I'm just curious if there's a consensus on the Sox relievers. Let's say it's the 7th inning and we have a three-run lead. Suppose the batters due up go righty,lefty,righty. If everyone's fresh, who is the best guy to bring in? Who is the worst? I rank them:

 

Vizcaino

Marte

Politte

Cotts

Hermanson (save for the 8th)

Shingo (save for the 9th)

I'm just curious if there's a consensus on the Sox relievers.  Let's say it's the 7th inning and we have a three-run lead.  Suppose the batters due up go righty,lefty,righty.  If everyone's fresh, who is the best guy to bring in?  Who is the worst?  I rank them:

 

Vizcaino

Marte

Politte

Cotts

Hermanson (save for the 8th)

Shingo (save for the 9th)

 

 

Why do we only get threads like this when we get shellacked like this?

It's Shingo's fault.

Depends on the situation.

 

If the lefty is a pretty good LH hitter, I go Marte, no doubt. If he's just OK, I probably go Hermy/Vizcy.

 

 

The problem is Politte. He's supposed to be our middle reliever, not really a late inning reliever. And, when I think of a middle reliever, I think a guy who can come in the 5th or 6th inning, and get you to those late inning relievers, sometimes going two-to-two-and-a-half. Problem is, Cliff can't do that. We have one long reliever, yet he's our second lefty, so he's also going to be a situational lefty.

today i would have gone with hermanson simply because we used Viz last night. Otherwise i'd agree.

Now that I think about it, it's weird how Cotts gets more innings and Marte is used as a specialist like Wunsch. I was pulling for Walker to make the team this Spring and give us three lefties out of the pen.

Now that I think about it, it's weird how Cotts gets more innings and Marte is used as a specialist like Wunsch.  I was pulling for Walker to make the team this Spring and give us three lefties out of the pen.

 

I think this is because you eventually want to stretch Cotts out into a starter?

 

As for Marte, we need a situational lefty guy and he best fits that role even though he could be used elsewhere.

I think this is because you eventually want to stretch Cotts out into a starter?

 

As for Marte, we need a situational lefty guy and he best fits that role even though he could be used elsewhere.

 

Cotts either needs to be used as a lefty specialist or purely as a long reliever. But not both.

All things equal, I will say, most dependable pitchers like this:

 

Marte(He's been good more times than not)

Vizcaino/Hermanson(Vizcaino is a good Marte clone when on, maybe better and Hermy can come in almost any situation)

Shingo(when on he's unhittable, but I've only seen him for 1 year)

Cotts(developing and it shows he's becoming better)

Politte(he better go back to last years form)

I think this is because you eventually want to stretch Cotts out into a starter?

 

As for Marte, we need a situational lefty guy and he best fits that role even though he could be used elsewhere.

 

Vizcaino should be the situational lefty ( yes i know he is not left handed).

Ozzie, KW repeatedly told us that Politte was the 7th inning guy. Starting the 7th off with Cotts was Oz's biggest mistake. He only compounded that by using Politte, & Marte for 2 outs.

I don't know about ranking relief, but if the umpires strike zone hadn't have been rank in the 9th, we wouldn't even be talking about this.

I looked up the numbers & they don't lie. Shingo's 439 OPS vs for pitches 1-15 is among the league's very best. He threw 12 pitches in Mon's 1-0 shutout victory so when he's on his game he's effective enough to close out a game. But his 840 OPS vs for pitches 16-30 is not very good. He's only going to reach those counts if he's struggling. Ozzie needs to understand this. The more looks the other team gets every night (even from the on deck circle & the bench) makes him less effective.

 

Shingo's PC:

Mon 3 B, 9 S

Wed 14 B, 19 S

 

That's a sizeable difference. In his first 16 pitches Wed,

he gave up a HR, strike out, & a fly out. Crisp had a big hit in the 7th &

finished 4/7 on the day. The odds were against Shingo to get him out after

he had thrown 16 pitches. That would have been the best time to bring in Vizc. Though it would have been better to have Marte in reserve.