Jose Iglesias To Boston

[baseballguy350]

Per Sean McAdam... Waiting for the counter move, but I'll assume Youkilis to the DL. Why not Middlebrooks though if that's the case?

 

[baseballguy350]

Wow.... Tazawa optioned for Iglesias. Cook to come up after the game (5/1 contract opt-out date) replacing Iglesias. Per Twitterverse.

 

[soxrchamps07]

I'm not sure why your surprised, Tazawa is the only one with options. The only other possible scenario would have been a phantom DL for Buch.

 

[scotty216brs]

Tazawa the one going down?? He has been huge for us so far! Ugh...

 

[baseballguy350]

I'm not sure why your surprised, Tazawa is the only one with options. The only other possible scenario would have been a phantom DL for Buch.

I would have preferred a Youkilis DL, which now appears to be imminent according to the twitterverse.

 

[scotty216brs]

I would still much prefer Bard to the bullpen and Cook to the rotation....and have Youk to the DL with Middlebrooks come up.

Bard is too stubborn though

 

[soxrchamps07]

I would still much prefer Bard to the bullpen and Cook to the rotation....and have Youk to the DL with Middlebrooks come up.

Bard is too stubborn though

Bard has been the best pitcher in a struggling Red Sox rotation, I don't think sending him to the bullpen is an option at this point. The Red Sox are starting a string of 20 games in 20 days, I think going with a 6 man rotation during that stretch makes sense, especially with it being the top of the rotation starters that are struggling.

 

[soxrchamps07]

I would have preferred a Youkilis DL, which now appears to be imminent according to the twitterverse.

And have Punto be your starting 3B? I don't think so. If you DL Youk you still have to bring up a replacement (E.G. Middlebrooks, Spears). Optioning Tazawa was the only option.

 

[scotty216brs]

Bard has been the best pitcher in a struggling Red Sox rotation, I don't think sending him to the bullpen is an option at this point. The Red Sox are starting a string of 20 games in 20 days, I think going with a 6 man rotation during that stretch makes sense, especially with it being the top of the rotation starters that are struggling.

I wouldn't say our best pitcher...I was at the marathon day game and he didn't look that great [to me]...yes he only had 1ER but he struggled quite a bit with his control.

Honestly, if Cook can produce similar stat lines as a SP then why wouldn't it be beneficial to put Bard back in the pen as our 'stopper'....as of right now we don't have a guy who can strike guys out with nasty stuff. Bard is that guy but he has to tone it down a bit when he is starting. ::shrugs:: maybe it's just me who thinks that way

 

[soxrchamps07]

I wouldn't say our best pitcher...I was at the marathon day game and he didn't look that great [to me]...yes he only had 1ER but he struggled quite a bit with his control.

Honestly, if Cook can produce similar stat lines as a SP then why wouldn't it be beneficial to put Bard back in the pen as our 'stopper'....as of right now we don't have a guy who can strike guys out with nasty stuff. Bard is that guy but he has to tone it down a bit when he is starting. ::shrugs:: maybe it's just me who thinks that way

Bard is worth way more as a starter, simple as that. By watching his starts it's obvious his stuff is translating very well as a starter, and he has only had 5 starts. I was on the Bard to the bullpen bandwagon earlier when our team (and bullpen) situation was absolutely dire. Now though, were winning games (albeit games we should) and our bullpen seems to have settleted down and has been ptiching a lot better as of late. Now I'm not saying our bullpen is good, or even mediocre, but I don't think it's bad enough to sacrifice a starter that is putting up solid #3 starter numbers.

 

[scotty216brs]

We wouldn't be sacrificing a starter at all, Cook has been phenomenal in AAA. Essentially as a SP Bard = Cook and as a RP Bard>>>Cook. Just my $.02

 

[soxrchamps07]

We wouldn't be sacrificing a starter at all, Cook has been phenomenal in AAA. Essentially as a SP Bard = Cook and as a RP Bard>>>Cook. Just my $.02

That's a good point, I'll give you that. Saying that, Cook is dominating AAA and everything I've heard is that he is back to his All-Star self (stuff wise), but that doesn't necessarily mean he is going to come and pitch better than Bard (who is pitching very well). Like I said before however, I think the best option is to phantom DL Buch (or just option him to Pawtucket, because he does have options left) to basically see what they have in Cook. After Buch (and Dice-K for that matter) comes back you can evaluate the value of trading Cook or keeping him as a starter/putting him in the bullpen.

 

[scotty216brs]

That's a good point, I'll give you that. Saying that, Cook is dominating AAA and everything I've heard is that he is back to his All-Star self (stuff wise), but that doesn't necessarily mean he is going to come and pitch better than Bard (who is pitching very well). Like I said before however, I think the best option is to phantom DL Buch (or just option him to Pawtucket, because he does have options left) to basically see what they have in Cook. After Buch (and Dice-K for that matter) comes back you can evaluate the value of trading Cook or keeping him as a starter/putting him in the bullpen.

I can agree with you on that one, Buch needs a few starts to iron out a few wrinkles...although I will say he looked better his last start, with the movement on his pitches. Hell, he can stay on the Sox if we are going to score 10+ runs in all of his starts I wasn't aware he still had options left, seems to be the way to go.

I will say once Matsuzaka is ready to go I think Bard will be back in the bullpen whether he likes it or not....as Matsuzaka will not settle for a relief role.

It never hurts to have too much pitching but it does make for some tricky roster moves.

 

[scotty216brs]

Bard is worth way more as a starter, simple as that. By watching his starts it's obvious his stuff is translating very well as a starter, and he has only had 5 starts. I was on the Bard to the bullpen bandwagon earlier when our team (and bullpen) situation was absolutely dire. Now though, were winning games (albeit games we should) and our bullpen seems to have settleted down and has been ptiching a lot better as of late. Now I'm not saying our bullpen is good, or even mediocre, but I don't think it's bad enough to sacrifice a starter that is putting up solid #3 starter numbers.

Bumping this thread just for you, sox!

Since this thread, Bard has had 4 starts (1-3), none of which have been pretty.

5.1IP 8H 4ER 2BB 1K [L]
7.0IP 6H 5ER 4BB 1K [L]
6.0IP 6H 1ER 4BB 2K [W]
5.0IP 3H 5ER 5BB 3K [L]

You might say that his 6IP 1ER start was solid but IMO not so much if you are letting 10 guys on base. That game he had good defense behind him and he did get out of some jams...yes, he pitched OK but could have ended up with more ER.

What I have seen from Bard as a SP is that he has a lot of trouble with his command. Early in the game if he stuggles locating his fastball he will turn to his RP 'out-pitch' aka his slider. Only problem with that is when he is pitching in the 8th inning he doesn't need it to be a strike so he pitches it off the plate to get them to chase. So when he turns to that pitch in his starts he can have trouble throwing it for strikes. When he needs to throw a strike he will throw a weak version of his slider that just kind of stays up there and that usually ends up in a hit. Then he will find his command a couple innings later and back and forth until he is out of the game.

He now stands with a 4.85ERA and a 1.55WHIP and a 26/25 K:BB. Yikes. Every other pitcher seems to be trending downward and Bard not so much. He has one or two more starts to prove me wrong but as it stands, I don't see him being a shutdown starter over the rest of the season. That arm of his is not being fully utilized as a starting pitcher.

I see the argument quite often "180 > 70" or whatever....with Bard? He is much more valuable with his "70in" [bullpen] than his "180in" if he keeps pitching like he has. Mark my words....When Matsuzaka is good to be back on the team Bard will make the move back to the bullpen. I will be very happy with that because of his nasty slider and devestating HIGH 90's fastball. As we have found out earlier this season the 8th and 9th innings are just as important as the first several.

Back to what you posted at the start of the month......not so much solid #3 starter numbers. ^.^

 

[bigpapiMA32]

Bumping this thread just for you, sox!

Since this thread, Bard has had 4 starts (1-3), none of which have been pretty.

5.1IP 8H 4ER 2BB 1K [L]
7.0IP 6H 5ER 4BB 1K [L]
6.0IP 6H 1ER 4BB 2K [W]
5.0IP 3H 5ER 5BB 3K [L]

You might say that his 6IP 1ER start was solid but IMO not so much if you are letting 10 guys on base. That game he had good defense behind him and he did get out of some jams...yes, he pitched OK but could have ended up with more ER.

What I have seen from Bard as a SP is that he has a lot of trouble with his command. Early in the game if he stuggles locating his fastball he will turn to his RP 'out-pitch' aka his slider. Only problem with that is when he is pitching in the 8th inning he doesn't need it to be a strike so he pitches it off the plate to get them to chase. So when he turns to that pitch in his starts he can have trouble throwing it for strikes. When he needs to throw a strike he will throw a weak version of his slider that just kind of stays up there and that usually ends up in a hit. Then he will find his command a couple innings later and back and forth until he is out of the game.

He now stands with a 4.85ERA and a 1.55WHIP and a 26/25 K:BB. Yikes. Every other pitcher seems to be trending downward and Bard not so much. He has one or two more starts to prove me wrong but as it stands, I don't see him being a shutdown starter over the rest of the season. That arm of his is not being fully utilized as a starting pitcher.

I see the argument quite often "180 > 70" or whatever....with Bard? He is much more valuable with his "70in" [bullpen] than his "180in" if he keeps pitching like he has. Mark my words....When Matsuzaka is good to be back on the team Bard will make the move back to the bullpen. I will be very happy with that because of his nasty slider and devestating HIGH 90's fastball. As we have found out earlier this season the 8th and 9th innings are just as important as the first several.

Back to what you posted at the start of the month......not so much solid #3 starter numbers. ^.^

Nice post. But don't forget the "When Matsuzaka is good to be back" part is a huge if, and he's looked terrible lately in the minors. Crazy how good the bullpen has been this month after a shaky start. Having Bard (and Melancon at some point) will make them nasty.