Sox claim Doug Fister

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
48,216
Though I assume its only temporary and he will be let go when Kelly comes back
 

Plympton91

bubble burster
SoSH Member
Oct 19, 2008
12,408
I wonder which much better pitcher will go to Pawrucket to make room for Fistter? But Farrell has to have his Veterans.
 
Last edited:

E5 Yaz

polka king
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 25, 2002
95,236
Oregon
I wonder which much better pitcher will go to Pawrucket to make room for Foster? But Farrell has to have his Veterans.
Yes, the manager who has Benintendi, Bradley, Betts, Bogaerts and Vasquez in the staring lineup hates young players
 

Pegleg

New Member
Jul 15, 2005
42
Sayre, PA
Can we afford to keep taking his losses? 0-5 with an 8+ ERA. He may single-handedly knock us out of first. Though Farrell seems equally at fault on this.
 

Humphrey

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2010
3,419
He's walking guys at twice the rate he walked people last year..and last year he was pretty mediocre.

I'm all for getting rid of him...then again, if the Sox keep playing these Bataan Death March ballgames he's probably going to still be employed at least until September.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
Moderator
SoSH Member
May 20, 2003
37,635
Deep inside Muppet Labs
I haven't seen a "name" Red Sox pitcher this bad since the rotting corpse of Aaron Cook showed up in 2012.

Why is this guy still here? He's terrible in every way. If they're going to keep losing games like this, at least have Henry Owens or someone take his roster spot so that the kid can get experience. Fister adds nothing. He cost nothing to acquire. Shitcanning him should be the easiest thing in the world to do.
 

mt8thsw9th

anti-SoSHal
SoSH Member
Jul 17, 2005
17,121
Brooklyn
Hector Velazquez would need to allow 13 ER over his next 7 2/3 innings in order to match Fister's line. He'd also do it for the league minimum and presumably has a family that could use the money a bit more.

Velazquez seems a bit like Miguel Gonzalez, and I really hope he isn't looked over the same way, as I think he could be a decent swingman on the cheap.

I haven't seen a "name" Red Sox pitcher this bad since the rotting corpse of Aaron Cook showed up in 2012.
Coincidentally, the Red Sox dumped Miguel Gonzalez and signed Aaron Cook weeks apart.
 

phenweigh

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 8, 2005
1,382
Brewster, MA
Hector Velazquez would need to allow 13 ER over his next 7 2/3 innings in order to match Fister's line. He'd also do it for the league minimum and presumably has a family that could use the money a bit more.

Velazquez seems a bit like Miguel Gonzalez, and I really hope he isn't looked over the same way, as I think he could be a decent swingman on the cheap.
Hector was sent to Pawtucket on the 19th. I'm hoping when his 10 days are up, he'll be recalled and Fister sent away.
 

grimshaw

Member
SoSH Member
May 16, 2007
4,421
Portland
I haven't seen a "name" Red Sox pitcher this bad since the rotting corpse of Aaron Cook showed up in 2012.

Why is this guy still here? He's terrible in every way. If they're going to keep losing games like this, at least have Henry Owens or someone take his roster spot so that the kid can get experience. Fister adds nothing. He cost nothing to acquire. Shitcanning him should be the easiest thing in the world to do.
He was fine last night, he just ran out of gas and its not like he was knocked around the park. The game winning hit was a 78 hop dribbler through the middle. They can do better, but they needed extended innings last night and he was the only guy who could go more than 2.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
Moderator
SoSH Member
May 20, 2003
37,635
Deep inside Muppet Labs
He was fine last night, he just ran out of gas and its not like he was knocked around the park. The game winning hit was a 78 hop dribbler through the middle. They can do better, but they needed extended innings last night and he was the only guy who could go more than 2.
He was not fine. Given a lead this is what he promptly did.

K BB 4-3 1B WP BB 1B

That's absolutely terrible. He's usually a starter; there's absolutely no excuse for "running out of gas." He just sucks. He had a chance to nail down a badly-needed win and completely melted down. He's a bad pitcher and he's pitching badly and he's killed the team and it's time for him to go pitch in Sacramento or Richmond or some other minor league town more suited to his modest and declining talents.

Yankees are 1 GB now, thanks to Fister's meltdown. The Sox are in a crisis situation (6-12 in their last 18) and cannot afford wastes of oxygen like this on the roster. Get him gone.
 

geoduck no quahog

not particularly consistent
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Nov 8, 2002
13,024
Seattle, WA
And a pitch Leon should have blocked. Yes, he's a very bad pitcher. He's been asked to do something he's probably not used to and I was surprised he did as well as he did last night.

Has there been an explanation why he was still out there at ~50 pitches?
 

grimshaw

Member
SoSH Member
May 16, 2007
4,421
Portland
He was not fine. Given a lead this is what he promptly did.

K BB 4-3 1B WP BB 1B

That's absolutely terrible. He's usually a starter; there's absolutely no excuse for "running out of gas." He just sucks.
He pitched the night before too.
Asking any teams 7th best reliever to throw up 4 goose eggs is just completely unrealistic.

If anything Abad could have been in the game by then and it's more on Farrell.

Base it on his whole tenure fine, but not last night.
 
Last edited:

StuckOnYouk

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 26, 2006
3,623
CT
Fister pitched pretty damn well last night. Heredia has a flare to right, Leon makes an awful play allowing the run to score and then the soft grounder up the middle finishes the game.
The inning before where he got the heart of the lineup he looked very impressive.
 

Coachster

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 3, 2009
9,244
Maine
Pete Abraham‏Verified account @PeteAbe 9h9 hours ago
Blaine Boyer will be activated today. Ben Taylor on the DL with what they are saying is an oblique strain.

This might have been why. Still, it was brutal to watch. The offense causing a ton of extra innings is definitely a huge blame factor, but it's time to DFA this guy and try someone else in long relief.
I think they are waiting for Hector Velazquez to be eligible to return to the majors (I think it's the 28th.... 10 days from when he was sent down last) before they send Doug to the boneyard.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
Moderator
SoSH Member
May 20, 2003
37,635
Deep inside Muppet Labs
He pitched the night before too.
Asking any teams 7th best reliever to throw up 4 goose eggs is just completely unrealistic.

If anything Abad could have been in the game by then and it's more on Farrell.

Base it on his whole tenure fine, but not last night.
Did those walks happen because of a sudden visit from the Walk Fairy?

The guy has a 21/19 K/BB ratio for a reason.
 

Smiling Joe Hesketh

Throw Momma From the Train
Moderator
SoSH Member
May 20, 2003
37,635
Deep inside Muppet Labs
Interesting theory, given that Fister's a starter by nature. I guess, though, given that he sucks he's used to getting pulled after 2.2 innings, so his stamina must be down. I can't wait for his next appearance and inevitable loss, given that no power on earth seems strong enough to get him the hell off the team.
 

Snodgrass'Muff

oppresses WARmongers
SoSH Member
Mar 11, 2008
27,644
Roanoke, VA
Oddly, pitchers lose command when running on fumes.
Fister lost velocity after the 2014 season and has been bad to awful since. This year he's throwing a little harder, but shockingly, he can't hit the zone. He's got a 6.0 BB/9 (13% of batters) on the season and hitters have a .382 wOBA against him.

He's toast.
 

grimshaw

Member
SoSH Member
May 16, 2007
4,421
Portland
I am in no way saying that Fister isn't toast. He is on his way off the roster at some point and deservedly so.

I'm arguing that the response to how he did last night is unreasonable based on the factors I mentioned in my other posts (pitching the night before, not getting lifted when he was losing it). I'm not sure how many people watched extra innings last night but I did and my impression is that he threw pretty well.
 
Last edited:

HriniakPosterChild

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 6, 2006
14,841
500 feet above Lake Sammammish
Fister pitched pretty damn well last night. Heredia has a flare to right, Leon makes an awful play allowing the run to score and then the soft grounder up the middle finishes the game.
The inning before where he got the heart of the lineup he looked very impressive.
And Heredia got that hit because the outfield was playing "no doubles" with 2 out and the tying run on 1st. With a straight up defense, the game ends with that ball in play.

(I can't fault the choice to play "no doubles"' there, either.)
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
35,894
I am in no way saying that Fister isn't toast. He is on his way off the roster at some point and deservedly so.

I'm arguing that the response to how he did last night is unreasonable based on the factors I mentioned in my other posts (pitching the night before, not getting lifted when he was losing it). I'm not sure how many people watched extra innings last night but I did and my impression is that he threw pretty well.
he's wily enough to get through the order once. it was a stretch asking him to go more than that.

so yeah, you can argue the loss is more on Farrell not managing that well / the offense not scoring in time.
 

HriniakPosterChild

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 6, 2006
14,841
500 feet above Lake Sammammish
he's wily enough to get through the order once. it was a stretch asking him to go more than that.

so yeah, you can argue the loss is more on Farrell not managing that well / the offense not scoring in time.
Blame Farrell if you like for sending Heath Hembree out to start the 7th and give up the Zunino HR. Or blame Hembree for giving up the HR.

Failure is not an orphan for this game.
 

grimshaw

Member
SoSH Member
May 16, 2007
4,421
Portland
It's really more on Pom not going more than 5 and the offense missing out on some opportunities. The pen went 7.2 innings and gave up 3 runs.
 

Fishy1

Head Mason
SoSH Member
Nov 10, 2006
7,957
Fister is back in the Rotation according to DD
Bizarre. His continued existence on this roster is a total mystery to me.

I suppose, if you're DD, you're hoping for the upside of what Fister once was, but I see no evidence that upside exists anymore. I see a guy walking 6 people per 9.
 

soxhop411

news aggravator
SoSH Member
Dec 4, 2009
48,216
Meet the NEW AND IMPROVED FISTER

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Doug Fister is congratulated by teammates after being pulled during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park, Monday, July 31, 2017, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)(Charles Krupa)

BOSTON - Doug Fister hadn't fared well in four starts entering Monday for the Red Sox.

The right-hander had posted a 7.58 ERA over 19 innings as a starter in Boston.

But when David Price landed on the disabled list last week, the Red Sox turned to Fister. The veteran right-hander, who the Red Sox acquired in late June off waivers, had been making incremental progress in the bullpen fixing his mechanics and stride.

It all came together on Monday night against the Indians when Fister pitched seven scoreless innings before allowing a two-run homer in the eighth en route to a 6-2 Red Sox win.

Fister finished with two runs allowed on five hits and two walks while striking out five over 7 2/3 innings. He threw 108 pitches, 67 for strikes.

Brandon Workman entered in the eighth and recorded the final four outs of the game to help Fister pick up his first win with the Red Sox.

"He pitched a gem here tonight," manager John Farrell said after the game. "Mentioned the other day about the work that he's been doing when he went to the bullpen, some adjustments to his stride direction that's allowed him to refine his release point. Tonight, big effect by a big slow curveball in addition to a lot of sink to his fastball."
The right-hander knows his work isn't done yet, but was pleased with the results on Monday.

He explained that his body was flying open too much in the midst of his delivery, forcing his arm slot higher, which in turn took away his deception and led to balls creeping up in the strike zone, easier for batters to hit.

"There has been a lot of work for it, whether it's coaches or catchers," he said. "A lot of bullpens, a lot of video gone into it. It's something we've put a lot of work into it and started to see some good results with it. We just have to continue to strive to get better."
http://www.masslive.com/redsox/index.ssf/2017/07/doug_fister_tweaks_mechanics_s.html
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
32,102
Crickets?

Fister will a gem tonight and I agree with the posters on the bullpen outing being a plus effort under the circumstances......pitching night before, over 50 pitches, and a blooper that would have normally ended the game.

This was a big game and Fister came through bigly!
 

Philip Jeff Frye

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 23, 2001
10,636
The real question is whether this represents a real change going forward or is merely a fluke, one which will buy him 4 or 5 more starts of 7.00 ERA pitching. It was great to get an unexpected gem last night but let's hope it's not costly in the long run.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 23, 2009
22,590
Maine
The real question is whether this represents a real change going forward or is merely a fluke, one which will buy him 4 or 5 more starts of 7.00 ERA pitching. It was great to get an unexpected gem last night but let's hope it's not costly in the long run.
Thanks to the off-days coming up, they can get away without using a fifth starter for a couple weeks. So if last night's Fister was a mirage and he turns back into his pumpkin in his next start (Saturday), they can skip that spot the next couple times through if they want. Next time they'd need a #5 would be Tuesday the 22nd. That gives Price nearly a full month to recover and rehab and take the spot back.
 

Sandy Leon Trotsky

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 11, 2007
7,427
Thanks to the off-days coming up, they can get away without using a fifth starter for a couple weeks. So if last night's Fister was a mirage and he turns back into his pumpkin in his next start (Saturday), they can skip that spot the next couple times through if they want. Next time they'd need a #5 would be Tuesday the 22nd. That gives Price nearly a full month to recover and rehab and take the spot back.
Of course there'd be no way to know unless he pitches.... also, I imagine that this time of year Farrell will be looking to give him starters any extra rest possible.
I still think Valazquez makes more sense and I think Fister is a pumpkin but that was great last night