I do not want to see Buchholz start the season in Pawtucket

[cupofjoe1962]

I am hearing rumors that Theo wants to limit Buchholz innings and he
may start the season in Pawtucket.

I feel any innig in Pawtucket for Buchholz is a waisted inning.
If they want to limit his innings, limit his pitches per outing.

I do not want to see Tavaras or Snyder in the rotation with
Buchholz in Pawtucket.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Buchholz belongs in Pawtucket ... he does not yet have a major league body to go withthat major league arm of his. No need to rush the kid ... he will only get injured over and over.

 

[cupofjoe1962]

Buchholz belongs in Pawtucket ... he does not yet have a major league body to go withthat major league arm of his. No need to rush the kid ... he will only get injured over and over.

A major league body?
Isn't that what they said about Pedro ?
How did that turn out?

 

[IcyPatriot]

A major league body?
Isn't that what they said about Pedro ?
How did that turn out?

Pedro's battled injuries for much of his career.
you cannot compare talent with physique.
There are only so many Pedro's and they are not manufactured ... that's talent.

You have a very small view of things that are much more complicated than a few generic sentences here and there. You cannot bring up how Pedro made out unless you compare all pitchers we know who had Pedro's body and how they turned out ... most never made AAA ... check it out.

 

[Foley]

Keeping him in Pawtucket for 2 months, aside from saving him an extra year of protection, will allow him to pitch deeper into the major league season. It may be annoying for April and May, but you'll be happy they did it for the rest of the season.

Plus, putting him on a pitch count/innings limit just makes the bullpen pitch more innings and get worn out. Letting him start in Pawtucket is much less a drain on the bullpen, and allows for less innings from the Javier Lopez' of the world.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

Yeah, the last thing I want to see is an entire season of Buchholz pitching 5 innings. That kills the bullpen.

In pawtucket they can do whatever they want. They can pitch him every 7 days if they choose. They can pitch him regularly but only for 3-4 innings. it doesn't really matter.

The other option would be to use him out of the bullpen. The problem with this is that he wouldn't be able to fill in right away if a starter gets injured (since he wouldn't be stretched out).

Also, I believe that if they keep him in Pawtucket a couple months they can lessen his service time and keep him for an extra year. I'm not totally sure about this.

And one final thought is that Boston always enters the season with a bunch of bullpen arms to throw against the wall to see who sticks. Giving Buchholz a roster spot means the team needs to cut one more reliever (Corey, Aradsma (sp?), Lopez, or whoever).

 

[cupofjoe1962]

Yeah, the last thing I want to see is an entire season of Buchholz pitching 5 innings. That kills the bullpen.

In pawtucket they can do whatever they want. They can pitch him every 7 days if they choose. They can pitch him regularly but only for 3-4 innings. it doesn't really matter.

The other option would be to use him out of the bullpen. The problem with this is that he wouldn't be able to fill in right away if a starter gets injured (since he wouldn't be stretched out).

Also, I believe that if they keep him in Pawtucket a couple months they can lessen his service time and keep him for an extra year. I'm not totally sure about this.

And one final thought is that Boston always enters the season with a bunch of bullpen arms to throw against the wall to see who sticks. Giving Buchholz a roster spot means the team needs to cut one more reliever (Corey, Aradsma (sp?), Lopez, or whoever).

How many innings are they going to get out of Tavaras or Snyder as our
5th starter? They would be lucky to finnish 5 innings 60% of the time.
I heard today that Buchholz came to camp with 12 pounds of added muscle on his upper body. I would rather have Buchholz pitch in the Majors from day 1 if he is ready. Spring training should give us indication of his
status. If he is mowing down players in spring training, bring him north.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

How many innings are they going to get out of Tavaras or Snyder as our
5th starter? They would be lucky to finnish 5 innings 60% of the time.
I heard today that Buchholz came to camp with 12 pounds of added muscle on his upper body. I would rather have Buchholz pitch in the Majors from day 1 if he is ready. Spring training should give us indication of his
status. If he is mowing down players in spring training, bring him north.

But you can't ignore the fact that if Buchholz throws >180 innings (including playoffs) his chance of major injury rises greatly. Yes he's better than the other options. Limiting his innings and doing your best to keep him healthy for the next few years is simply more important than winning games at the beginning of 2008.

 

[Foley]

How many innings are they going to get out of Tavaras or Snyder as our
5th starter? They would be lucky to finnish 5 innings 60% of the time.

Tavarez averaged 6IP (5.9) a start in May and June last year, and did so with a 3.94ERA and 1.31WHIP. He was a very good 5th starter before he logged too many innings and wore down. He had a poor April, which can be attributed to the fact that he went through ST as a reliever and had to adjust to being a starter during the regular season. But once he adjusted he pitched pretty well. If he uses ST to prepare to be a starter then averaging around 6IP for 2 months shouldn't be a huge issue for Tavarez.

Two months of Tavarez and 4-5 months of Buchholz with minimal restrictions is better than 6-7 months of Buchholz pitching only 5IP. Putting him in Pawtucket to start the season will allow him to go deeper into games and pitch more meaningful innings in Boston after May. That is better for both the team and for Buchholz.

 

[cupofjoe1962]

The guy you should worry about wearing down is Lester.

It usually takes him 100+ pitches to complete 5 innings.
He goes full on too may counts. His pitch count is always a problem.
I am more worried about Lester than Buchholz.

 

[Foley]

Which is another reason why Buchholz shouldn't start the season in Boston. Having one guy on an innings limit and another guy who always has high pitch counts would be even worse on the bullpen. Starting in Pawtucket means he can come to Boston in June with far less restrictions and not be limited to 5 innings.

 

[CMcCartney]

Buchholz does throw hard for a guy his size.. I'd compare him to Guidry, I guess.. But as a 5th starter, how many innings would he have early in the season? Teams tend to have more days off early in the year, because the schedule tends to be light starting out, plus there can be a lot of postponed games due to inclement weather. If he has bulked up, there's no reason he can't go out there and throw 6 innings.. I don't see how starting in Pawtucket helps him..

 

[cupofjoe1962]

Buchholz does throw hard for a guy his size.. I'd compare him to Guidry, I guess.. But as a 5th starter, how many innings would he have early in the season? Teams tend to have more days off early in the year, because the schedule tends to be light starting out, plus there can be a lot of postponed games due to inclement weather. If he has bulked up, there's no reason he can't go out there and throw 6 innings.. I don't see how starting in Pawtucket helps him..

I agree 100%.
The April schedule allows teams to skip the 5th starter on more than one
occasion. A short 1 or 2 inning stint in the bullpen wouldn't hurt if he
was going to miss a scheduled start.

This kid has nothing left to prove.

Tavaras pitched well for a couple of months last year, but do you want
to have a a guy in your rotation who lost a playoff roster spot to Gagne in 2007?

 

[Foley]

They have 3 off days in April, and 2 off days in May. The April and May schedules have no more off days than any other month of the season.

And it has little to do with him having anything to prove, it has to do with his health and having him pitch more meaningful innings. Putting him in Pawtucket allows them to limit his innings without taxing the bullpen in Boston, and allows him to pitch deeper into games once he gets to Boston.

If Buchholz starts the season in Boston it means they either let him pitch more innings than he should, or he is a 5IP pitcher for most of the season. If he starts in Pawtucket then they can limit him to 4-5IP a start, and allow him to have fewer restrictions later in the season. Sacrificing 2 months of Buchholz is not a bad thing when you consider the end result is 4-5 months of a Buchholz that will be able to have a greater impact.

 

[TomBrady'sGoat]

RE: off-days - Boston likes to give everyone an extra day rest when there is a day off anyway. As Foley pointed out they don't have many in April and May, and those they do have will probably give everyone an extra day of rest. Expect a full rotation 1-5 to be used.

 

[patsfanofNC12]

I agree that Buchholz should start the season at Pawtucket. Tavarez is an average #5, who can win enough games to help us have a winning record, and then we can bring up Buchholz in say May and have him finish the season strong. No point in destroying Buchholz arm just so we can have him start two months early.