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October 24, 2007
BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer
BOSTON -- In somewhat of a surprise move, right-hander Kyle Snyder was added to the Sox' World Series roster once it was determined on Tuesday that Tim Wakefield (shoulder) was not going to be able to pitch in the Fall Classic.
Manager Terry Francona said this afternoon that the choice to fill Wakefield's vacated spot came down to Snyder, Julian Tavarez or Brian Corey, a trio of right-handers.
Snyder, who was 2-3 with a 3.81 earned-run average in 46 games totaling 54 1/3 innings, was not on the active roster for either of the first two rounds of the postseason.
''I think the best way to put it in a nutshell is we tried to cover everything or anything that could be thrown at us, whether it's weather, or whether it's somebody getting hit in the ankle by a line drive. And we felt that this best suited us for the entire series,'' said Francona.
Francona was unable to deliver the good news to Snyder face-to-face.
''He snuck out of (the clubhouse after Tuesday's workout)," said Francona. ''We had to call him. I had to give him some bad news a couple of times (before the previous rounds), so this was nice.''
Francona said Corey, who went 1-0 with a 1.93 E.R.A. in 9 games in September after being promoted when the rosters expanded, was given heavy consideration for the spot. Francona expressed some sympathy for Corey's 2007 plight.
The Sox, he said, think highly of him as a pitcher, but because of his service time, had they called him up for a week because of a specific need, they thought they'd then lose him because he would have to go through waivers before he could be sent back down.
''We have a lot of confidence in Corey," said Francona. ''He had a real difficult year because of his service time. But I think we all see Corey pitching in the major leagues even though it didn't happen for him this year (until the rosters expanded). I hope in the long run he gets rewarded for that. He deserves that. He's a major league pitcher.''
Posted by Steven Krasner 
at 5:59 PM | Permalink
