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References
Buchholz and Tavarez to battle for final spot?
John Farrell stated that now that Schilling is out indefinitely, the final spot in the rotation is up for grabs. “The two very clear candidates for that are Clay and Julian Tavarez. I think we can’t [forget to] recognize what Julian provided for us last year.”
He’s right about Tavarez. He may have saved the season with the 23 starts he made last year, as most of them were made when a regular starter was on the DL. His numbers weren’t always pretty, but he gave 5-6 innings a start and sometimes more. Between his starts and his bullpen work, he pitched more than 123 innings last season.
Tavarez’ value is his versatility. He can contribute to the team as a starter or a long reliever, so the optimum situation is to put him in a position where he can do both if needed. The Red Sox will put him in the bullpen as much as possible since that role provides them with the most flexibility—slotting him into the rotation full-time greatly reduces his value.
Of course, Buchholz’ value is solely as a starter.
The faster the Red Sox can get their pitchers into those roles, the better off they’ll be. I just don’t see how they can do that right out of the gate, given the innings limitations placed on Buchholz.
Regardless of what Farrell says, I expect that the decision on the final rotation spot will be based primarily on what the Red Sox feel is best for Buchholz. This kid has the potential to be a future ace, and they’re going to baby him a bit. Because he’s a young pitcher, and because he had to be shut down at the end of 2007, the Red Sox have established an innings pitched limit of 180-190. If Buchholz stays healthy, that’s probably a full season minus a handful of starts.
It would make sense to start Buchholz in Pawtucket, give him a limit of a few innings per start, and let Tavarez start every fifth day for the first month of the season. Then they can pull Julian back into the bullpen, taking a turn in the rotation as needed, and let Buchholz pitch the rest of the season.
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