Most of that inflated ERA was due to him getting rocked (3 home runs) by the Trash Cans in the opening start of the 2017 ALDS. Remember that Farrell let him throw 111 pitches in a meaningless game a couple of weeks prior, despite having missed a couple of starts with "shoulder fatigue".
This is pretty much where I am. I'd go ERod with Pivetta as long man in G4, Houck with all hands on deck in G5. For the rest of this series, treat Sale like Barnes.
If you take him off the roster in this series, he's ineligible for the ALCS (as Richards is).
I think you have bingo here. Cora's already said before Game 1 that it would take exactly the right situation to use Sale in relief, while ERod, Pivetta, and even Eovaldi could see bullpen work. I think Sale continues to start when it's his turn, but with a short leash and Houck or another starter ready to follow him.
Could the "perfect" situation arise in game 3? He threw what, 33 pitches last night? Day off today, and then an inning tomorrow if necessary? And then he could still start game 5 with 2 more days' rest?
Depends on the definition of perfect, no? The impression I got when Cora said that (and I'm paraphrasing so he may not have said the word "perfect') was they were going to avoid Sale in relief unless absolutely necessary. Like extra innings and the bullpen is getting thin, Sale might get into a fresh inning after getting a full starter-length warm-up first.
Got it - wasn't sure if Cora was saying it was more about lining up Sale correctly vs. importance of the game (so game 3 is relatively unimportant vs. an elimination game or whatever)
Richards being out really makes the Sale decision more difficult. It might otherwise be easy to say Sale in game 5 (if needed) with Richards or Houck ready to back him up. Of course depending how games 3 and 4 play out there is no guarantee as to what they might be able to provide and now with Richards being out further it complicates things.
I think you have bingo here. Treat Sale like an opener. Tell him all that the Red Sox need is 2-3 innings.
I don't know if I quite treat him like an opener, or at least I don't tell him that's the plan if I do. I want him as close to his normal frame of mind as possible when he's on the mound and deal with his anger later if he has to come out before he wants to. The ideal with him, whether it's Game 5 or Game 1 of the next series, is you plan for him to go 2-3 but hope for him to go 5-6. If he only gives you 2-3, you follow him with Houck who gets you to the seventh or eighth. If he gives you 5-6, you follow him with Houck and hopefully don't need anyone else to close out a win.
For those suggesting Sale be shut down, that leaves them short a starter/long man and BJ points out the only alternative left. Do we think Martin Perez gives them a better chance than Chris Sale going forward? If not, then Sale has to keep pitching unless there's a medical reason for him not to.
Any thought to using an opener? Tampa lineup is rather top-heavy. Maybe if you skim off one AB from Arozarena and Franco you put Sale in a better position. Personally I would just give his start to Tanner, but if you want to hold Houck for middle innings, this is one way to ease Sale in. Brasier seems like he is up for a high lev inning at any moment.
Starting Sale, at the very least, baits Tampa into going heavy RHH line up. He almost becomes a high-end "starter", which sets up Houck for success. If you get 2-3 solid innings from Sales and ~4 innings from Houck the Sox have a puncher's chance.
Well... this becomes a really good question if Sale can't go. How many guys on the staff do you trust to give starter-quality innings? You've got these five (Eovaldi, Pivetta, EdRo, Perez, Houck.), but every one of them is going to have a quicker than regular season hook if they run into trouble to be backed up by someone else on the list.
Because it pretty much has to be ERod. He threw 41 pitches on Thursday. Pivetta threw 73. What you hope for is to use both of them with the pitch counts (and innings distribution) reversed, then some combination of relievers to get the final nine outs.
This is just off the top of my head, but might there be more value in starting Pivetta?
Yeah, probably overthinking. The Rays had their R bats in to start the game yesterday, but other than replacing Luplow with Choi, they didn't go to any of their other LHH guys until (too) late. Really, same for Thursday with ERod/Pivetta. I'm not sure Cash can be trapped into substituting too early and having a relatively empty bench.
his turn would be game 5. I don't know why anyone would want Sale to start over Houk in a game 5.
