Bullpen Woes, AL Foes
Obviously, we’ve got some serious bullpen problems, but I don’t think we’re as bad off as a lot of other people seem to think. The good news is, most of the runs that were given up by the bullpen in the last week were by one man, Mike Remlinger, who really has no business being on this team and isn’t likely to be for much longer. The bad news is, almost all of the rest of them were given up by Schilling. Of course the reason Remlinger is there is because we needed another arm and we still do. As bad as it is, we may have some help on the way. Foulke will be back soon, Craig Hansen may be coming up and could be good enough to help out. Hopefully these additions will work out and allow us to get Schilling back into the rotation, where hopefully he will be able to get it going in the right direction.
Papelbon is looking like he has a very bright future in the big leagues as a starting pitcher. Granted he hasn’t faced very good offenses yet in the Twins and Tigers but he was still impressive. I think he’ll be a good option in the rotation for the time being and then he can help out in the pen once Schilling and/or Miller comes back.
Something will work out here, preferably all of that, but even if it’s not all of it, it should be enough. Who can beat us? This Angels series should answer some questions, but I really don’t think they’re any better than us right now and we could beat them in a 5 or 7 game series. They’ve got some injuries to a couple of key players, they’re bullpen is not getting it done right now either (although it did last night when the game was already out of hand), and with the exception of Colon, none of their starters stand out. Their offense is nowhere near as good as ours and when it comes down to it we could just outslug them.
I would say the biggest threat to us in the playoffs will be the White Sox. They’re doing everything well and have been all year. Still though, we’re currently 4 and 2 against them including splitting the 4 game series in Chicago. And we did all of this with the same problems we’ve been having recently. Their starters might be better than ours right now, but we’ve already worn out Beuhrle twice now, and we worked over Garland pretty good in his last start against us. Plus these guys don’t have any playoff experience. The only starters that do are El Duque and Contreras. Although El Duque has been very good, we wore him down in the ALCS last year, and we’ve always has Contreras’ number. Their bullpen is also having some problems and this thing could come down to our offense working over their pitching.
Who else is there? The A’s could get in as the Wild Card if they don’t steal the division away from the Angels. They have been playing good baseball lately but most of their pitching is inexperienced and again they will probably be worn down by our offense.
The Yankees could get in but they’re in worse shape then we are. The Indians and Twins both have outside shots of getting in there, but it’s not likely. If the Indians manage it, again I don’t think they’re pitching is good enough to handle our offense. The only team that might be able to do it is the Twins. But they have absolutely no offense and we should be able to hold them down enough to edge them out, particularly at Fenway where the series would start.
Anything can happen in this game and the more pitchers we get back healthy and effective the better off we’re going to be, but even if it doesn’t all work out, I still think our chances are as good as anyone else’s to get to the World Series.
More good news is that the Yankees were not able gain any ground during our stay in Detroit as they managed to lose 2 out of 3 against Tampa Bay. They are now 4 and 9 against the Devil Rays, that 5 game difference is also the difference between them being in first place instead of second. It’s very similar to how the Orioles had our number last year and ended up being the difference for us.
Papelbon is looking like he has a very bright future in the big leagues as a starting pitcher. Granted he hasn’t faced very good offenses yet in the Twins and Tigers but he was still impressive. I think he’ll be a good option in the rotation for the time being and then he can help out in the pen once Schilling and/or Miller comes back.
Something will work out here, preferably all of that, but even if it’s not all of it, it should be enough. Who can beat us? This Angels series should answer some questions, but I really don’t think they’re any better than us right now and we could beat them in a 5 or 7 game series. They’ve got some injuries to a couple of key players, they’re bullpen is not getting it done right now either (although it did last night when the game was already out of hand), and with the exception of Colon, none of their starters stand out. Their offense is nowhere near as good as ours and when it comes down to it we could just outslug them.
I would say the biggest threat to us in the playoffs will be the White Sox. They’re doing everything well and have been all year. Still though, we’re currently 4 and 2 against them including splitting the 4 game series in Chicago. And we did all of this with the same problems we’ve been having recently. Their starters might be better than ours right now, but we’ve already worn out Beuhrle twice now, and we worked over Garland pretty good in his last start against us. Plus these guys don’t have any playoff experience. The only starters that do are El Duque and Contreras. Although El Duque has been very good, we wore him down in the ALCS last year, and we’ve always has Contreras’ number. Their bullpen is also having some problems and this thing could come down to our offense working over their pitching.
Who else is there? The A’s could get in as the Wild Card if they don’t steal the division away from the Angels. They have been playing good baseball lately but most of their pitching is inexperienced and again they will probably be worn down by our offense.
The Yankees could get in but they’re in worse shape then we are. The Indians and Twins both have outside shots of getting in there, but it’s not likely. If the Indians manage it, again I don’t think they’re pitching is good enough to handle our offense. The only team that might be able to do it is the Twins. But they have absolutely no offense and we should be able to hold them down enough to edge them out, particularly at Fenway where the series would start.
Anything can happen in this game and the more pitchers we get back healthy and effective the better off we’re going to be, but even if it doesn’t all work out, I still think our chances are as good as anyone else’s to get to the World Series.
More good news is that the Yankees were not able gain any ground during our stay in Detroit as they managed to lose 2 out of 3 against Tampa Bay. They are now 4 and 9 against the Devil Rays, that 5 game difference is also the difference between them being in first place instead of second. It’s very similar to how the Orioles had our number last year and ended up being the difference for us.
posted by Bob at 8/19/2005 09:04:00 AM
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