Boston Red Sox: 2007

[UMass03]

Quote: Originally Posted by ability

From what I saw Dice-K look really good last night. But I've updated my blog, taking a look at Bryce Cox, the Sox prospect. Appreciate any feedback.

Nice article on Cox. I didn't know much about him prior to the read.

[CWood2]

Quote: Originally Posted by Misfit

Papelbon looked excellent today. Great life on the fastball, threw a couple good-looking splits, and was consistently hitting Mirabelli's mit. It's no guarantee he'll succeede as a starter, but at least we know his arm is healthy again. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the early returns on Pineiro are not good. Delcarmen also couldn't get through an inning late in the game.

From my early perspective, Delcarmen just hasn't matured as a pitcher over the last few years the way I had hoped for. I'm not that impressed with his approach and his mechanics really lack consistency. If he puts it all together, he could be a top flight setup man in this league. Hopefully, he does it in a Red Sox uniform, but one has to wonder if his trade value has peaked if the Helton talks are revisited.

[Misfit]

I'm not too high on Delcarmen either, or Hanson for that matter, though the final verdict for them has yet to be determined. Delcarmen has been given the opportunity to throw a lot of innings for the Sox at the big league level and has shown little to no improvment. He has a rather unimpressive high velocity fastball, the radar gun reads always look nice but the ball just doesn't appear to come out of his hand with much pop on it. And the curve has been nothing but inconsistent and gets hit more than it should. He had that one good stretch last year where he looked like he was putting it all together, but I think that stretch happened to occur while the Sox were playing the NL when all of their pitchers looked good. And being unable to get through an inning where all he faced were guys who will likely be in AA or AAA this year is not encouraging. It is one spring appearance and one can't take too much from it, but unfortunately it is nothing we haven't seen before.

Hanson has only had year of professional ball, so he doesn't need to be a dominant guy at the majors just yet, but he needs to show some improvement this year after being batting practice last year.

[eXperiment63]

He actually had a 3.5 ERA over 2 entire months last season(July/Aug), and in June only had a 4.35 ERA.

He bombed in Sept/Oct last year though and that made his season look bad. But you are correct on his curve getting hit more than it should. He has probably the second best curve on the team behind Beckett... Isn't it crappy that neither of them locate it well?

Delcarmen isn't ready mentally yet is my theory. I just don't think he is ready to be in the spotlight. It sucks too, because his stuff is nasty. He could be a career AAAA pitcher, or he can be a top flight set-up man/usable closer. I just hope he gets his head screwed on right, and fast!

[GBrushTWood]

Is it crazy to suggest Hansack should be the closer? 4 K's today. I have hardly even watched the dude pitch, but I vaguely recall him having kind of a weird leg kick type hitch in his delivery.

I just know that I really don't want to see Joe-elle Pineiro trotting out from the bullpen in the 9th inning. From all reports in Florida, he is getting knocked around, and can't keep his arm slot consistent. To me, he has disaster written all over him. I'm not a doctor or anything, but doesn't lowering ones arm slot make him likelier to experience shoulder and/or elbow trouble?

What are the other options though? Timlin? No thanks, he seems ready to plunge off the cliff at this point. Donnelly? Err..maybe. Isn't he a proven cheater though? I seem to recall some incident with him scuffing or lubing up the ball. I've never been a big Donnelly guy. He seems like a 6th-7th inning guy at best. Maybe Hideki Okajima?
Does anybody really see Hansen and Delcarmen figuring it out? I'm not really too enthusiastic about either of those ****heads.

This is all unfortunate because every other aspect of this team looks to be competitive. The bullpen, though, looks like it will be a weak point once again for this team. Of course, I could be totally wrong and the lightbulb might flicker for Hansen one day and he could turn into Scott Linebrink v2, but I think that is unlikely.

[Misfit]

Hansack is an interesting under the radar guy. I haven't seen him pitch since his "no-hitter" last fall so it is hard to chime in on how he's throwing. Four k's is nice, but were they against a bunch of scrubs? If I were Francona, I'd be looking at location and stuff this spring and whoever locates the best with the most consistent stuff gets the nod. Pineiro doesn't have "it," and neither does Delcarmen. It wouldn't surprise me if Donnelly does get a shot since he pounds the strike zone with a low 90's fastball and keeps the ball down. I think they could get by with him for a bit in hopes that Hansen gets it going early in the season and gets "promoted" midway through or a trade opens up. I expect to hear the Chad Cordero rumors all season long.

[Bruins]

Heh:

Quote: Originally Posted by Boston.com Sox Blog

Joe Torre said he won't be bringing Andy Pettitte on Monday to face the Sox. Wants to save him the long bus ride, plus wants to keep the Sox from seeing him. Sox will see Ross Ohlendorf instead. He was one of the guys the Yanks got in the Randy Johnson deal.

[GBrushTWood]

I'm not sure how much I can emphasize how positively putrid this 2007 Red Sox bullpen is shaping up to be on paper. I truly think it might be Theo's worst job of assembling a bullpen, and that's remarkable given how bad some of his prior ones have been. At least in 2003 he brought back an effective Alan Embree and found an excellent performer in Mike Timlin.

Right now, here is a list of teams that have their closer job up for grabs in 2007 spring training:

Cincinnati Reds (though they seem to have committed to multiple guys)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays
Florida Marlins
Boston Red Sox

Which of these 4 teams does not belong in this list? The Red Sox have a world championship calibre team, and a bullpen filled with no young, proven talent. Of course, the problem isn't just the bullpen because right now, there is literally nobody currently slotted to start the season in the bullpen who I would trust with a lead in the 7th, 8th, or 9th innings of a game.
It is pretty sad when I receive a glimmer of hope after reading Devern Hansack struck out 4 minor league hitters in a B-squad spring training game.

Here are the names currently on the roster from which they need to assemble a 6 or 7 man bullpen:

Mike Timlin (currently injured and 41 years old)
Brendan Donnelly
Joel Pineiro
Julian Tavarez
J.C. Romero
Javier Lopez (LHP)
Hideki Okajima
Craig Breslow
Manny Delcarmen
Nick Debarr
Bryan Corey
Kyle Snyder
Devern Hansack
Craig Hansen

Pretty scary stuff. I honestly can't see how Theo doesn't make a trade before the end of spring training to bring in a closer. They at least can not start the season with Brendan Donnelly or Joelle Pineiro as closer. If you live in Boston, prepare yourself for a ****ton of whining, bitching, and moaning about the state of this pen, because as it looks right now, this will cost them ball games they should be winning.