remindmeofthe | (no subject)

So. I know that Roman Ramon (okay, okay, Roman Colon, whatever) is starting for the Tigers tonight in Maroth's place, and I am comfortable with that, since he stepped up nicely to cover for Maroth in that miserable last start (six runs in a third of an inning, ouch, Mikey, I'm almost glad it was an injury and not just spontaneous sucking).

But who the hell is starting for the Red Sox in Boomer's spot when it comes back around? DiNardo was doing it before, but he's on the DL last I heard. And, uh, who else do we have? This troubles me. I can think of three or four guys I would accept taking the start for Maroth, but I have no idea who they're going to put in for Boomer. The Tigers have a solid bullpen, and plenty of guys in AAA we could call up without a moment's worry. The Red Sox have - Timlin. Who is on the DL. They have prospects, sure, but those prospects are in the minor leagues for a reason, and it ain't because there isn't room for them up here.

The flaw here, however, is that frankly I know a lot more about the Tigers right now than I do the Red Sox. Yes, yes, bad and wrong, equal attention, blah whatever, at least I know the Red Sox line-up, which is more than I could say about the Astros. This equal attention thing does not work when one of the teams appears to have had fairy dust sprinkled on its heads so it can go out and do all kinds of magical things. My point here being, is there something I'm missing? Am I misinformed about DiNardo? Is Jon Lester more ready than I thought? Are we going to try a four-man rotation for a little while? Can someone fill me in? Or am I right on the nose?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nope. Not misinformed about DiNardo. He's on the DL with a neck strain.

Terry seems to be holding his cards close to the vest on this one. We should know tonight who will be pitching in Boomer's place. I don't think they're thinking of Jon Lester...Abe Alverez was a name that was tossed out there. There was another one, too, and right now I'm blanking on it. And looking at the PawSox roster, I can't remember it, either.

I don't know that we could do a four man rotation with the schedule we're playing. I don't know if that's enough rest for everyone, especially with the worries about Matty Clement.

Hopefully pre-game will give us some more answers.

Could they move Papelbon into an emergency start? I saw somewhere that the Sox think Papelbon's longerm future is as a starter.

I dunno. If we started him, we couldn't use him to close for several days, and who would close then? Keith Foulke? God, spare me. I'd love to see Pap start someday (Papelbon vs Verlander, omg*faints*), but this is not the time.

Papelbon v. Verlander would be frickin' EXCITING.

I'd say them starting Papelbon is 0%. His longterm future is most likely a starter, but he's been closer since last September and he can't go from throwing one inning to five innings. Unfortunately.

Aw, bummer. I was hoping for Papelbon v. Verlander. :(

They've been stretching Craig Hansen his last few outing. I think he's started four games so far in Pawtucket? I'm not sure. But I think he's up to five innings down there. But I think they'd choose Lester over Hansen. They'll probabaly just throw in Alvarez. But Clement is hurt too, and my might not make his next start. So it could be down to Schill, Beckett, and Wake. If they call Lester up, I think he can do the job for a few outtings while Wells heals. His ERA is 2.95, but it shouldn't even be that high. He was on a pitch count for his first 3 or 4 starts and only threw 50 or 60 pitches so he couldn't really settle in. Since he's lost the pitch count, I think he's like 3-0 with an ERA around 1.

My vote is Abe Alvarez. He seems to be someone they're comfortable spot-starting if DiNardo isn't available, and I don't think they want to try any kind of wonky experiments right now. I don't think he's a longterm answer, at least not yet, so I dunno what we're gonna do. Urgh.

Apparently make that DAVID PAULEY straight-up from AA.

D:

Awesome. Dunno if I've seen him pitch for the Sea Dogs, but if I did, I hope it wasn't the one last year where we lost to Trenton by 15-0 and the pitching was so bad that we were applauding strikes in the eighth inning.