Smashing Good Time
You knew it was only a matter of time before this offense came back, and that that time would come soon. All it really needed was a dose of Devil Rays pitching to get it to explode back on track.
It’s only one game, but maybe it’s the start of something. That something that I was expecting to start the night before against Mark Hendrickson and then continue last night against Seth McClung, instead started last night with McClung.
With one exception it looks like everyone is heading in the right direction. Big Papi’s been heading there all season and is showing no signs of letting up. In fact, he seems to actually be getting better and I really don’t see how he could possibly not win the MVP now. Manny is getting locked back in. Tek and Nixon, two guys who were slumping badly, busted out last night. Mueller, who was also slumping, pitched in with 2 hits. This is what we needed, now we need it to continue.
Another thing we needed was for Schilling to pitch a good game, and that happened as well. He obviously wasn’t great, but pitched well and went deep, really only making the one mistake to Cantu.
I don’t know what’s going on with Edgar Renteria (the one exception I mentioned above), but I’m tired of defending him. He may be playing tired, hurt, or something, but whatever it is, he’s just not good right now, at the plate or in the field. It’s really time to get him out of there because he’s going to cost us a game that we can’t afford to lose.
Assuming Graffanino’s injury isn’t serious and he’s back by the weekend, I think we can bat him in the 2-hole and put Cora at shortstop batting ninth, at least against right-handers. Who knows if Francona will do it, but he should consider it.
As requested by Chris, my opinion on how the rookies will help. I’m only going to discuss the next 11 games, I don’t want to get into the playoffs right now for obvious reasons.
There are really only 2 that will have any impact on this team right now.
Hanley Ramirez is a big time prospect with a bright future. The question is, what team and what position is his future with? This guy has never played a single game at Triple A and that’s probably where he’ll spend all of next year. As for right now, he’s up to watch and learn and will only see any playing time in a blowout such as last night.
Kelly Shoppach is also a prospect who has lost some of his stock in the last couple of years, but still projects to be a good ML catcher. We obviously don’t have room for him here so it’s most likely he’ll be used as a trading chip at some point. As for this year, he’s in the same situation as Hanley, except I don’t see him getting any AB’s at all. If we’re going to rest Varitek then those AB’s should really go to Mirabelli to help keep him sharp.
Alejandro Machado is a middle infield prospect who is projected to be a utility player in the "bigs". He does have some speed and is capable of playing the outfield as he’s already shown, so he could be useful over the next 2 weeks as a late inning pinch runner.
Manny Delcarmen is one of many prized pitching prospects in the system. He’s still young, still learning, and coming off of Tommy John surgery in May of 2003. I think he is projected to be a very good ML bullpen pitcher in time, but that time is not now. I’m sure he’ll be used occasionally, such as last night’s blowout, but I don’t think he’s ready to come into any tough situations for this team right now.
That leaves Eric Hansen and Jonathan Papelbon. Are far as I’m concerned both of these guys factor into whether or not we make the playoffs. The bullpen is in tough shape right now. The only pitcher that Francona can trust right now is Mike Timlin. Even Myers is not a guarantee to get lefties out.
Both of these guys are lacking in ML experience and in Hansen’s case, he’s only got a few innings of pro experience. But what they lack in experience, they MAY be able to make up for in stuff. They both have great stuff,
Eventually Papelbon will be a top of the rotation starter (probably next season) with his low to mid 90’s fastball, a good slider, changeup, and a recently added splitter learned from Schilling earlier this year. He’s showed great poise on the mound and has proven that he can help this team in the bullpen right now.
As for Hansen, this guy was just drafted this summer. But he was also named closest to the majors in the 2005 draft. Well, this is about as close as you can get. He’s got a mid to high 90’s fastball and a very good slider. He’s got a closers make up, which is what he did in college, and is probably going to be the closer of the future. We certainly saw what he’s capable of a couple of nights ago, and we’re going to need to see more of that right now. It may not be fair to put him into this position but we don’t have much of a choice.
We are going to need both of these guys to come up big for us right now if we expect to have any chance of getting into the playoffs. They both certainly have what it takes to help get us there, the only question is whether or not we may be asking too much of them too soon and how will they handle it?
They both have the added advantage of not having been seen much by our upcoming opponents. In Hansen’s case not at all, and with Papelbon, the Yankees have only seen him for one inning and the Blue Jays for three. A lot of times, something like this is a huge advantage for the pitcher, especially when they have a guy like Varitek behind the plate to help guide them through the at-bats.
It’s only one game, but maybe it’s the start of something. That something that I was expecting to start the night before against Mark Hendrickson and then continue last night against Seth McClung, instead started last night with McClung.
With one exception it looks like everyone is heading in the right direction. Big Papi’s been heading there all season and is showing no signs of letting up. In fact, he seems to actually be getting better and I really don’t see how he could possibly not win the MVP now. Manny is getting locked back in. Tek and Nixon, two guys who were slumping badly, busted out last night. Mueller, who was also slumping, pitched in with 2 hits. This is what we needed, now we need it to continue.
Another thing we needed was for Schilling to pitch a good game, and that happened as well. He obviously wasn’t great, but pitched well and went deep, really only making the one mistake to Cantu.
I don’t know what’s going on with Edgar Renteria (the one exception I mentioned above), but I’m tired of defending him. He may be playing tired, hurt, or something, but whatever it is, he’s just not good right now, at the plate or in the field. It’s really time to get him out of there because he’s going to cost us a game that we can’t afford to lose.
Assuming Graffanino’s injury isn’t serious and he’s back by the weekend, I think we can bat him in the 2-hole and put Cora at shortstop batting ninth, at least against right-handers. Who knows if Francona will do it, but he should consider it.
As requested by Chris, my opinion on how the rookies will help. I’m only going to discuss the next 11 games, I don’t want to get into the playoffs right now for obvious reasons.
There are really only 2 that will have any impact on this team right now.
Hanley Ramirez is a big time prospect with a bright future. The question is, what team and what position is his future with? This guy has never played a single game at Triple A and that’s probably where he’ll spend all of next year. As for right now, he’s up to watch and learn and will only see any playing time in a blowout such as last night.
Kelly Shoppach is also a prospect who has lost some of his stock in the last couple of years, but still projects to be a good ML catcher. We obviously don’t have room for him here so it’s most likely he’ll be used as a trading chip at some point. As for this year, he’s in the same situation as Hanley, except I don’t see him getting any AB’s at all. If we’re going to rest Varitek then those AB’s should really go to Mirabelli to help keep him sharp.
Alejandro Machado is a middle infield prospect who is projected to be a utility player in the "bigs". He does have some speed and is capable of playing the outfield as he’s already shown, so he could be useful over the next 2 weeks as a late inning pinch runner.
Manny Delcarmen is one of many prized pitching prospects in the system. He’s still young, still learning, and coming off of Tommy John surgery in May of 2003. I think he is projected to be a very good ML bullpen pitcher in time, but that time is not now. I’m sure he’ll be used occasionally, such as last night’s blowout, but I don’t think he’s ready to come into any tough situations for this team right now.
That leaves Eric Hansen and Jonathan Papelbon. Are far as I’m concerned both of these guys factor into whether or not we make the playoffs. The bullpen is in tough shape right now. The only pitcher that Francona can trust right now is Mike Timlin. Even Myers is not a guarantee to get lefties out.
Both of these guys are lacking in ML experience and in Hansen’s case, he’s only got a few innings of pro experience. But what they lack in experience, they MAY be able to make up for in stuff. They both have great stuff,
Eventually Papelbon will be a top of the rotation starter (probably next season) with his low to mid 90’s fastball, a good slider, changeup, and a recently added splitter learned from Schilling earlier this year. He’s showed great poise on the mound and has proven that he can help this team in the bullpen right now.
As for Hansen, this guy was just drafted this summer. But he was also named closest to the majors in the 2005 draft. Well, this is about as close as you can get. He’s got a mid to high 90’s fastball and a very good slider. He’s got a closers make up, which is what he did in college, and is probably going to be the closer of the future. We certainly saw what he’s capable of a couple of nights ago, and we’re going to need to see more of that right now. It may not be fair to put him into this position but we don’t have much of a choice.
We are going to need both of these guys to come up big for us right now if we expect to have any chance of getting into the playoffs. They both certainly have what it takes to help get us there, the only question is whether or not we may be asking too much of them too soon and how will they handle it?
They both have the added advantage of not having been seen much by our upcoming opponents. In Hansen’s case not at all, and with Papelbon, the Yankees have only seen him for one inning and the Blue Jays for three. A lot of times, something like this is a huge advantage for the pitcher, especially when they have a guy like Varitek behind the plate to help guide them through the at-bats.
posted by Bob at 9/21/2005 02:50:00 PM
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