Best starters in A.L.?

[soxrwhite]

I have high hopes for our starters as most of us do. I have some concerns however and I think we should not annoint them just yet.

 

1. Beurhle had a great start to his career and remains solid but no longer great. He is not a number one and has some off nights. He could easily go .500 say 11 and 11

 

2. Peavy seems like a great competitor with a Cy Young but has had injury problems.

 

3. I love danks but what is with this blister/circulation problem on his finger? Remember his outing against the Twins before he went on the DL? He went out of the rotation twice due to this didn't he? This seems like a mystery type of injury that could be chronic.

 

4. Floyd can't hold a runner on. So he uses the slide step and then injures his hip. He missed the end of the season with this injury. Leave his motion alone and A.J. has no chance to throw any one out change it and?

 

5. Garcia??? I'm hoping for the best but a reborn junkballer.....

 

I am not predicting total collapse or gloom but lets be realistic, will these guys prove to be the best staff in the A.L.? They might, I hope so.

[southsider2k5]

THE best? No. One of the best? They should be.

[Balta1701]

THE best? No. One of the best? They should be.

The best guaranteed? No. Could be by far the best? Yes.

[southsider2k5]

The best guaranteed? No. Could be by far the best? Yes.

 

Could be... Yeah. But I would put the Yankees and Red Sox over us right now.

[maki]

I am not predicting total collapse or gloom

 

actually that's pretty much exactly what you're doing.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Could be... Yeah. But I would put the Yankees and Red Sox over us right now.

 

That doesn't matter to me. I'd put our rotation easily over anybody in our division. That's all that matters until October.

[SouthsideDon48]

Does anyone know if this blister thing Danks has can be something that might be totally healed and gone after the offseason is over? Or might this be a re-occuring problem?

[SoxAce]

That doesn't matter to me. I'd put our rotation easily over anybody in our division. That's all that matters until October.

 

Pretty much sums it up. Though I gotta say as our offense stands right now (especially with the lack of OBP) we might be in alot of 1-0, 2-1, 3-2 etc.. type games this season.

 

Does anyone know if this blister thing Danks has can be something that might be totally healed and gone after the offseason is over? Or might this be a re-occuring problem?

 

I believe that was taken care of (tobacco gum or something had alot to do with it) I was actually more worried about Floyd's hip alot more as he's had that same problem flare up for two years now. Glad he is okay from the rest though.

Edited January 15, 2010 by SoxAce

[Quin]

I have high hopes for our starters as most of us do. I have some concerns however and I think we should not annoint them just yet.

 

1. Beurhle had a great start to his career and remains solid but no longer great. He is not a number one and has some off nights. He could easily go .500 say 11 and 11

 

2. Peavy seems like a great competitor with a Cy Young but has had injury problems.

 

3. I love danks but what is with this blister/circulation problem on his finger? Remember his outing against the Twins before he went on the DL? He went out of the rotation twice due to this didn't he? This seems like a mystery type of injury that could be chronic.

 

4. Floyd can't hold a runner on. So he uses the slide step and then injures his hip. He missed the end of the season with this injury. Leave his motion alone and A.J. has no chance to throw any one out change it and?

 

5. Garcia??? I'm hoping for the best but a reborn junkballer.....

 

I am not predicting total collapse or gloom but lets be realistic, will these guys prove to be the best staff in the A.L.? They might, I hope so.

 

1. Buehrle's actually been working with Coop this offseason to strengthen his arm, so he can keep pitching stellar like he does in the first halves of seasons.

 

2. Last year, Peavy's injuries were freak injuries. He won't be running the bases aside from maybe 2-3 games all year, and the ball that hit his arm in AAA was just bad luck.

 

3. No idea, but we haven't head much about it though, so it might not be that bad.

 

4. Same, though I think they just shut him down to observe Hudson/Peavy/Garcia and to prevent worsening it.

 

5. Freddy can still pitch but it's a wildcard. I'll take Hudson as the backup.

[WHITESOXRANDY]

Boston Red Sox rotation:

 

1. John Lackey - 2009 on DL made only 27 starts for only 176 inniings. 2008 on DL made only 24 starts for 163 inniings.

 

2. Josh Becket - 2008 on DL had ERA of 4.03. 2006 on DL had ERA over 5.

 

3. Dice K - on DL most of the yeas last year. Had ERA of 5.76

 

4. Jon Lester - had cancer a few years ago.

 

5. Tim Wakefield - older than dirt, nade only 21 starts last year with an ERA in the high 4's.

 

6. Clay Bucholz or Michael Bowden - neither has ever pitched a full season and both had ERA's in the 4's last year.

 

Now that I use your reasoning I realize that Boston will probably finish in last place this year.

[GoodAsGould]

Boston Red Sox rotation:

 

1. John Lackey - 2009 on DL made only 27 starts for only 176 inniings. 2008 on DL made only 24 starts for 163 inniings.

 

2. Josh Becket - 2008 on DL had ERA of 4.03. 2006 on DL had ERA over 5.

 

3. Dice K - on DL most of the yeas last year. Had ERA of 5.76

 

4. Jon Lester - had cancer a few years ago.

 

5. Tim Wakefield - older than dirt, nade only 21 starts last year with an ERA in the high 4's.

 

6. Clay Bucholz or Michael Bowden - neither has ever pitched a full season and both had ERA's in the 4's last year.

 

Now that I use your reasoning I realize that Boston will probably finish in last place this year.

 

so

[southsider2k5]

That doesn't matter to me. I'd put our rotation easily over anybody in our division. That's all that matters until October.

 

Of course the first thing that matters is winning the division, but that wasn't the question in this specific thread.

[soxrwhite]

I guess every staff has question marks. I just don't like our side mouthing off about how great our rotation is. I'd hate to eat those words later. I too have high hopes and feel good about what we have. Lets win this division.

[ThunderBolt]

I am not predicting total collapse or gloom but lets be realistic, will these guys prove to be the best staff in the A.L.? They might, I hope so.

Christ, you get anymore optimistic you’re going to have a brain hemorrhage

[Rowand44]

Could be... Yeah. But I would put the Yankees and Red Sox over us right now.

The Red Sox I can see. Not so much with the Yankees.

 

EDIT: And the more I look at it, the less I see an argument to say the Yankees have a better rotation than us just on paper. There isn't one imo.

[MurcieOne]

Boston Red Sox rotation:

 

1. John Lackey - 2009 on DL made only 27 starts for only 176 inniings. 2008 on DL made only 24 starts for 163 inniings.

 

2. Josh Becket - 2008 on DL had ERA of 4.03. 2006 on DL had ERA over 5.

 

3. Dice K - on DL most of the yeas last year. Had ERA of 5.76

 

4. Jon Lester - had cancer a few years ago.

 

5. Tim Wakefield - older than dirt, nade only 21 starts last year with an ERA in the high 4's.

 

6. Clay Bucholz or Michael Bowden - neither has ever pitched a full season and both had ERA's in the 4's last year.

 

Now that I use your reasoning I realize that Boston will probably finish in last place this year.

 

awesome.

[WHITESOXRANDY]

Our rotation could be Pedro, Big Unit, Clemens, Maddux and Halladay in their primes and you could say:

 

Clemens - PEDS user, could breakdown or get suspended

 

RJ, Pedro and Doc - all injury prone

 

Maddux- doesn't throw hard enough. The league will eventually catch up to him.

[Texsox]

If you begin discussing the best starting rotations in baseball it won't take long to get to the Sox. I can't complain. As the question marks are answered, we'll see how we rank. Seems to me that health is always the difining factor.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Our rotation could be Pedro, Big Unit, Clemens, Maddux and Halladay in their primes and you could say:

 

Clemens - PEDS user, could breakdown or get suspended

 

RJ, Pedro and Doc - all injury prone

 

Maddux- doesn't throw hard enough. The league will eventually catch up to him.

 

[Quin]

 

He's showing how even with best rotation, you could be pessimistic.

[heirdog]

You can definitely catch lightning in a bottle if all pitchers hit their stride at the right time (i.e. 2005 with Count, Buehrle, Garcia, Garland) but that 2005 White Sox rotation probably wasn't listed as a top 5 unit at the start of that season. Looking at it in hindsight is easy and not based on opinion or any projections. Projecting is harder but on paper, its hard to argue that the Sox don't have a top unit, with the same caveat as all teams should have "barring injuries."