It doesn't sound like Joe Nelson was in a position to be particularly choosy, but his phone interview with MLB.com certainly revealed an interesting sentiment.
"For me," he said, "(Boston) just looked like the best place to have a legitimate fighting chance in spring training. ... They're not bringing in a whole bunch of guys. They have the two spots they're really looking at. They have internal depth but not as much experience, and, for me, I had multiple teams making multiple offers, and they just seemed like the best fit."
The goal for Nelson appears to be to win the last spot in the bullpen, the spot vacated by Takashi Saito this winter. Saito tended not to pitch in many high-profile situations, making just seven appearances in what could be defined as save situations and facing almost two-thirds of hitters in situations that could be defined as low-leverage.
Any major-league job, though, is a coveted major-league job. The Red Sox appear to have candidates lined up for either one or two bullpen spots, depending upon what happens with Tim Wakefield. Scott Atchison, Boof Bonser, Ramon A. Ramirez, Dustin Richardson and Brian Shouse all figure to be in the mix with Nelson for the final one or two spots in the bullpen.
If Wakefield finds his way onto the Opening Day roster, only one of the above pitchers will join him. The winner probably will be the one who carves the best niche for himself.
Nelson? The journeyman righty, who made three appearances for the Red Sox in 2004, compiled a 2.00 ERA in 54 innings pitched for the Florida Marlins in 2008. His ERA jumped to 4.02 with Tampa Bay last season as his walk rate jumped (from 3.7 to 6.0 per nine innings) and his strikeout rate dropped (from 10.8 to 8.0 per nine innings).
Interestingly, Nelson has a reverse split: He actually tends to fare better against lefthanded hitters than he does against righties. Lefties have OPS'ed .668 against him in his career as compared to .776 for righties, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio last season was almost twice as good against lefties (1.77) as it was against righties (0.93).
In that way, he's a little bit like Manny Delcarmen. Having too much in common with a reliever already on the staff probably isn't good for his chances, as the Red Sox already have a couple of pitchers on staff who historically have had success against lefties. That niche already has been taken.
Several other candidates for the last spot have their own niches:
* Bonser used to be a starter and could fill the Justin Masterson swingman role, throwing hard out of the bullpen but making a spot start or two;
* Ramirez is almost untouchable (.388 career OPS) against righties, though the small sample size and a relatively low strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.5) means that number might be unsustainable;
* Richardson is a young lefty who misses bats at a Daniel Bard-esque rate and could grow into a complement for Bard before too long;
* Shouse is a one-hitter lefty in the mold of Mike Myers.
Nelson doesn't really have the type of distinguishing characteristic -- other than his "Vulcan" changeup -- that makes him a strong candidate to win that last spot.
He's right, though: It's all still up in the air. He'll have a legitimate fighting chance -- and with the way relievers come and go, even starting the season in Pawtucket would give him a chance to get to the major leagues before too long.
Showing posts with label richardson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label richardson. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Dustin Richardson and Brian Shouse
Dustin Richardson just turned 26 years old and is a strikeout machine. Brian Shouse is 41 years old and earns his living with top-notch control and by inducing ground ball after ground ball. One of the two likely will break camp as the second lefty in the Red Sox bullpen.
With the starting rotation all but set in stone and the starting lineup likewise ready to go, Richardson and Shouse are competing for one of the few jobs actually up for grabs in spring training. The role either Richardson or Shouse would fill would be the Javier Lopez role -- generally a mop-up role with a chance to face some lefties in big spots on days Hideki Okajima might not be available.
The argument for Richardson
The 6-foot-6 Richardson doesn't throw 98 miles an hour like Daniel Bard does, but his strikeout rate does resemble that of the flame-throwing righty. Like Bard, Richardson was a starting pitcher until a rough season -- in his case, a 6.33 ERA in 22 starts at Double-A Portland -- gave the Red Sox reason to try him out of the bullpen.
He promptly put up a 2.41 ERA with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.33 in 18 2/3 innings in the Hawaiian Winter League, and he struck out 97 batters in 74 innings split between Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket last season. He then made 11 appearances in the Arizona Fall League and struck out 18 in 11 2/3 innings pitched.
His strikeout rate alone makes him a candidate to grow into an above-average reliever, and a few mop-up appearances in the back of the Red Sox bullpen would give him a chance to ease into a regular role. It's not as though he's done all he can do at Triple-A -- he only made seven appearances with the PawSox after his promotion from Portland -- but he's demonstrated in the minor leagues that he's capable of missing bats. The more experience he can get in the major leagues, the more quickly he's going to develop into the lefthanded strikeout reliever he potentially c ould be.
The Red Sox will choose Richardson if they want a mop-up reliever who can pitch multiple innings -- he has that background as a starting pitcher, after all -- and if they believe his learning curve would be accelerated by starting the season in the major leagues.
The argument for Shouse
With Boof Bonser in the fold, the Red Sox aren't in desperate need of a reliever who can go multiple innings. Shouse would take over for Billy Wagner as the second option against tough lefthanded hitters -- except, unlike Wagner, he's usually be a one-and-done pitcher who would be called upon to get just one out.
Consider his recent numbers against lefties:
2007: .214/.264/.262 (.526 OPS), 21 K, 6 BB
2008: .180/.197/.290 (.486 OPS), 28 K, 2 BB
2009: .224/.256/.373 (.620 OPS), 14 K, 1 BB
In 267 plate appearances against Shouse over the last three seasons, lefties have struck out 63 times and walked just nine times, a ratio of 7-to-1. Shouse has induced more double plays against lefties (seven) in that time span than he has allowed home runs (five).
If the job involves pitching to righties, Shouse probably isn't the guy: Righties have OBP'ed better than .350 against Shouse in every full season of his career, and he has has walked more righties than he's fanned in each of the last two seasons.
If the job involves retiring a tough lefty, though, it's hard to do much better than Shouse has done -- even at the age of 41.
The Red Sox will choose Shouse if Terry Francona believes he needs a Mike Myers-esque lefty specialist to use against lefties like Curtis Granderson, Adam Lind, Nick Markakis and Carlos Pena.
With the starting rotation all but set in stone and the starting lineup likewise ready to go, Richardson and Shouse are competing for one of the few jobs actually up for grabs in spring training. The role either Richardson or Shouse would fill would be the Javier Lopez role -- generally a mop-up role with a chance to face some lefties in big spots on days Hideki Okajima might not be available.
The argument for Richardson
The 6-foot-6 Richardson doesn't throw 98 miles an hour like Daniel Bard does, but his strikeout rate does resemble that of the flame-throwing righty. Like Bard, Richardson was a starting pitcher until a rough season -- in his case, a 6.33 ERA in 22 starts at Double-A Portland -- gave the Red Sox reason to try him out of the bullpen.
He promptly put up a 2.41 ERA with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.33 in 18 2/3 innings in the Hawaiian Winter League, and he struck out 97 batters in 74 innings split between Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket last season. He then made 11 appearances in the Arizona Fall League and struck out 18 in 11 2/3 innings pitched.
His strikeout rate alone makes him a candidate to grow into an above-average reliever, and a few mop-up appearances in the back of the Red Sox bullpen would give him a chance to ease into a regular role. It's not as though he's done all he can do at Triple-A -- he only made seven appearances with the PawSox after his promotion from Portland -- but he's demonstrated in the minor leagues that he's capable of missing bats. The more experience he can get in the major leagues, the more quickly he's going to develop into the lefthanded strikeout reliever he potentially c ould be.
The Red Sox will choose Richardson if they want a mop-up reliever who can pitch multiple innings -- he has that background as a starting pitcher, after all -- and if they believe his learning curve would be accelerated by starting the season in the major leagues.
The argument for Shouse
With Boof Bonser in the fold, the Red Sox aren't in desperate need of a reliever who can go multiple innings. Shouse would take over for Billy Wagner as the second option against tough lefthanded hitters -- except, unlike Wagner, he's usually be a one-and-done pitcher who would be called upon to get just one out.
Consider his recent numbers against lefties:
2007: .214/.264/.262 (.526 OPS), 21 K, 6 BB
2008: .180/.197/.290 (.486 OPS), 28 K, 2 BB
2009: .224/.256/.373 (.620 OPS), 14 K, 1 BB
In 267 plate appearances against Shouse over the last three seasons, lefties have struck out 63 times and walked just nine times, a ratio of 7-to-1. Shouse has induced more double plays against lefties (seven) in that time span than he has allowed home runs (five).
If the job involves pitching to righties, Shouse probably isn't the guy: Righties have OBP'ed better than .350 against Shouse in every full season of his career, and he has has walked more righties than he's fanned in each of the last two seasons.
If the job involves retiring a tough lefty, though, it's hard to do much better than Shouse has done -- even at the age of 41.
The Red Sox will choose Shouse if Terry Francona believes he needs a Mike Myers-esque lefty specialist to use against lefties like Curtis Granderson, Adam Lind, Nick Markakis and Carlos Pena.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Just another day for Dustin Richardson
It was just another day for Dustin Richardson -- which is to say that he was wide awake at 5 a.m. and ready to go.
By 9 p.m., he was making his major-league debut.
The 6-foot-5 lefty fell into something of a routine during his week in Fort Myers, Fla., staying sharp by throwing in Fall Instructional League games just in case the Red Sox needed his services. He'd gone home to Kansas at the conclusion of the Triple-A season for about a week and a half, playing catch but not doing much else, but he headed to Fort Myers about 10 days ago when director of player development Mike Hazen alerted him that he might be needed in Boston.
He remained on call for a few days but relaxed a little bit when Hunter Jones was recalled to replace Junichi Tazawa on the Red Sox pitching staff, taking the spot Richardson had wondered if he'd fill. Since he had a chance to throw some extra innings and refine his repertoire, though, the starter turned reliever kept right on pitching.
"He came up and he threw the ball hard," said Triple-A Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson, who had Richardson for a couple of weeks at the end of the season and reunited with him at Fenway Park. "I liked his stuff. When you look at him, he's a very physical kid. He's got good velocity on the fastball and the breaking ball. You don't want to lose your head with guys because they've all earned the right to develop at their levels, but I was very excited with him."
Workouts in Florida normally start at 7 a.m., but Richardson seemed to have accidentally programmed his body clock to get him out of bed at the crack of dawn -- or earlier. Every morning in Fort Myers, he was up and ready to go far before it was necessary.
(That might have something to do with his post-workout routine: "It doesn't help that when I get done with my day at noon, I go home and nap for about six hours," he said.)
He was scheduled to throw two innings today as part of a Red Sox team that includes most of the team's June draft class as well as international free agent Jose Inglesias, a 19-year-old shortstop signed in July for a little over $8 million. He was on his way to the bullpen -- it was a little bit past noon at this point -- when word came down that he'd been scratched from his appearance.
Josh Beckett was suffering from mild back spasms and wouldn't be making his start. Michael Bowden was pitching in his stead but on short rest. It was just the type of emergency for which the Red Sox had been keeping Richardson warm.
Ten or 15 minutes later, the lefty was in the shower and on his way to the airport to catch a plane to Boston. He caught the flight at 3 p.m., and he arrived in the Red Sox locker room just in time to pull on his uniform and try to walk to the bullpen as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"It took me until about the third inning to finally realize I was a baseball player again," he said. "I just wanted to hit the fast-forward button and get out there and get it over with."
Said Johnson, who has relayed his share of good news in his years with Pawtucket, "It's always the same look. You see a little perkiness in the face -- and there's that gleam.
Bowden and Hunter Jones did their part to fast-forward his experience for Richardson, surrendering a combined 11 runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Blue Jays. Red Sox manager Terry Francona decided in the fifth inning that he'd had enough, and he called upon his newest rookie with two outs and two runners on and All-Star second baseman Aaron Hill at the plate.
It's tough to say Richardson was intimidated by the prospect of facing Hill, who had hit his 35th home run of the season earlier in the game.
"Honestly," he said to reporters after the game, "you ask, but I could not tell you who I faced. I could not tell you who I faced."
He had every right to be exhausted. He'd missed his afternoon nap. He'd been up since before the sun rose.
But there was no slowing down his pulse on the mound, and there was no slowing it down in the locker room after the game, either.
"It hasn't stopped yet," he said.
By 9 p.m., he was making his major-league debut.
The 6-foot-5 lefty fell into something of a routine during his week in Fort Myers, Fla., staying sharp by throwing in Fall Instructional League games just in case the Red Sox needed his services. He'd gone home to Kansas at the conclusion of the Triple-A season for about a week and a half, playing catch but not doing much else, but he headed to Fort Myers about 10 days ago when director of player development Mike Hazen alerted him that he might be needed in Boston.
He remained on call for a few days but relaxed a little bit when Hunter Jones was recalled to replace Junichi Tazawa on the Red Sox pitching staff, taking the spot Richardson had wondered if he'd fill. Since he had a chance to throw some extra innings and refine his repertoire, though, the starter turned reliever kept right on pitching.
"He came up and he threw the ball hard," said Triple-A Pawtucket manager Ron Johnson, who had Richardson for a couple of weeks at the end of the season and reunited with him at Fenway Park. "I liked his stuff. When you look at him, he's a very physical kid. He's got good velocity on the fastball and the breaking ball. You don't want to lose your head with guys because they've all earned the right to develop at their levels, but I was very excited with him."
Workouts in Florida normally start at 7 a.m., but Richardson seemed to have accidentally programmed his body clock to get him out of bed at the crack of dawn -- or earlier. Every morning in Fort Myers, he was up and ready to go far before it was necessary.
(That might have something to do with his post-workout routine: "It doesn't help that when I get done with my day at noon, I go home and nap for about six hours," he said.)
He was scheduled to throw two innings today as part of a Red Sox team that includes most of the team's June draft class as well as international free agent Jose Inglesias, a 19-year-old shortstop signed in July for a little over $8 million. He was on his way to the bullpen -- it was a little bit past noon at this point -- when word came down that he'd been scratched from his appearance.
Josh Beckett was suffering from mild back spasms and wouldn't be making his start. Michael Bowden was pitching in his stead but on short rest. It was just the type of emergency for which the Red Sox had been keeping Richardson warm.
Ten or 15 minutes later, the lefty was in the shower and on his way to the airport to catch a plane to Boston. He caught the flight at 3 p.m., and he arrived in the Red Sox locker room just in time to pull on his uniform and try to walk to the bullpen as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
"It took me until about the third inning to finally realize I was a baseball player again," he said. "I just wanted to hit the fast-forward button and get out there and get it over with."
Said Johnson, who has relayed his share of good news in his years with Pawtucket, "It's always the same look. You see a little perkiness in the face -- and there's that gleam.
Bowden and Hunter Jones did their part to fast-forward his experience for Richardson, surrendering a combined 11 runs in 4 2/3 innings to the Blue Jays. Red Sox manager Terry Francona decided in the fifth inning that he'd had enough, and he called upon his newest rookie with two outs and two runners on and All-Star second baseman Aaron Hill at the plate.
It's tough to say Richardson was intimidated by the prospect of facing Hill, who had hit his 35th home run of the season earlier in the game.
"Honestly," he said to reporters after the game, "you ask, but I could not tell you who I faced. I could not tell you who I faced."
He had every right to be exhausted. He'd missed his afternoon nap. He'd been up since before the sun rose.
But there was no slowing down his pulse on the mound, and there was no slowing it down in the locker room after the game, either.
"It hasn't stopped yet," he said.
Nuts and bolts of Richardson-for-Carter
The Red Sox today designated Chris Carter for assignment to make room for reliever Dustin Richardson on the active roster. With Michael Bowden making an emergency start in place of Josh Beckett on Monday, the Red Sox needed an extra arm -- and Richardson was it.
The rise of Richardson already has been detailed in this space here. What's not quite so clear is how the Red Sox can release Carter if he's supposed to be headed to the Mets as part of the Billy Wagner trade.
(The Yankees claimed him when the Red Sox tried to pass him through waivers, forcing the Red Sox to keep him on the 40-man roster through most of the month of September.)
The trick is that he hasn't technically been released. He's been designated for assignment, which means he's off the 40-man roster and the Red Sox have 10 days to trade him or release him outright.
With only a week left in the regular season, the 10-day window becomes irrelevant. The Red Sox can remove Carter from the roster for the season's final seven days -- and once the season ends, Carter can be traded to the Mets without clearing waivers.
(Carter, as you can imagine, was the one really screwed by this deal. The Yankees' waiver claim only cost the Red Sox a roster spot for a few weeks, and it's not as though the Mets needed him to make an impact right away. All the claim did was cost Carter a chance to play for the Mets in September -- and, more importantly, to draw a major-league salary for a month.)
The rise of Richardson already has been detailed in this space here. What's not quite so clear is how the Red Sox can release Carter if he's supposed to be headed to the Mets as part of the Billy Wagner trade.
(The Yankees claimed him when the Red Sox tried to pass him through waivers, forcing the Red Sox to keep him on the 40-man roster through most of the month of September.)
The trick is that he hasn't technically been released. He's been designated for assignment, which means he's off the 40-man roster and the Red Sox have 10 days to trade him or release him outright.
With only a week left in the regular season, the 10-day window becomes irrelevant. The Red Sox can remove Carter from the roster for the season's final seven days -- and once the season ends, Carter can be traded to the Mets without clearing waivers.
(Carter, as you can imagine, was the one really screwed by this deal. The Yankees' waiver claim only cost the Red Sox a roster spot for a few weeks, and it's not as though the Mets needed him to make an impact right away. All the claim did was cost Carter a chance to play for the Mets in September -- and, more importantly, to draw a major-league salary for a month.)
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