Texsox Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 Faced with limited options for a fifth starter, Ozzie Guillen went the way of Manuel on Saturday and tried to get three solid innings out of Cotts. After all, Cotts had a 2.45 ERA in 12 bullpen outings. And just like in New York, Cotts (0-2) was in trouble from the outset as he gave up singles to the first two hitters. He gave up an RBI ground out to Jacque Jones before Matthew LeCroy delivered a two-run home run for a 3-0 Twins lead. When it was over, he had given up four runs and five hits in 2-1/3 innings. ''It's my fault,'' Guillen said. ''It was something where we gambled and didn't get the right result. We have to think about the next fifth start and decide what we're going to do. Personally, I would like to keep this kid in the bullpen to stay strong mentally.'' First innings definitely haven't been kind to Cotts. In his last two starts, he has a 54.00 ERA in the opening inning, allowing six hits and five walks. As for No. 5 Sox starters, they are 0-6 this season and 3-17 in the last two seasons. Here's the Sun Times Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aboz56 Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 I agree this was Ozzie's AND Coop's fault. If they wanted Cotts to start, start letting him throw on the side or even send him to AAA for a few weeks and let him get stretched out. Don't give us this B.S. of how he's going to start but only pitch 3 or 4 innings. Why are you even starting him then? A starter can go more than 3 or 4 innings. This performance was not representative of the kind of pitcher that Neal Cotts will be in the future. In fact, all it does is hurt his confidence and that pisses me off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 I am sorry, but at this point you HAVE to send Neal out there again. You tell him that this was a total mistake if you don't send him back out there again. He deserves another chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowand44 Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 I am sorry, but at this point you HAVE to send Neal out there again. You tell him that this was a total mistake if you don't send him back out there again. He deserves another chance. Well he's the best option the sox have right now other then to make a trade, if there is no trade made soon then yes neal has to go out there again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maggliopipe Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 Of course I'm hesitant to say it was a good start, but he was throwing some strikes out there. I don't know where his strikeout pitch was, but he looked comfortable, much moreso than in his starts last year. With Kelly out in the pen now, you gotta give Neal a second start. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TLAK Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 I agree this was Ozzie's AND Coop's fault. If they wanted Cotts to start, start letting him throw on the side or even send him to AAA for a few weeks and let him get stretched out. Don't give us this B.S. of how he's going to start but only pitch 3 or 4 innings. Why are you even starting him then? A starter can go more than 3 or 4 innings. This performance was not representative of the kind of pitcher that Neal Cotts will be in the future. In fact, all it does is hurt his confidence and that pisses me off. Its unusual but not unheard of. Its the same thing the Sox did with Sean Lowe a couple years back (2001? the year of the Labrum) with decent success. Chuck Tanner did it a lot when he had Oakland, he'd try to get 3 or 4 from two guys and then finish with Rollie Fingers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NUKE_CLEVELAND Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 This is such a f***ed up situation. Sox brass pinned their 5th starter hopes on Danny Wrong of all people & now we're in a world of hurt because of it. KW knew this was a problem & he did nothing about it except hope that it went away. KW has done a lot of good things for this organization with what he was given but he needed to do something about this & didn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrandoFan Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 How about.....Call Rauch and have Cotts back him up every fifth day? While we're waiting for the "deal" to blow our minds and JR's wallet.......A two-headed 5th starter is a necessity at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chisoxfn Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 This is bulls***. The Sox knew damn well that Cotts could only go 3 innings. If you were going to put him in the rotation then it should of been to let him get his starts and let him be stretched out. He didn't really look that bad. He made some good pitches and during a few ocassions tried to get pretty. The Sox aught to stick with Cotts and see what he can do unless they make a trade. Cotts has a good arm and he is at the point where I think he could have a pretty damn good year in the 5th spot for the Sox. So stick with the plan and stop dicking Cotts around. Either let him start of put him in the pen. As far as I'm concerned, Wunsch will do his job in the pen so let Cotts do his thing from the rotation unless Kenny is going to get someone like Freddy Garcia. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWSGuy406 Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 How about.....Call Rauch and have Cotts back him up every fifth day? While we're waiting for the "deal" to blow our minds and JR's wallet.......A two-headed 5th starter is a necessity at this point. Brando, I wouldn't be opposed to that at all, but the good thing is that Rauch has the potential to give you seven or eight innings of three runs or less baseball. If he doesn't have his best stuff, maybe he only goes three or four innings, then you can send Cotts out there to make up the rest of the three or four innings. But I keep hearing and seeing that Rauch is out of options. Can someone please clarify whether or not that is true? I don't think he is out of options, but I'm not positive... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jordan4life_2007 Posted May 23, 2004 Share Posted May 23, 2004 I heard somewhere that Rauch is averaging just over 5 innings a start this year. Is he ok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBAHO Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 In Rauch's last 3 starts, he's 3-0 with a 1.75 ERA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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