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September 25, 2007
Click here to listen to today's edition of projo SoxTalk with Sean McAdam. Today's topics: the status of Youkilis and Ramirez; where Ellsbury fits into the lineup if Ramirez returns; the offense's surprising resiliency; Wakefield's rotation spot secure; which relievers might be left off the postseason roster; Curt Schilling's chance for redemption; and the challenges posed by Oakland and Minnesota.
Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments.
Would the Sox consider Ellsbury in center for the postseason? "I just think that they are so comfortable with Coco Crisp's defense, and I think Ellsbury's pretty good defensively, but not yet in Coco;s class in patrolling center field. I think that Crisp has been such a constant for them in his defensive coverage, and when you get into the playoffs and you've got to catch the ball, and make all the plays, and win low-scoring games, and plays get magnified -- I have a hard time believing that they would take Coco out of that position."
Why Wakefield as the number four guy, and not Lester? "I think that maybe there was a time a couple weeks ago, when Lester had a particularly strong start, that there was at least the outside possibility of him eclipsing Wakefield, in no small part because it would give them a lefty starter, and that might present a different look to a couple of those teams they might match up with. But I think that Lester's continued struggles with pitch count and pitch efficiency have ultimately probably not only cost him a spot in the rotation, but it's possible he may not be on the postseason roster, at least for the first round, because he doesn't have any experience coming out of the bullpen, and if he's not going to start, I'm not sure there's a lot of incentive to have him on the roster."
And who would benefit from Lester not being on the roster? "I guess we can go back and forth on who benefits from that. Tavarez is one guy. Javy Lopez is another. I'm not sure what the attraction is with Lopez, other than being able to show the other team that you have a second lefty in the bullpen, behind Hideki Okajima. But left-handers are now hitting almost .300 for the year against Lopez -- .298 in fact -- and he gave up the huge home run the other day to Carlos Pena that sort of forced the late-inning comeback. And that's just the latest of incidents in which he's had difficulty in big spots against lefties. So it's one thing to be able to say that you have a lefty specialist out there, but if he's not getting the job done, how valuable is that?"
Posted by Mike McDermott 
at 10:27 AM to McAdam
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