Chuck HDepth Of Rotation Or Lack Thereof Will Determine Sox Success in ‘09
August 4th 2009 12:03
New York: #1) CC ‘Hammer Pants’ Sabathia….#2)Joba ‘The Hut’ Chamberlain….#3)AJ ‘Beckett is my Daddy’ Burnett…#4) Andy Pettitte….#5) Sergio Mitre
Boston: #1) Josh ‘Big Game’ Beckett…#2) Jon Lester…#3,#4,#5) Any combination of Brad Penny, Clay ‘Deal or no Deal’ Buchholz, Tim Wakefield, John Smoltz or longshot but possibility Dice-K.
Today, there is no doubt that #1-5, I take the Yankees rotation hands down over the Red Sox. Not even a question in my mind. I’m not a Sergio Mitre guy at all, but overall one to five the Yankees rotation is better as a package. Now---that being said--- I take Beckett and Lester as my #1-2 combo over there #1-2 combo of CC and Joba. How much of a difference is there between them? Well, based on CC’s past postseason performances and Beckett’s domination in October, pretty significant when it comes to #1 starter. Joba vs. Lester is a nice little battle but I give the edge to Lester. Here’s where you enter problem territory though if you’re Boston. That number three starter in the postseason is important and months back we were all saying that we had starting pitching coming out of our wazzu in Boston. How about now? I want to know who you are comfortable giving the ball to in Game 3 of a postseason series when your choices consist of the aforementioned Penny, Buchholz, Wakefield, Smoltz or Dice-K. Who? Right now, I give it to Penny and I am very tense in doing so, to be quite honest, but he’s the one I’m giving it to right now. AJ Burnett clearly wins the battle in terms of who has a better #3, and he's solidly backed up by Pettitte. I really hope Smoltz turns it on like I’ve said he would in the past, because he’s who I want getting the ball in any postseason Game Three. I’m still holding out hope with him, and now, with this rotation hurting, he will get ample opportunity to prove he belongs or doesn’t belong.
Let’s dish on ‘Deal or no Deal’ Clay for a minute. To be honest, I’ve never been overly impressed with this kid’s mound presence or how he locates. Of course, yes I know, he threw a no-hitter two years ago. I’m aware of that. I watched the game. Great. Do you want me to put a list together of guys who have thrown no-hitters that you’ve never heard of? Or guys who are HOF pitchers and never have thrown one? Forget the no-hitter. He bombed out last year and to be honest I’ve seen really nothing so far this year out of him to think he’s turned the corner. Yes, he’s young but he’s not 21 or 22. Am I saying he’s a bust? No, not at all, I still think he can be an effective major league pitcher, but he looks scared on the mound and he doesn’t lead with his fastball, which concerns me when it comes to young pitchers. He leads with his secondary pitches and tries to sneak in his fastball. I hate that style of pitching especially for a kid with a pretty live fastball. Spot your fastball and then incorporate your above average change-up and mix your slider in. Say what you want about Curt Schilling and his outspoken personality, but what he had to say about Buccholz on WEEI radio last week was disturbing to hear. He said, he was never impressed with Buchholz desire to get better in the days in between his starts, which basically means in layman’s terms, his work ethic sucks. Sorry Curt, but I paraphrased for you. I just hope this kid gets it together because he was upset earlier in the year when he did an interview with Mike Giardi of NECN. He wanted his shot and he was frustrated at the fact he wasn’t getting it. Well, he has his shot now. He’s 25 years old and it’s time to start showing signs of belonging up here, because quite honestly, take away the no-hitter 2 years ago and there’s no real reason for me or anyone else to feel like this kid is a can’t miss prospect like so many have been saying. All you people who were on your soapboxes about not giving Clay up in a deal to get Victor Martinez are out of your minds. I’d have done it in a heartbeat if that’s who Cleveland wanted. Quite honestly, I think Cleveland got their man in Masterson, who arguably will be a better major league pitcher than Buchholz. I hope it all works out for Buchholz because I would love to see him string together a bunch of big starts here in August/September and earn the right to take the ball as the number three starter come postseason time. That would be awesome to see. It’s way too early to give up on him. Right now though, I’m pretty scared about this rotation and its reliability after Beckett and Lester. Very scared. Hitting is great and helps win those softball style games like Sunday in Baltimore(just ask the Yankees), but those types of games don’t come around in October when facing better pitching. It’s great pitching and timely hitting that gets you the ring, and if they don’t get it together soon, they are going to burn out what has been the best bullpen in baseball and come October they will be running on fumes.
Chuck Hanf
Two Cents From Beantown
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