Puke-worthy article on Red Sox pitching by Justice

[magits]

Apparently the Red Sox have 5 "aces" lol...

 

http://m.redsox.mlb.com/news/article/115507396/richard-justice-the-red-sox-could-boast-five-pitchers-who-are-ace-caliber

 

 

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Boston Red Sox do indeed have enough starting pitching to go back to the playoffs. In fact, the Red Sox may very well have enough starting pitching to win another World Series. Just because the opinion to the contrary has been repeated a thousand times, that doesn't make it fact.

 

First, a little background in the wake of Red Sox manager John Farrell announcing Sunday that right-hander Clay Buchholz will get the ball on Opening Day in Philadelphia. The Red Sox once thought Buchholz might be their ace for about a decade. And at stretches, he has been that good. Problem is, Buchholz has had trouble staying healthy and is coming off a season in which he had a 5.34 ERA. That's the highest of the 78 pitchers who who threw at least 170 innings in 2014. Buchholz was tormented by poor mechanics and diminished velocity. If he was injured, he wouldn't say so. Those problems led to a long offseason of work, including several sessions with University of Texas assistant coach Skip Johnson. Johnson didn't tell Buchholz anything different from what the Red Sox told him, but a 5.34 ERA can serve as a wakeup call. Buchholz showed up at Spring Training with a smoother delivery, and almost from the first day, he has looked like a different guy.

 

Actually, Buchholz has at times looked like the guy he used to be. He made 28 starts in 2010 and had a 2.33 ERA. Buchholz was 25 at the time. He was even better in '13, compiling a 1.74 ERA in 16 starts before right shoulder issues shut him down. At this point, Boston is optimistic that Buchholz may yet be as good as the club once projected him to be. This Opening Day assignment ought to serve as a nice "we believe in you" pat on the back.

 

Back to the rotation. General manager Ben Cherington did a remarkable remake of his team this offseason. In a flurry of moves, he added Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval to the lineup and Rick Porcello, Wade Miley and Justin Masterson to the rotation. When Cherington was done, it was easy enough to look at the Red Sox and think they were capable of another worst-to-first season. From those moves came a constant criticism: Boston had failed -- and failed seems a little harsh -- to add a No. 1 starter. Cynics might point out that there are only a handful of true No. 1 starters in the game, and they don't get traded that often. Some of us figured Cherington would go for one of the proven aces and shore up the rotation with some of the high-end young arms coming through the system. He apparently did make a run at a couple of them, including Jon Lester and Cole Hamels. (He could still make a deal for Hamels -- stay tuned.) For the moment, though, Cherington seems content to let things play out and evaluate what he has. Unable to add a No. 1, Cherington did something really smart. He added three veteran starters and penciled them into a rotation that already had Buchholz and Joe Kelly.

 

Red Sox manager John Farrell discusses the team's rotation and why Joe Kelly's development will be a key to the team's success this season

Good enough?

"I think we've got five No. 1s," Farrell said.

 

On the first day of Spring Training, Buchholz weighed in on the subject. Well, sort of. He gave a pair of T-shirts to the other four starters. One of the shirts announced "He's the ace" with the player's name on the back. The other had the words "I'm the ace" to be worn on the day that guy starts. In Buchholz's own quiet way, that was his way of telling the media to, well, stop asking the question. "There are only so many times you can answer it," he said. Miley agreed, saying, "It's just overrated."

 

Buchholz made another point. All five Boston starters have at various times been projected as top-of-the-rotation guys or actually been top-of-the-rotation guys. Masterson was once the unchallenged No. 1 in Cleveland. Two years ago, he made the American League All-Star team and compiled a 3.45 ERA in 193 innings. He's still only 30. The Tigers long viewed Porcello, 26, as a future No. 1, as they slotted him behind Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and others. He has averaged 185 innings over the past four seasons and is coming off a year in which he pitched 204 2/3 innings and had a 3.43 ERA. If those aren't No. 1 starter numbers, they're close. Porcello is still young enough that there might be some growth left.

 

Is this the AL's best rotation? Until the Rays get four starters back from the disabled list, it might be. Other teams -- Seattle (Felix Hernandez), Detroit (David Price), Cleveland (Corey Kluber) -- may have true No. 1s, but they don't have Boston's depth. The Red Sox may have some unknowns in the rotation, but as Farrell said, "At some point, you have to give guys an opportunity to prove themselves."

Perhaps Cherington will change his mind as the season plays out. He certainly has enough extra outfielders in the big leagues and young pitching depth in the Minors to make a deal. But Cherington just might already have all he needs. Here's guessing he does.

 

Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. Read his blog, Justice4U. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[jaysfan2014]

It's basically Red Sox organizational propaganda from their website. And Farrell's an idiot..

[KingKat]

Apparently the Red Sox have 5 "aces" lol...

 

http://m.redsox.mlb.com/news/article/115507396/richard-justice-the-red-sox-could-boast-five-pitchers-who-are-ace-caliber

 

The image of Buchholz is enough to undermine that whole article before anyone reads a single word.

[magits]

is this the al's best rotation? Until the rays get four starters back from the disabled list, it might be.

 

lol

[Governator]

The Red Sox open their season against Philly and a week later play the Nationals. Good lord I hate interleague.

[jays_fever]

[BTS]

Kelly and Masterson are awful, Buchholz might be awful, and POrcello and Miley are good but not front-rotation guys. Bad rotation. It might not matter though.

[Statman]

Buchholz was a cross of Drabek and Romero last year. He was just flat out awful. You know when you s*** the bed when you start drawing lines on the front of the mound to keep your mechanics in check.

[KingKat]

Kelly and Masterson are awful, Buchholz might be awful, and POrcello and Miley are good but not front-rotation guys. Bad rotation. It might not matter though.

 

Pretty solid MiLB depth behing those guys, Henry Owens, Brian Johnson, Matt Barnes, Ed Rodriguez so they're not locked into that starting 5. They have good length but no one they have, not even Owens, has ace potential.

[BTS]

Hasn't Masterson had some good success against the Jays? Maybe I'm mis-remembering but with Cleveland it always felt like he was very tough on us.

 

Yeah, I remember this too.

[BTS]

Pretty solid MiLB depth behing those guys, Henry Owens, Brian Johnson, Matt Barnes, Ed Rodriguez so they're not locked into that starting 5. They have good length but no one they have, not even Owens, has ace potential.

 

I kept expecting them to get Hamels or Scherzer, but they never did. Throw an ace in front of Porcello and Miley, and let the other 7 guys battle it out for the last two spots and you're in business.

[KingKat]

I kept expecting them to get Hamels or Scherzer, but they never did. Throw an ace in front of Porcello and Miley, and let the other 7 guys battle it out for the last two spots and you're in business.

 

Presumably the Phillies want something stupid as a return for Hamels and they'd rather play the waiting game then cave now. I can't really blame the Phillies. If the Red Sox get off to a bad start the pressure to make a move, even a desperate one will grow.

[Frenchsoup]

Presumably the Phillies want something stupid as a return for Hamels and they'd rather play the waiting game then cave now. I can't really blame the Phillies. If the Red Sox get off to a bad start the pressure to make a move, even a desperate one will grow.

 

If i was the Phillies i would have moved him even if i didn't get exactly what i want. Way to much money on that contract and Hamels was having shoulder problems last spring. They could get caught with another Cliff Lee situation.

[HERPDERP]

 

wait is that ariana grande?

[jaysfan2014]

With Vazquez out for the year due to a likely Tommy John surgery, Boston no longer has the chips for Hamels, as Philly wants Swihart in any deal, and Swihart will likely be the starter by May or June(if not Opening Day). Its likely Hamels ends up in Texas or San Diego. So basically, they`ll sink or swim with their current staff and hope their prospects pan out and are not repeats of their 2014 callups who started(Webster, De La Rosa, Ranaudo).

[Stangstag]

wait is that ariana grande?

 

Yeah. She was on some disney shows before she became famous.

[z3r0s]

Justice hotter then Grande? No way Jose.

 

I don't think preferring either is egregious, but I'd lean to Justice (better face)

[Jonzo]

Yeah. She was on some disney shows before she became famous.

 

And she could still be on that Disney show. Did you see her recently on Jimmy Fallon? She looks like she's 12.

[ElNik2013]

What's puke-worthy is to see so many bashing the RS, did you not learn a thing leading up to the 2013 season?

 

 

Red Sox are now guaranteed to win the WS.