I agree at that point there was not much that could be done. And even if there was, Kenny wasn't doing it. He asked me "why are you always breaking my balls..." I replied "because I don't have balls I can't be concerned and ask questions..?" I got a half hearted "atta girl" look and big smile.

Now that is pure soxtalk gold right there...

 

The idea of an all-flamethrowers pen sounded like a good idea, and looked OK in April. Nobody likes facing guys who come into the 6th inning throwing pitches at 96 mph. Like I said before, our hitters looked uncomfortable when Andy Sisco pitched against us, but they'd knock him around a bit.

If everyone in that pen was actually coming out throwing at 96, then I think we'd have been a lot better off. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of 96 from anyone other than Bobby, and even then Bobby was supposed to be at 98+.

If everyone in that pen was actually coming out throwing at 96, then I think we'd have been a lot better off. Unfortunately, I didn't see much of 96 from anyone other than Bobby, and even then Bobby was supposed to be at 98+.

Thornton is hitting 96, I've seen it at the park.

 

You mean the first half of last year when he was unbeatable? Is that when you meant?

 

And our bullpen had a ton of potential and showed it in April. Nobody could have predicted the full meltdown that has happened.

 

Look at the "exact science" of bullpen pitchers. How many guys from our 2005 WS champion team are still in the majors?

 

 

It is really hard to find a consistent bullpen....very few teams can keep a core together.

I'll admit that I liked what Kenny tried to do with this pen in the offseason. I thought for sure the backend of our pen was going to be very, very good with Bobby, Matt and Mike but it just didn't turn out that way. Unfortunately, for the most part it's such a crapshoot to put together a good bullpen as most relievers are inconsistant from one year to a next. In theory, I liked how Kenny went about getting very good arms to try to mix together. It obviously backfired horribly but throwing a ton of money at relief pitching isn't exactly the best way to go about things either.

Let's stop calling this bullpen, in April or especially now, a "fireballer" pen. They weren't even fireballers in March. They wouldn't be fireballers on the sun.

I'm tellin ya, this team just needs some Egbert.

 

I actually won't be surprised when and if Adam Russell is in the pen later this year.

Sorry, Tony, we're back in it.