The question is always asked to the effect of, “Well if Colon stays with the team, what do you do when Buchholz comes back?”
Look, as was proven when the team made the blunder trade of Wily Mo for Bronson, you can never have too much pitching. Former Sox manager, one of my favorites for reference sake, Joe Morgan says that these things have a way of working themselves out.
Colon pitched well last night. He pitched just five innings and 74 pitches and gave up two runs on six hits while striking out four. You have to think that Francona had him on a pitch count basically five innings or 85-90 pitches, which is fine for his first start back.
Here’s my thoughts on the pitching rotation should the situation not work itself out. I think the first move would be to send Hansen back to Pawtucket. As good as the starters have been, the middle relief has been questionable. With Masterson limited in the amount of innings he’s allowed to throw, bring him up and solidify the bridge to Okajima and Papelmania.
So to get Masterson on the team, you send Hansen down. To get Buchholz on the team, I say you release Grandpa Timlin. As he proved again last night, he can’t work a clean inning. His wonderful 8.25 ERA is embarrassing.
The Sox rotation would be:
Beckett
Dice-K
Lester
Wakefield
Buchholz
Colon
That’s right. Why the hell not have six starters? Just make it very clear to control problem guys, like Dice-K that he can’t just give you five innings on 107 pitches and that he’s expected to go seven or eight innings. With the extra day off for each starter Terry can allow the pitch count on each guy to go that much higher.
The good news today is that there’s a 1:30PM start time for the Sox meaning there won’t be anything to distract you from the Celtics game tonight. Well unless you plan on going to the movies to see Indiana Jones.
