Robin Ventura has confirmed the rotation to start the season: Chris Sale, Felipe Paulino, Jose Quintana, Erik Johnson, John Danks.

 

 

i really hope this is in no particular order because Paulino doesn't belong in the #2 spot.

 

 

There are so few scheduled off days, that they won't be skipping guys. Eventually there will be rain out, and you know who they'll skip? Paulino. By the time they get to the break, Paulino will have the fewest starts, even if he stays off the DL.

 

Truthfully, I think the initial order has more to do with keeping Sale and Danks out of the batters box in Colorado.

Edited March 25, 201411 yr by flavum

Robin Ventura has confirmed the rotation to start the season: Chris Sale, Felipe Paulino, Jose Quintana, Erik Johnson, John Danks.

 

 

i really hope this is in no particular order because Paulino doesn't belong in the #2 spot.

Yeah, that order makes no sense to me. I said it (in several locations) in the FB comments, but I think it should be Sale, Q, Johnson, Danks, Paulino. Gonna have two consecutive lefties no matter what, so they might as well put our best ones at the top.

Of course, the order of rotation matters very little or arguably not at all, so I guess I don't really care. Just not what I would have done.

L, R, L, R, L. When a team does face 2 lefty starters in a row, if they kept this together, the second guy would always be Chris Sale. Personally, to me, it doesn't matter if they split them up. Having a couple of LOOGYs to flip hitters makes a lot of sense, but I really think facing 2 or 3 or 4 lefty starters in a row doesn't suddenly give you an advantage unless they aren't very good.

Edited March 25, 201411 yr by Dick Allen

L, R, L, R, L

What's wrong with LLRLR? Breaking up the lefties equally.

Yeah, that order makes no sense to me. I said it (in several locations) in the FB comments, but I think it should be Sale, Q, Johnson, Danks, Paulino. Gonna have two consecutive lefties no matter what, so they might as well put our best ones at the top.

 

I like having the two best pitchers split up, because you guarantee that at least one of them pitches every series. I would have put Danks at 4 and Johnson at 5 though.

Robin Ventura has confirmed the rotation to start the season: Chris Sale, Felipe Paulino, Jose Quintana, Erik Johnson, John Danks.

 

 

i really hope this is in no particular order because Paulino doesn't belong in the #2 spot.

 

Break up the potential for a team to face 3 of the Sox lefthanded starters in a series. If you stack the rotation based on skill, Sale, Quintana, and Danks are 1-2-3.

What's wrong with LLRLR? Breaking up the lefties equally.

In the end, it won't matter.

In the end, it won't matter.

Definitely true.

I said pre-season that I thought Paulino would be the 3rd best, but Ventura already thinks he's 2nd best.

 

/green

 

Yeah, breaks up the order, and it was a good point that when 2 lefties go in a row, Sale will be the 2nd.

I said pre-season that I thought Paulino would be the 3rd best, but Ventura already thinks he's 2nd best.

 

/green

 

Yeah, breaks up the order, and it was a good point that when 2 lefties go in a row, Sale will be the 2nd.

(I think this setup suggests that Paulino is the weakest, he's surrounded by the 2 strongest pitchers in the rotation.)

Psh, have you guys seen that 1.67 era Paulino had his last year?? He really should be the OD starter, but I understand giving Sale that honor since he's been here longer.

 

 

What's wrong with LLRLR? Breaking up the lefties equally.

Thats what I would do. Sale, Q, Johnson, Danks, Paulino. Sale and Q feature different stuff so I would have no problem with them back to back. Danks separates the two right handers.

(I think this setup suggests that Paulino is the weakest, he's surrounded by the 2 strongest pitchers in the rotation.)

But how are we gonna sweep series' with Paulino in the middle of our two best?

But how are we gonna sweep series' with Paulino in the middle of our two best?

Jose Dariel Abreu 7/7, 5 HR, 14 RBI.

I prefer Sale/Q/Johnson/Danks/Paulino. Screw the LRLRL, Paulino is NOT a #2.

I prefer Sale/Q/Johnson/Danks/Paulino. Screw the LRLRL, Paulino is NOT a #2.

 

Paulino's first opponent is Kevin Correia, and then the Rockies #3 starter.

 

The order doesn't matter, and I think most of the reason why Danks is number 5 is so he doesn't have to hit in Colorado, along with Sale.

 

And again, when they have to skip somebody because of rain, more than likely it will be Paulino.

 

So this is a non-story.

Edited March 25, 201411 yr by flavum

Robin Ventura has confirmed the rotation to start the season: Chris Sale, Felipe Paulino, Jose Quintana, Erik Johnson, John Danks.

 

 

i really hope this is in no particular order because Paulino doesn't belong in the #2 spot.

Next year- insert Max Scherzer in that #2 spot and were golden. For this year, i'm okay with this.

Next year- insert Max Scherzer in that #2 spot and were golden. For this year, i'm okay with this.

 

For the money Scherzer is gonna demand(and will probably get) there's no way the Sox land him at the price he's going.

For the money Scherzer is gonna demand(and will probably get) there's no way the Sox land him at the price he's going.

The nice thing is...if that winds up being our only need, we'd actually be in a position to go after him since we didn't waste our money on middling, back-of-the-rotation FA's this offseason. Personally I still think pitching will be low on the list of needs this offseason and a LH, middle-of-the-order bat will be at the top, but that all depends on development.

The nice thing is...if that winds up being our only need, we'd actually be in a position to go after him since we didn't waste our money on middling, back-of-the-rotation FA's this offseason. Personally I still think pitching will be low on the list of needs this offseason and a LH, middle-of-the-order bat will be at the top, but that all depends on development.

 

I agree with you, we're going to have to find at the very least a very decent LH power bat to insert in the middle of that lineup

Next year- insert Max Scherzer in that #2 spot and were golden.

 

Good god no

I prefer Sale/Q/Johnson/Danks/Paulino. Screw the LRLRL, Paulino is NOT a #2.

That is just as L-R-L as Ventura has it set up. After 5 comes 1, so it's Danks-Sale. I'd do it like you, except I'd switch Paulino and Johnson.

By the way, the other reason you put your weakest pitcher in-between your 2 strongest pitchers is the bullpen. If your weakest pitcher is the most likely guy on the roster to go 3 innings in a start, you want him sandwiched between the 2 guys most likely to go 7-8 innings in a start, so that the bullpen doesn't pile up huge innings on consecutive days. That's the other sign Paulino is viewed as the actual weakest/5th starter right now.