Behind this group is , arguably the best pitching prospect the Red Sox have: a 20-year-old lefty who has obliterated Double-A competition in his short time as one of the Eastern League's youngest arms. He might need a place in Pawtucket sooner than later, so add him to the list of roadblocks.
It's obvious there's a logjam, both in the majors and the minors, and that the answer is to either trade some of this pitching, or to convert some of it to relief. The former might present itself this off-season, but all of that depends entirely on the kind of return available. The thing the Red Sox have complete control over is sending one of these young arms to the bullpen: the question shouldn't so much be "should they" as it is "who?"
De La Rosa makes the most sense. Brandon Workman is in relief now,NFL Jets Jersey, and could end up there in the future, too, but he has the large body and the development curve that makes it look like he's a possible workhorse in his prime. Even if Workman is "only" an average starter in terms of ERA, if he can approach or surpass 200 innings while on a cost-controlled contract,Jeremy Kerley #11 Jersey, that's huge value for the Red Sox. It's worth seeing if he can hit that ceiling while the opportunity is there at Triple-A. Webster, Barnes, and Ranaudo are all superior pitching prospects with higher floors and equivalent ceilings to De La Rosa, and they are also all younger: there's more time for them to raise that floor even higher,Wholesale Nike New York Jets Jersey, or continue to push up their ceiling, with their performances at Triple-A. Wright isn't the prospect of any of these pitchers, but that's only because of the unpredictable nature of his pitch,Hicks- Miley Cyrus says she made history, the knuckler: he has a chance to be a productive big-league (rubber) arm, and he has two options remaining, meaning the Sox can bounce him back-and-forth as necessary for quite some time yet.
Anthony Ranaudo reemerged as a legitimate pitching prospect this summer (Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports
Then there's De La Rosa, who will be 25 next season, and has missed significant development time thanks to Tommy John surgery. He has thrown all of 80 innings for Triple-A Pawtucket, in part because of a slow increase in his innings as the year went on and he rebuilt his arm strength, but also because he averaged fewer than 4-2/3 innings per start in the 11 appearances after the Sox let him loose for five-plus frames per outing. The Sox have used him exclusively in relief in the short time he's been in the majors, and since August, that's also the role he's been in with the PawSox. It could very well be for the same reasons Workman finds himself in relief -- De La Rosa is back in Boston in a relief role now that rosters have expanded for September -- but it could also be the Red Sox transitioning him towards a more permanent role.
‹ premature aging This TV comes with a dual core processor ›
