Foulke Picking Pen Up

KETIH FOULKE / MLB.COM

It’s been said here before. Keith Foulke, when he’s on … he’s on. Foulke, activated off the disabled list last Friday after the first game of the doubleheader against the Yankees, has pitched in three games (NYY, NYY, @LAA) so far. Foulke has logged a total of 4.1 innings to date, allowing two hits, two walks, no runs, and four strikeouts. He has inserted himself back into the “relievers we can trust” stable, which currently houses Jonathan Papelbon and Manny Delcarmen, with Mike Timlin desperately (and sadly, failing at this time) to get back in.

This is the Keith Foulke we know, and so desperately missed in 2005. He would have given us the division. This is the Keith Foulke we know and so desperately missed in 2006. I won’t say that we would have still been in the division lead with him if he had been himself all of 2006 (or even simply not gotten injured again) but … we would not have 56 losses, we would have less.

Foulke started April off on the right foot, posting a 3.71 ERA. It wasn’t the Foulke of old, but we were taking it. He struggled through 12 innings in May, after posting 17 in April. In May, his ERA was 5.25 and an unsightly 1.42 WHIP (up from a dazzling 0.76 WHIP in April). In June, he coughed up six earned runs in three innings, and then he dissapeared, hurt with elbow tendinitis after having both knees repaired in 2005.

An healthy and effective Keith Foulke is instrumental down the stretch. We are certainly facing an uphill battle, down 4.5 games in the Wild Card and more in the division race. I’m not counting ourselves out of either race, but we need the 2004 Keith Foulke, the April Keith Foulke, the post-August 18 Keith Foulke to achieve what we’re fighting for.

Let’s face it. Our bullpen is not good. We have phenom Jonathan Papelbon who has performed so far, but is only a rookie and has yet to test October, which Mariano Rivera has dazzled at (most of the time, but even the best get beaten).

Followed by Keith Foulke – as important as Foulke is, he’s coming off elbow tendinitis and what can be termed as a subpar season from him, followed by a horrible 2005. Mike Timlin used to be lights out, but he’s struggling. Big time. Manny Delcarmen is the next fire-breathing option we have, but he’s a raw rookie who has been touched up. Julian Tavarez is now the sole remaining member of the -ez brothers, and while he’s been a serviceable longman, has been far too vulnerable. Bryan Corey is just that – a guy that makes you say “Who?” Kason Gabbard is our resident lefty longman, who’s probably being rushed a bit too much.

Next year, we should be much better with Breslow (hopefully) up full-time, and Delcarmen and Hansen using what they’ve learned to lock down the leads.

This is not next year. It is this year. And we need every available guy we can to get leads to Papelbon. We need Keith Foulke to give us what he gave us in 2004. What he gave us in 2004 potentially destroyed the rest of his career – the workload and stressful saves he was asked to do the entire year followed by an insane workload in the playoffs – and he’s as good a candidate as David Ortiz to be THE reason we won a World Series.

I haven’t forgotten what Foulke gave us – probably because I saw the most awe-inspiring performance Foulke has ever given. I hope that he can give us that performance once more. He looks well on his way to doing that.