It's almost here and there could be some interesting decisions. The Sox have traditionally limited the number of callups when they're in a race so who will it be?
There will be at least one catcher, and Christian Vazquez is the only one in Pawtucket that's on the 40 man, so it'll be him.
I have to think Joe Kelly comes up for the bullpen.
I think it will be an interesting question whether Roenis Elias, Henry Owens, and Brian Johnson come up. I think it will be a less interesting question whether Noe Ramirez and or Sean O'Sullivan come up. Some folks have mentioned Kyle Martin as a bullpen option, but he isn't on the 40 man.
My guess is that Owens comes up, and I think there will be more than that, but I'm not at all sure about any of the others for various reasons.
Elias has been terribad, not even getting lefties out with anything resembling consistency, I question the wisdom of bringing
Brian Johnson up after he missed so much of a season due to anxiety issues. If there's anything that bring it all back up, the pressure of pitching in a big league pennant race might be it. I could very easily be wrong about this.
Noe Ramirez and Sean O'Sullivan just aint that good.
On the other hand, Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright are coming off the DL. Wright will take the spot Henry most recently inhabited. That means Hembree will go back down and I assume he'll come right back up on 9/1. Sure, they could just cut Abad or DL Taz but I doubt they'll do that.
If Rodriguez is going to be used in the bullpen, they might send him down on a "rehab" assignment to get a couple bullpen appearances in before bringing him up.
As far as non catcher position players in Pawtucket I think the candidates are Bryce Brentz, Marco Hernandez, and Deven Marrero and for the life of me, the only argument I can think of against calling them up is that you don't want to call up too many guys. Calling them all up would be four position players and I'm not sure that's too many. We have games in an NL park starting on 9/5.
Vazquez, Henry, Hembree, Brentz, Hernandez might be the extent of it.
But then there's Yoan Moncada.
I think we all want to see him. He's hitting well in AA. He's been playing some third. If he comes up, I suspect he'll be used primarily as a pinch runner with a little action at second or third and maybe an occasional plate appearance. The difference between Papi's speed and Moncada's could easily be the difference between scoring a run and not.
There will be at least one catcher, and Christian Vazquez is the only one in Pawtucket that's on the 40 man, so it'll be him.
I have to think Joe Kelly comes up for the bullpen.
I think it will be an interesting question whether Roenis Elias, Henry Owens, and Brian Johnson come up. I think it will be a less interesting question whether Noe Ramirez and or Sean O'Sullivan come up. Some folks have mentioned Kyle Martin as a bullpen option, but he isn't on the 40 man.
My guess is that Owens comes up, and I think there will be more than that, but I'm not at all sure about any of the others for various reasons.
Elias has been terribad, not even getting lefties out with anything resembling consistency, I question the wisdom of bringing
Brian Johnson up after he missed so much of a season due to anxiety issues. If there's anything that bring it all back up, the pressure of pitching in a big league pennant race might be it. I could very easily be wrong about this.
Noe Ramirez and Sean O'Sullivan just aint that good.
On the other hand, Eduardo Rodriguez and Steven Wright are coming off the DL. Wright will take the spot Henry most recently inhabited. That means Hembree will go back down and I assume he'll come right back up on 9/1. Sure, they could just cut Abad or DL Taz but I doubt they'll do that.
If Rodriguez is going to be used in the bullpen, they might send him down on a "rehab" assignment to get a couple bullpen appearances in before bringing him up.
As far as non catcher position players in Pawtucket I think the candidates are Bryce Brentz, Marco Hernandez, and Deven Marrero and for the life of me, the only argument I can think of against calling them up is that you don't want to call up too many guys. Calling them all up would be four position players and I'm not sure that's too many. We have games in an NL park starting on 9/5.
Vazquez, Henry, Hembree, Brentz, Hernandez might be the extent of it.
But then there's Yoan Moncada.
I think we all want to see him. He's hitting well in AA. He's been playing some third. If he comes up, I suspect he'll be used primarily as a pinch runner with a little action at second or third and maybe an occasional plate appearance. The difference between Papi's speed and Moncada's could easily be the difference between scoring a run and not.