.