Following the first win of Allen Webster's career, an 8-2 decision over San Diego on July 4, manager John Farrell praised his somewhat embattled rookie. "I think with each passing start here at this level he starts to get his feet wet underneath him. Clearly he's a work in progress, but I thought he made a couple of big pitches when he had to."
When a manager refers to one of his starters as "a work in progress", something is not quite right. Jon Lester is going through a tough stretch right now, but it is unlikely that Farrell would speak about him in this way. The manager's statement probably has to do with Webster's lack of self-confidence at the big-league level.
Allen Webster was one of the prize prospects obtained last August from the Dodgers in the huge trade involving Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Adrian Gonzales. A native of North Carolina, Webster was signed out of high school by LA in 2008. He immediately showed progress in rookie leagues, and soon achieved success at both single-A Great Lakes and double-A Chatanooga. He has good size (6'2-180) and throws very hard with a variety of pitches.
Webby began this year with Pawtucket and became a top starter, with a 5-1 mark in 11 games, a 2.87 ERA and a strong hits-to-innings ratio. Almost as soon as he came to the majors, however, problems appeared. Webster is 23 years old, but has the face of a teenager and, when on the mound, not a very happy one. Most hurlers, young or old, normally show some emotion; he seems to show little or none. Twenty-seven years ago, it was said that Calvin Schiraldi had a "deer in the headlights" look as he helped blow games 6 and 7 of the World Series. I don't see Webster so much as afraid as overwhelmed by the majors. He seems unprepared for the pressure of pitching to teams like Detroit with Miguel Cabrera ready to hit one of his pitches 450 feet. Even in the dugout after his recent outing in Seattle, he could be seen with the same expression-bewilderment.
Sox management obviously have high hopes for Webster, constantly expressing confidence that he will improve. But Tuesday night was the last straw- 7 runs in 2-plus innings. In first frames alone, he has been touched for 11 runs. In six starts, his ERA is close to 10.Webby is now back in Pawtucket, and may be there for a while.
Though the team is playing very well on the West Coast, the uncertainly surrounding the return and future effectiveness of Clay Buchholz leaves a pretty big hole in the rotation. Webster was considered a good candidate to fill it, but his maturity seems to be a big issue. He will have to prove in triple-A that he has the mentality to make it in the big leagues.
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