Well, Bronson Arroyo is safe – for now. David Wells was placed on the 15-day DL. Wells hurt his foot during the game last night, and the diagnosis was a sprained right ankle. (DAVID WELLS WAS APPARENTLY BEAMED UP, AS HE DIDN’T HAVE A VERY GOOD START… | AND HE GOT HURT)
This is precisely why it’s good to have depth. Does anyone think there’s a big drop-off from David Wells to Wade Miller? I don’t think so. Lenny DiNardo was called up to take his place. DiNardo has a 3.14 ERA in three starts for the Pawtucket Red Sox. He might only hang around a few days as Rotoworld theorizes Wade Miller could come off the DL and start in Wells’ next spot, which is at Detroit on May 2nd. However, there’s an off-day sandwiched in there, so we may not need Miller if the off-day is taken advantage of – meaning Miller could be slated to arrive and start the 6th at Seattle. We could even leave Miller for two more weeks in the minors and slot in Halama for a spot-start either in Texas or Detroit and then have Miller come up – that way he could start in Pawtucket once or twice and get ready. Wells won’t be back for a month, as Francona said he could be out for more than a month. However, this is an opportune time to throw Miller in there and see what we have. Wells being out for a month would enable Miller to get all his starts in order and then when Wells came back, it would be a much better time to see who truly deserves to be demoted to the bullpen.
However, the Red Sox are giving that spot to John Halama. Halama will start next Tuesday at Detroit. Wade Miller I guess is not ready yet, but should be soon. This is all theorizing here, but Wade Miller has been trying to get in a game since 4/23 with Portland. They got rained out, and again the 24th, so the consensus is now that he needs around two more games. He threw a side session at Fenway yesterday – Monday. This means the next time he could theoretically start is April 30th. He would not have enough rest for the 2nd, hence Halama going then. In addition, the second start could be no earlier than May 5th, so we’re looking at Halama possibly making two starts. Miller could possibly debut for the Sox on May 9th against Oakland. (Okay, wow. Talk about impeccable timing, I just so happen to have tickets to May 9th.) These dates are really strict, though, and he could miss a date or two here and there and end up not starting for the Sox until the 10th or 11th, etc. So basically, Halama will make two starts and then Wade Miller will start starting. That’s my guess.
Some other shots of the game are below.
| SOME MORE PICTURES | The streaker leaves the field as Kevin Millar looks on (the guy took his shirt off and was running on the field waving it, he was extremely fat and the entire crowd was cheering him – he went peaceably), Varitek HRs, Chen warming up prior to game – he looked like he was going to get bombed, but settled down to defeat the Sox, Rest in Peace, Earl Wilson – obituary here, Sammy Sosa on the scoreboard – why did Fenway boo him? I don’t get it, Sosa’s first AB, Sosa in RF, Scoreboard prior to game, and finally, Manny and Ortiz get their 2004 Silver Sluggers awards! |
In addition, Blaine Neal pitched well last night – 2.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 0 K to lower his era to 6.75.
JON PAPELBON
So far, Portland (AA Sea Dogs) is first in the Northern Division at a record of 12-3. They’re 3.5 games ahead of the Binghampton Mets. Papelbon is 2-1 with a 3.78 ERA in 3 games started, 16.2 IP, 16 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 HR (ouch), 0 BB (!) and 18 K. I spoke to his mother today and she said that when he pitched his debut in spring training against the Orioles, he missed the team bus to the big league field so he just went to the minor league field where he was able to get to the big-league field.
“He did feel comfortable pitching … that he could hold his own against those guys, it gave him a lot of confidence. The “Sosa Pitch” as we now call it was definitely ground breaking for him, I think it opened some guys’ eyes,” said Ms. Papelbon, who attended the game. The pitch she speaks about is when Jon Papelbon strikes out Sosa during the spring training game. About half the games I go to at Fenway, the “Down on the Farm Spotlight” ends up being Jon Papelbon (or Hanley Ramirez) and they show Papelbon striking Sosa out every time.
Just don’t talk to Jon on the day he pitches! “He does not like to talk to anyone the day he pitches, we can’t even talk to him before the game. But any other time he’s fine with it. The following day after he pitches he says is his hardest day and he is at the field the longest [that day] doing his workouts.”
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