via multimedia.heraldinteractive.com
Aren't these two guys we'd love to see back in action soon?
Clay Buchholz, btw, threw 5 shutout innings last night for Pawtucket. He needed only 60 pitches to do so, striking out 3 and allowing 5 baserunners. His three starts previous (6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 BB, 7 K; 5 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 6 K; 6 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 8 K) were also very good, and the Sox have clearly been trying to keep him from being overworked, and not so curiously, on the same schedule as Justin Masterson. Between Pawtucket and Boston, he's only at 81 innings at the halfway point. He's in good shape to be able to last most of, if not the entire rest of the way. We can also assume that he's been putting in a lot of work on his fastball command and his trust in the pitch.
via d.yimg.com
Reliever?
Who hasn't enjoyed watching Justin Masterson? He's been giving it his all, has shown the ability to shrug off bad pitches or innings, and has flashed some good stuff in the process. However, can I admit that I'm not thrilled at the idea of a pitcher who's given up 26 BBs in 48 IP headed to the bullpen? His command has not been what we were led to believe, and while his hit-rate has been good, we can't expect that to continue as it has. The alarming propensity for giving up HRs isn't conducive to the role either. I've seen the calls for sending him to the pen, and I simply don't agree. If Buchholz comes up, Masterson should go down. And maybe that move should happen before Justin's next turn in the rotation.
Sure, it means that Chris Smith without doubt goes down so that Mike Timlin can come back up and team with Oki to challenge our collective sanity. But hey. That was probably going to happen anyway. And maybe, just maybe, we need to get Masterson ready to be a relief pitcher for a few weeks, to determine whether a move for someone such as Brian Fuentes would make sense.
Do you folks want to make a trade for a reliever? Do we need to do so? Just where has 2007 Oki gone? Also. I have to apologize, as I went on a tirade in the comments the other night about Okajima just as much if not moreso than anyone else. The issue was, truly, the offense and perhaps to a lesser degree Tito.