MLB Notes with McGowan
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
There aren’t many teams in baseball that can do what the Tampa Bay Rays did Monday evening. With its pitching staff in need of rest, the team brought up a minor leaguer to make a start. Only Jeremy Hellickson isn’t your average spot starter. The 23 year old is one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball and if it weren’t for the Rays already having such a deep pitching staff, he probably would have joined the rotation at the beginning of the season.
In his Major League debut, Hellickson didn’t disappoint. The right hander retired the first ten batters he faced and shut down the Minnesota Twins over seven innings, picking up the victory. He was so impressive that Rays Manager Joe Maddon said he plans to use Hellickson out of the bullpen when rosters expand in September, a move identical to the one he made with David Price in 2008. Price, of course, helped lead the Rays to the pennant that year and is now a Cy Young Award candidate.
Maddon’s announcement came two days after the Rays, much like the Red Sox, failed to make a meaningful move at the trade deadline. But if Hellickson, who scouts say already has one of the best changeups in the game, can put up the numbers Price did two years ago, his call up could turn out to be the most impactful move any contender makes this season.
Logo
Sox don’t have a Hellickson
If you were disappointed with Sox lack of activity at the deadline, here’s a thought that should make you downright worried about the team’s future: Even if a headline-grabbing player like Adrian Gonzalez or Prince Fielder was made available, the team would have had little chance of trading for them.
The reason: The Sox have a minor league system only slightly more impressive than the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League roster.
Right now, the team’s top prospect is Casey Kelly, a 20 year old pitching in Portland for the Sea Dogs. Kelly projects as a frontline starter and has a great baseball pedigree –his father Pat played in the big leagues—but he only committed to pitching fulltime this year. Chances are Kelly is two-to-three years from contributing to the big league roster.
After Kelly and Ryan Kalish, the system quickly thins out. Kalish, who was called up over the weekend, is not exactly projected to be a big league star and the rest of the team’s top prospects aren’t even close to being ready for the Major Leagues. If the Sox wanted a top notch player at the deadline, they probably would have had to part ways with Clay Buchholz, who arguably has been the team’s best pitcher.
Pitching has been the problem
All the talk about the Sox underwhelming offense has allowed its real problem to go unnoticed. Aside from Jon Lester and Buchholz, the team’s starting pitching has been at-or-below league average in nearly every statistical category.
John Lackey, who the Sox signed for $82.5 million in the offseason, has led a pitching staff that has allowed the second-most walks in the American League. Combine that with Josh Beckett’s injury-plagued season and the fact that Daisuke Matsuzaka has only pitched into the seventh inning six times over the past two seasons and you’ve got a pitching staff making a lot of money but not contributing the way it should.
Light at the end of the tunnel
Despite not making splash at the deadline and its pitching woes, the team is still just 6.5 back in the Wild Card race. With two months to play and 16 games left to play against the Yankees and Rays, the Sox can make up the deficit. But for that to happen, the pitching staff needs to get itself in order. Unfortunately, Jeremy Hellickson isn’t walking through that door.
The key will be Beckett. If he can establish himself as the frontline starter he has been for his entire career, the Sox will be awfully dangerous down the stretch. He’s had a couple of consecutive solid starts. Now it’s time to get back to pitching like the Beckett of old.
Related Articles
- Still Too Early to Write Off the Sox?
- Still the Best All-Star Game Around
- The 2010 Red Sox: What You See Is What You Get!
- Introducing: Baseball Notes
- The Boston Dead Sox
- 2010 Red Sox: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
- Time For Sox to Put Up or Shut Up!
- A Sign of Life
- Boston #1 in Sport - Forbes
- Scott Cordischi On Sports
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It