Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Speculating on the Red Sox postseason roster

Now that Jacoby Ellsbury is back (and assuming Mike Napoli really is just resting his plantar fasciitis and would be ready to go if it were the playoffs) the Red Sox have their full arsenal available.  Here's the batting order/roster depth chart I'd like to see them go with:


ANALYSIS:

  • I love that Boston has two quality pinch hitters in Gomes and Carp, as well as Quintin Berry (who's never been caught stealing in his career, 22 for 22) to play the Dave Roberts role.
  • Determining the starting rotation is tough, but that's a great problem to have.  Lester and Peavy get the nod from past big game experience, pushing Buchholz back to 3rd primarily because he's only thrown 17 innings since early June.  It should give the Sox a nice mismatch against the opposing team's #3 starter as well.
  • The bullpen looks a little shaky; I'd like to see both Dempster and Doubront given lot of relief work over the final three games in Baltimore in order to get them adjusted to their new roles.
  • I wouldn't be surprised if Workman, Breslow, or Morales lost their spot to utility infielder John McDonald.  There's no real backup for Pedroia, and a defensive replacement infielder/2nd pinch runner/one more bat is probably more likely to be needed than a 12th pitcher.

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