The bullpen is an enigma, but there are enough good arms. Linebrink and Dotel are solid, with Masset, Logan, and Jenks rounding out the top relievers. If the pitching falls off the wagon, it'll be after the All-Star Break, towards late July.
Definitely.
One has to figure that the offense, in one way or another, has to come around and as such the pitching staff will finally get to relax a bit. They haven't been overworked, which is good, and Ozzie has been able to rely on just about everyone coming out of the bullpen and that's been the key this year as opposed to last year.
Yes they can.
The starters were outstanding and this year's bullpen is vastly better than last year's edition. And we still have Bobby Jenks at the back end to lock it down in the ninth.
Danks and Floyd have shown great progress since last year, in everything from the movement of their pitches, to their composure on the mound.
Contreras is not the same pitcher as '05/early '06, but he has found something that works, and is using it.
Vazquez is the same as he was.
Buehrle is the only question "Mark." He needs to keep getting ahead of hitters, working quickly, and locating. He does those things, he'll return to form.
As for the Bullpen, Jenks and Linebrink have shown no signs of slowing. Logan and Thornton have shown great maturity over the past couple years. Wassermann and Masset are the only two questions.
I think Floyd will drop off a bit, but that'll be balanced out by an improvement by Danks. He hasn't been sharp in his last few outings, but once he gets his pitch counts back down, he'll really start to take off just when the Sox need it.
I don't think Buehrle will be this bad for the entire year—if he can start hitting his spots, he'll be back to his usual self.
Vazquez and Contreras both should stay about where they are and lead this staff through the summer. This is an experienced bullpen, which I think will go a long way towards not folding come July or August.
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