Do WORRY about our Closer

[Guest JimH]

When isn't Kenny up to something?

 

Yes, very true. Quick commented he (Rozner) could have written that article any day of the week.

[Dick Allen]

I think Jenks will be fine. Once he starts faltering in optium conditions I'll worry. It was raining pretty dam good when he was pitching. I don't think he gets a good grip on the ball when it's wet. He has faltered a few times in the rain.

Bobby Jenks gets more excuses from this board than any player imaginable. He was horrible last night. It wasn't raining very hard when he was pitching. It started pouring after they took him out. If he can't pitch when its raining, or he can't pitch if he doesn't start an inning, or he can't pitch if there are runners on base, then he needs to find a different occupation. This board makes him out to be some sort of grizzled veteran closer. He has 16 career saves.

[BurlyMan56]

Not that this is any significance. We had a closer here that threw meat balls at 93 mph (koch) and got lit up. Granted, Koch doesn't have the second pitch like Jenk's curve, he was done. Bobby needs to get his fastball located but more importantly like knightni stated- he needs to throw that 12 to 6 curve for strikes

[LosMediasBlancas]

if Bob can max out at 97, that's enough. If he goes 94, then 97 up the ladder and then a nasty hook, it's over. The problem is it seems like he rarely has both pitches working on the same night.

[SpringfieldFan]

if Bob can max out at 97, that's enough. If he goes 94, then 97 up the ladder and then a nasty hook, it's over. The problem is it seems like he rarely has both pitches working on the same night.

 

Total agreement there, but if he has 101 heat, he can survive those days he doesn't have the hook.

 

SFF

[RockRaines]

Wow, Im surprised about how many people are really worried about Jenks. I mean you lose one game once in awhile and you would think that our players are just horrible. Big deal, he gave up more runs, we wouldnt have won anyway.

[S720]

Wow, Im surprised about how many people are really worried about Jenks. I mean you lose one game once in awhile and you would think that our players are just horrible. Big deal, he gave up more runs, we wouldnt have won anyway.

 

When I started this thread, I did NOT have the intention to knock on Jenks. I love Jenks, his high-heat velocity, his coolness and his hardship background. It's not even the loss that I am concerned about. Of course, during any long season, there will be ups and downs, defeats and victories. It seems to me Jenks has lost his velocity for some reasons that I can not fathom! If Jenks continues with his 93, 94, 95MPH fastballs, good hitters will be ready for him. He need to get his velocity up AND get his other pitches working.

[LosMediasBlancas]

Wow, Im surprised about how many people are really worried about Jenks. I mean you lose one game once in awhile and you would think that our players are just horrible. Big deal, he gave up more runs, we wouldnt have won anyway.

 

 

Funny how after losing for so long, Sox fans have gotten so spoiled so quickly. Maybe that's not a bad thing.

[Controlled Chaos]

Bobby Jenks gets more excuses from this board than any player imaginable. He was horrible last night. It wasn't raining very hard when he was pitching. It started pouring after they took him out. If he can't pitch when its raining, or he can't pitch if he doesn't start an inning, or he can't pitch if there are runners on base, then he needs to find a different occupation. This board makes him out to be some sort of grizzled veteran closer. He has 16 career saves.

 

 

16 out of 19 chances and 4 out of 5 in the post season. CUT HIM!!!!!

 

Why does he have to be a grizzled veteran to get your respect. Pitching in the World Series with more pressure than half the closers out there ever experienced isn't enough for you?

[Dick Allen]

Wow, Im surprised about how many people are really worried about Jenks. I mean you lose one game once in awhile and you would think that our players are just horrible. Big deal, he gave up more runs, we wouldnt have won anyway.

There's a big difference going into the bottom of the ninth down 1 or down 7. There is no way to tell if the Sox would have lost anyway. I'm worried about Jenks because he is throwing 94 mph and doesn't have the command of his breaking ball as well as he had last year. His ERA is 5.52. Opponents are hitting .288 against him. He's hardly walking anybody, which you would think would translate into dominating, but for some reason it has not. He has dominated a few times, but for the most part he has been extremely hittable.

[southsideirish71]

There's a big difference going into the bottom of the ninth down 1 or down 7. There is no way to tell if the Sox would have lost anyway. I'm worried about Jenks because he is throwing 94 mph and doesn't have the command of his breaking ball as well as he had last year. His ERA is 5.52. Opponents are hitting .288 against him. He's hardly walking anybody, which you would think would translate into dominating, but for some reason it has not. He has dominated a few times, but for the most part he has been extremely hittable.

 

 

First thing, Bobby was not throwing 100 from April on of last year. He didnt get his full velocity until around June. At what point did Bobby have command of his breaking ball last year? If I remember he had a hard time throwing it for strikes last year. I think he has shown better command of his curve this year throwing it for strikes. He couldnt throw the hammer at all for a strike last year. He still got people out. Last year right handers had a good BA(.298) against Bobby while lefties he owned. Lets not get all goofy and start the closer by comittee thing already. And lets not act like Bobby is only throwing 94 all the time. He has been hitting 97 a lot in his recent appearances.

Edited May 11, 2006 by southsideirish71

[Kyyle23]

I would like to add that it may be a little harder to bring his velocity up in the rain like that. Lets be honest, it started pouring in the 9th inning, who knows if Bobby just dialed it down a little more to get a little more command with his fastball. Just a thought

[LosMediasBlancas]

Bobby Jenks gets more excuses from this board than any player imaginable. He was horrible last night. It wasn't raining very hard when he was pitching. It started pouring after they took him out. If he can't pitch when its raining, or he can't pitch if he doesn't start an inning, or he can't pitch if there are runners on base, then he needs to find a different occupation. This board makes him out to be some sort of grizzled veteran closer. He has 16 career saves.

 

 

I'm not sure who you've been listeneing to Dick, Bob is a good closer who like all other good closers has bad outings. Last night was one of them.

[LVSoxFan]

Can we stop with the rain excuses? I was there and yes, it did not start raining hard until we had obviously pisssed the game away.

 

It was almost bibical, come to think of it.

 

Jenks I love but I worry that everybody's figured him out and we've got our '06 version of Takatsu.

 

In his defense, he had a bad night. Whatever. It's gonna happen.

 

What actually worries me is that we only have one "closer." We need options besides Jenks. Unless he comes up with a killer changeup IMO, people are gonna figure him out sooner or later. People also forget that, last night, the guy after Jenks (Thorton? Logan?) gave up another two runs including a dinger. Not good.

 

Our bullpen is our achilles' heel right now, unless you think we can trot out Big Bad Bobby to save every game.

 

BTW our starter was terrible. Every pitch that guy threw was high. But I don't blame him for the loss because we managed to score 5 runs with 2 outs. Then Jenks lost it for us. Period.

 

We need a plan "B" for a closer. Not to rip on Jenks--I love the guy. But you can't have just one.

[WCSox]

Well, we might as well just pack it up now and quit. Bobby's obviously going to suck this year. :rolly

 

His curve hasn't been thrown for a strike successfully since late 2005.

 

Not true. He was throwing it for strikes a couple of weeks ago.

 

Bobby has sucked lately, but we're talking two bad outings. Remember when Foulke would pitch awfully for a month straight? Let's wait until Bobby pitches poorly for an extended period of time before calling for his head.

[Kyyle23]

Can we stop with the rain excuses? I was there and yes, it did not start raining hard until we had obviously pisssed the game away.

 

It was almost bibical, come to think of it.

 

Jenks I love but I worry that everybody's figured him out and we've got our '06 version of Takatsu.

 

In his defense, he had a bad night. Whatever. It's gonna happen.

 

What actually worries me is that we only have one "closer." We need options besides Jenks. Unless he comes up with a killer changeup IMO, people are gonna figure him out sooner or later. People also forget that, last night, the guy after Jenks (Thorton? Logan?) gave up another two runs including a dinger. Not good.

 

Our bullpen is our achilles' heel right now, unless you think we can trot out Big Bad Bobby to save every game.

 

BTW our starter was terrible. Every pitch that guy threw was high. But I don't blame him for the loss because we managed to score 5 runs with 2 outs. Then Jenks lost it for us. Period.

 

We need a plan "B" for a closer. Not to rip on Jenks--I love the guy. But you can't have just one.

 

What makes you think he is figured out?

[Balta1701]

Jenks I love but I worry that everybody's figured him out and we've got our '06 version of Takatsu.

 

You do not simply "Figure out" a 97 mph plus fastball if it's thrown for strikes. You just can't.

What actually worries me is that we only have one "closer." We need options besides Jenks. Unless he comes up with a killer changeup IMO, people are gonna figure him out sooner or later. People also forget that, last night, the guy after Jenks (Thorton? Logan?) gave up another two runs including a dinger. Not good.

Jenks has a changeup and a slider. He had them back when he was starting. Now, he doesn't need it. He's a reliever, he's not pitching to an entire lineup. Thornton pitched after Jenks, btw.

 

Here's the real worry with Jenks's fastball...if he's not hitting 97+, then people aren't out ahead enough on his curveball. That pitch dominates because of his fastball. Bobby gets that fastball back up a little bit more and this conversation ends.

[BigSqwert]

You do not simply "Figure out" a 97 mph plus fastball if it's thrown for strikes. You just can't.

See Kyle Farnsworth

[Kyyle23]

You do not simply "Figure out" a 97 mph plus fastball if it's thrown for strikes. You just can't.

 

Jenks has a changeup and a slider. He had them back when he was starting. Now, he doesn't need it. He's a reliever, he's not pitching to an entire lineup. Thornton pitched after Jenks, btw.

 

Here's the real worry with Jenks's fastball...if he's not hitting 97+, then people aren't out ahead enough on his curveball. That pitch dominates because of his fastball. Bobby gets that fastball back up a little bit more and this conversation ends.

 

Sadly, this conversation will never end. Everytime he has one bad outing, people are gonna come out of the woodwork crying that he is figured out. It happens every time. I am only going to start getting worried when Bobby is consistently blowing saves, then it will be a problem. But the guy has been damn near lights out this year in save situations, so im not going to get worked up over Bobby coming in on a non-save situation and giving up a few runs.

[Balta1701]

See Kyle Farnsworth

Go look at his walks/innings pitched numbers and see how they correlate with his ERA.

[LVSoxFan]

Good example with Farnsworth.

 

Bingo. Just like nobody could figure out Mr. Zero's 70 mph slowness. I'm not about to bank on this assumption.

Edited May 11, 2006 by LVSoxFan

[BigSqwert]

Go look at his walks/innings pitched numbers and see how they correlate with his ERA.

Touche

[southsideirish71]

Can we stop with the rain excuses? I was there and yes, it did not start raining hard until we had obviously pisssed the game away.

 

It was almost bibical, come to think of it.

 

Jenks I love but I worry that everybody's figured him out and we've got our '06 version of Takatsu.

 

In his defense, he had a bad night. Whatever. It's gonna happen.

 

What actually worries me is that we only have one "closer." We need options besides Jenks. Unless he comes up with a killer changeup IMO, people are gonna figure him out sooner or later. People also forget that, last night, the guy after Jenks (Thorton? Logan?) gave up another two runs including a dinger. Not good.

 

Our bullpen is our achilles' heel right now, unless you think we can trot out Big Bad Bobby to save every game.

 

BTW our starter was terrible. Every pitch that guy threw was high. But I don't blame him for the loss because we managed to score 5 runs with 2 outs. Then Jenks lost it for us. Period.

 

We need a plan "B" for a closer. Not to rip on Jenks--I love the guy. But you can't have just one.

 

What team in the league is a few closers deep. Maybe Houston should ditch Lidge, because he cant handle it anymore also. Actually what you saw last night, was typical of the sox in 2004. The 5th starter would go out there, and give up the farm. The team would rally within a run, and then it would be out of reach. Be happy with what we have today. Now we have 5 good starters that keep us in the game all the time. What a great situation to be in. Heager didnt do the job, McCarthy will on Monday.

[Kyyle23]

What team in the league is a few closers deep. Maybe Houston should ditch Lidge, because he cant handle it anymore also. Actually what you saw last night, was typical of the sox in 2004. The 5th starter would go out there, and give up the farm. The team would rally within a run, and then it would be out of reach. Be happy with what we have today. Now we have 5 good starters that keep us in the game all the time. What a great situation to be in. Heager didnt do the job, McCarthy will on Monday.

 

Im excited to see McCarthy get the start

[LVSoxFan]

What is with everybody's knee-jerk response that I'm bashing Jenks because he had one bad outing? I'm not.

 

I'm SAYING that I'd like to have more options besides Jenks and his--face it--94 MPH fastball right now.

 

Southside, you're right: it was unfortunately a reminder of the 2004 Sox when we had the guaranteed loss when the fifth "starter" would come on (remember Arnie Munoz? BLAHHHH!).

 

But whatever. This all happened because Jose was hurt so it's sort of moot.

 

But it was what it was: Jenks didn't have it last night, and by the time he left, we weren't coming back.

 

Whatever, one game. Big deal.

 

But I stick by my concern that everybody will "figure out" Jenks if we only rely on him.