I was hoping to see Morales in the 9th of a 8-0 game, because the only thing worse than a mediocre reliever is a rusty mediocre reliever. Letting the 2nd tier guys in the bullpen sit idle for 5-6 days at a time is necessary when you play a bunch of consecutive tight games with extra postseason off days, but I don't think it is likely to make them more effective in the unfortunate circumstance where they are needed.
Since it's entirely likely that any combination of Lackey, Peavy, or Buchholz could be knocked out (or run out of gas) early enough to require the use of most of the bullpen, I would have liked to see at least 2 of Dempster/Morales/Doubront get a couple of batters in the last two innings just to get some work in. Uehara, Tazawa, and Breslow haven't exactly been sitting idle due to how the ALCS played out, so I would have preferred to see all 3 of them rested to give opportunities to the back end guys. Since Workman also pitched in Game 6 of the ALCS, I wasn't as concerned about him getting some work in in his case.
It's a relatively minor quibble, and I can see the value in getting Tazawa an initial taste of the World Series in a low-leverage situation, I just hope that we don't end up needing Morales to come in and throw strikes after not pitching for a week in Game 3 or Game 4. He's not exactly reliable to begin with, but the rust factor seems to me like an added risk factor that could have been avoided by giving him 1-2 batters last night.
Since it's entirely likely that any combination of Lackey, Peavy, or Buchholz could be knocked out (or run out of gas) early enough to require the use of most of the bullpen, I would have liked to see at least 2 of Dempster/Morales/Doubront get a couple of batters in the last two innings just to get some work in. Uehara, Tazawa, and Breslow haven't exactly been sitting idle due to how the ALCS played out, so I would have preferred to see all 3 of them rested to give opportunities to the back end guys. Since Workman also pitched in Game 6 of the ALCS, I wasn't as concerned about him getting some work in in his case.
It's a relatively minor quibble, and I can see the value in getting Tazawa an initial taste of the World Series in a low-leverage situation, I just hope that we don't end up needing Morales to come in and throw strikes after not pitching for a week in Game 3 or Game 4. He's not exactly reliable to begin with, but the rust factor seems to me like an added risk factor that could have been avoided by giving him 1-2 batters last night.