Red Sox Bullpen: Getting a reliable number 3 guy

This was one of those games that had millions of different story lines. Ejections, injuries, 499th Career homers, etc. But for fear of boring all of you, I'm sticking to one. I wanna talk about the bullpen. They did well, pitching 4 scoreless innings of relief...at least till the ninth when the Mariners walked off, scoring a run in the bottom of the 9th off Mike Timlin. He's now a career 0-6 at Safeco Field. When he came out of the bullpen, they showed his career stats there, and he had a 10.50 ERA, and seeing as how he had an earned run in 2/3 of an inning, it's only gotten higher. Timlin's pretty much done. He has 4 World Series rings, and has pitched in over 1,000 games. His ERA was 6.60 entering tonight, and he's just not effective anymore. My friend Jose and I were talking about who should replace him.

We nominate Brandon Morrow of the Seattle Mariners. He was unhittable tonight, coming in with no one out and two on in the 8th, he blew two straight fastballs by Manny to strike him out, and also blew Lowell away on a 99mph pitch. Then he got J.D. Drew to fly out. He's not even their closer. I don't understand why. I think he's better than J.J. Putz. Granted, I've only seen him pitch once, but it was Papelbon-esque. However, unless the Seattle GM is brain dead, it's highly unlikely he'll be traded as he's only 23 and he throws 99 mph. On the other hand, Epstein is suppose to be one of the greatest GMs ever though, so I'm personally challenging him on this very blog to make it happen.

Until Epstein gets that accomplished (read: for more realistic options), I checked who was down in Pawtucket. I'm serious about replacing Timlin. Not with someone who'd be a last resort, as Timlin is. But with a number three guy on your bullpen depth chart. Behind Papelbon and Okajima. Someone to consistently give the ball too in the 7th. The Paw Sox seem to have two closers, Lee Gronkiewicz, whose a year older than Papelbon and Chris Smith, whose a year younger than Papelbon. Gronkiewicz has a 0.79 ERA, 11 K's and 5 saves in 11.1 innings pitched. Not too shabby. Smith has 4 saves, 30 strike outs and a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings pitched. He has also started four games. Based on the numbers, I'd give the edge to Smith. They both have low ERAs and high Ks to IP ratios, but Smith's 33 IP make me think it's less likely to be a fluke. The only problem with either of these two is experience. I don't think either has played in the Major Leagues. Can the defending World Series Champions rely on an untested pitcher to be the number 3 man?

So let's look at experience for a second. One guy who intrigues me in Pawtucket is Kyle Snyder. He was with the Bo Sox last year, and was vastly underrated. He had a 3.81 ERA. In Pawtucket, he's appeared to struggle, with a 5.05 ERA, but that's been as a starter. I guess he hasn't done that well with the big league club this year, as he has a 21.05 ERA this year, but that's only in an inning and 2/3. The thing is, I don't think it's out of the question to expect the same of him as last year, which right now is much better than Timlin. Also with the Pawtucket Red Sox is Danny Kolb. Didn't he lead the NL in saves with the Brewers a few years ago? When did the Red Sox get him? Apparently know he goes by "Dan." Maybe he always did. I'm not to up to date on my former Brewers Closers. Anyway, he's only pitched 12 and a third innings, but his ERA is a respectable 2.92. He has MLB experience, and he's had success. The drawback, no offense to my fellow bloggers, is that success happened in the National League. I'm always weary of NL success, as many times it hasn't transfered to the AL. I call it Jeff Suppan Syndrome, though more recently the Red Sox have been burnt by Edgar Rentaria and J.D. Drew. Plus, I think Kolb was a bust with the Braves after being all the rave in Milwaukee...wasn't he?

I think, based on the above I'd go with Chris Smith first. It's too hard to argue with those numbers 30 innings into the season. It's also the most realistic, cause I think of the four, he's the only one on the 40 man roster, though I guess if Timlin's cut, it'll free up a roster spot anyway, so that doesn't matter.

In other news from the Pawtucket web page Kei Igawa is pitching for the Scranton Wilkes Barre Yankees against Devern Hansack and the Pawtucket Red Sox. The SWB Yankees are in first in the International League North division, a game ahead of the Paw Sox. That's good. That's why the Yankees paid all that money to talk to and then sign Igawa. To help them beat out the Red Sox and win division titles...at the International League Level.

One last thing then I swear I'll publish this. Apparently, the Phillies farm team, which also plays in the International League North, is called the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, with no space between Iron and Pigs. After much debate, I decided it was the dumbest name in history. Believe it or not, the debate was between whether it was the dumbest or best name. I think I got this one right though. No offense Laura.