the worst of both worlds?

[sld7c]

Okay so I don't know if this is the case or not as I've only been following the Sox since 02. But is it just me or do Williams and company have a bad habit of pulling up minor leaguers way before they're ready, smashing their confidence with a bad outing or two, and then sending them back down in tatters? Smash em up and then not give the chance to redeem themselves. Sure you could say they can't take the losses experimenting with a new player back when they were in playoff contention, but then why in the world did Schoeneweiss get so many chances? Even though Borchard's pretty lousy so far I'm almost happy they're keeping him up because he ought to at least get the chance to prove himself. If I'm completely wrong about this then someone set me to rights.

[gosox41]

Originally Posted by sld7c

Okay so I don't know if this is the case or not as I've only been following the Sox since 02. But is it just me or do Williams and company have a bad habit of pulling up minor leaguers way before they're ready, smashing their confidence with a bad outing or two, and then sending them back down in tatters? Smash em up and then not give the chance to redeem themselves. Sure you could say they can't take the losses experimenting with a new player back when they were in playoff contention, but then why in the world did Schoeneweiss get so many chances? Even though Borchard's pretty lousy so far I'm almost happy they're keeping him up because he ought to at least get the chance to prove himself. If I'm completely wrong about this then someone set me to rights.

THere is something wrong with how they shuttle guys up and down. Feliz Diaz is a perfect example of this. Either give him a fair shot or don't. but I don't see how shuttling him back and forth helps his confidence at all.

The Sox need to have a plan (a good one) to develop and evaluare their minor league talent.



Bob

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by gosox41

THere is something wrong with how they shuttle guys up and down. Feliz Diaz is a perfect example of this. Either give him a fair shot or don't. but I don't see how shuttling him back and forth helps his confidence at all.

The Sox need to have a plan (a good one) to develop and evaluare their minor league talent.

Sink or swim, the cream rises to the top. I'm tired of reading about how "fragile" people make these guys out to be. It's ridiculous.

[Mohoney]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Sink or swim, the cream rises to the top. I'm tired of reading about how "fragile" people make these guys out to be. It's ridiculous.

Spot on. You would figure that at least ONE of our pitchers down there would have a decent outing when called up. If they have "confidence" problems because they get rocked up here, then why are they even playing the game to begin with?

At least show some mental toughness, if not some actual ability.

[Randar68]

Originally Posted by Mohoney

Spot on. You would figure that at least ONE of our pitchers down there would have a decent outing when called up. If they have "confidence" problems because they get rocked up here, then why are they even playing the game to begin with?

At least show some mental toughness, if not some actual ability.

Experience and toughness are definitely important. But, you're either tough or not, and if you're not, you're not going to amount to much in the majors. Being on regular rest, getting a few consecutive turns in the rotation, etc are all infinitely more important than this "baby the guy" bull crap.

[mdep524]

Originally Posted by Randar68

Experience and toughness are definitely important. But, you're either tough or not, and if you're not, you're not going to amount to much in the majors. Being on regular rest, getting a few consecutive turns in the rotation, etc are all infinitely more important than this "baby the guy" bull crap.

Your point is well-take, to a point, Randar. But at some level you have to realize that losing breeds losing, and the Sox' brass loser mentality of low expectations and negative self-fufilling prophesies regarding their 5th starters serves nothing more than to shoot themselves in the foot.

[jeremyb1]

I agree with Randar to some extent that the emotional aspect is probably overemphasized here. That said, the team's handling of the fifth starter's spot has been disgraceful this season. We deserve what we got there. If you have the confidence in a player to promote him as your fifth starter you need to give him a minimum of 5-6 starts before looking to other options.