There have been a lot of questions surrounding the choices Terry Francona made last night during Game Two of the ALCS.
Though it's hard to question a skipper who has earned two World Series rings and a Division Championship in the last four years with the Boston Red Sox, some of his decisions last night seemed a bit quizzical to most.
8 comments Last one added 8 months ago — Leave a Comment
matt fisher 8 months ago
why hasn't francona answered why he put in timlin over byrd???
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Scott Stanton 8 months ago
Another good question. The only explanation I've heard from Tito, on pitching choices in that game, was in response to not pulling Beckett sooner. He wanted him to finish the fifth before going to the bullpen. As for the rest of the decisions, who knows.
When they decided to dump Velazquez off the roster for Timlin my thought was they wanted a pitcher to take the loss, and not have to waste your bullpen. They've already got enough depth on their roster for fielders, so it made sense. But then to stick him in at the end of that game, I saw it as Francona throwing in the towel. Though I'm not much of a Timlin fan to begin with. He's had a successful career, but I think he needs to step down and let a new young prospect take his spot. Sure, they might still lose the game, but at least a younger guy's getting the experience.
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andy miller 8 months ago
Question 1: Why did the struggling Josh Beckett get sent back out to work in the fifth inning?
i did not mind beckett coming out for the 5th. he struggled against ANH (not to the extend he did against TB), but the 5th was his best inning against anh. i think everyone agrees, however, there is no way he sould have been left in to face longoria (already 2-3 in the game, soon to be 3-3).
Question 2: After Beckett was knocked around in the top of the fifth, why go to Javier Lopez when you have someone like Paul Byrd in the bullpen?
when asked by nbc why would anyone watch george and jerry's idea for a show, george costanza answered "because it's on tv". this why they brought in lopez. tito knew he would never use lopez in a tight game late, so why not try to get the tough crawford out here in the 5th with lopez. it did not work, and delcarmen came in.
Question 3: Why pull Masterson after only two-thirds of an inning in the ninth and bring in Papelbon with the game tied?
i think tito felt that with pedroia, ortiz, and youk coming up in the 10th against a shaky (to that point) dan wheeler, the sox would have a good chance to score in the 10th. let's put our best guy out there to get pena (insanely scary at the plate) out, try to get a run, have pap pitch the 10th, using the closer for a 4 out win. obviosuly did not work out that way.
Question 4: After the offense wasn't able to get a run—and Papelbon's already gone an inning-and-a-third—why bring in Timlin over Byrd?
lefties kill byrd. i think tito felt that timlin, facing the bottom of the rays lineup, could have gotten you through that inning and theb bring in byrd the next inning. we all know timlin struggled this year, but the one thing you do not expect him to do is beat himself by walking people (byrd would fall into the no-walk categroy as well). Home Plate Ump Sam Holbrook, after givng david price a goft strikeout of mark kotsay, squeezed timlin big time against navarro and zobrist, leading to farrell's ejection. a weak ground ball, and a shallow flyball scored the run, but the rays should have hugged the real hero for them, Holbrook. the rays did nothing in the 11th for that win, but it was apparent holbrook wanted to go home.
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Scott Stanton 8 months ago
Hey Andy,
Thanks for your input.
As far as pulling Masterson for Papelbon, you make a good point about Pena's ability at the plate. I understand he was putting faith in the meat of their line-up, and I realize that Pena hits off Masterson very well. But it's still a huge gamble, and Francona said a while back they weren't going to do this. They were going to wait to use Papelbon until they had the lead. In my opinion I still think they should have stuck with Masterson. Push your outfield back to hold Iwamura at third, if Pena gets a hit, and then pitch around him. If he walks then Masterson has Evan Longoria, which sounds like a threat, but Longoria is 0-7 against Masterson. Take your chances there, then you still have Masterson for another inning then Papelbon on top of that.
I have a lot of faith in Masterson, and I think him and Papelbon are going to trade roles in the next few years. Obviously, though, Tito had his reasons and who am I to argue with a guy who has a resume like his.
Timlin over Byrd, good point. Definitely a tough call when the first three batters up are all switch hitters.
Definitely agree that strike zone took a pretty odd shape towards the end of the game, and it was obvious Holbrook was ready to wrap things up.
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andy miller 8 months ago
Question 1: Why did the struggling Josh Beckett get sent back out to work in the fifth inning?
i did not mind beckett coming out for the 5th. he struggled against ANH (not to the extend he did against TB), but the 5th was his best inning against anh. i think everyone agrees, however, there is no way he sould have been left in to face longoria (already 2-3 in the game, soon to be 3-3).
Question 2: After Beckett was knocked around in the top of the fifth, why go to Javier Lopez when you have someone like Paul Byrd in the bullpen?
when asked by nbc why would anyone watch george and jerry's idea for a show, george costanza answered "because it's on tv". this why they brought in lopez. tito knew he would never use lopez in a tight game late, so why not try to get the tough crawford out here in the 5th with lopez. it did not work, and delcarmen came in.
Question 3: Why pull Masterson after only two-thirds of an inning in the ninth and bring in Papelbon with the game tied?
i think tito felt that with pedroia, ortiz, and youk coming up in the 10th against a shaky (to that point) dan wheeler, the sox would have a good chance to score in the 10th. let's put our best guy out there to get pena (insanely scary at the plate) out, try to get a run, have pap pitch the 10th, using the closer for a 4 out win. obviosuly did not work out that way.
Question 4: After the offense wasn't able to get a run—and Papelbon's already gone an inning-and-a-third—why bring in Timlin over Byrd?
lefties kill byrd. i think tito felt that timlin, facing the bottom of the rays lineup, could have gotten you through that inning and theb bring in byrd the next inning. we all know timlin struggled this year, but the one thing you do not expect him to do is beat himself by walking people (byrd would fall into the no-walk categroy as well). Home Plate Ump Sam Holbrook, after givng david price a goft strikeout of mark kotsay, squeezed timlin big time against navarro and zobrist, leading to farrell's ejection. a weak ground ball, and a shallow flyball scored the run, but the rays should have hugged the real here for them, Holbrook. the rays did nothing in the 11th for that win, but it was apparent holbrook wanted to go home.
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andy miller 8 months ago
Question 1: Why did the struggling Josh Beckett get sent back out to work in the fifth inning?
i did not mind beckett coming out for the 5th. he struggled against ANH (not to the extend he did against TB), but the 5th was his best inning against anh. i think everyone agrees, however, there is no way he sould have been left in to face longoria (already 2-3 in the game, soon to be 3-3).
Question 2: After Beckett was knocked around in the top of the fifth, why go to Javier Lopez when you have someone like Paul Byrd in the bullpen?
when asked by nbc why would anyone watch george and jerry's idea for a show, george costanza answered "because it's on tv". this why they brought in lopez. tito knew he would never use lopez in a tight game late, so why not try to get the tough crawford out here in the 5th with lopez. it did not work, and delcarmen came in.
Question 3: Why pull Masterson after only two-thirds of an inning in the ninth and bring in Papelbon with the game tied?
i think tito felt that with pedroia, ortiz, and youk coming up in the 10th against a shaky (to that point) dan wheeler, the sox would have a good chance to score in the 10th. let's put our best guy out there to get pena (insanely scary at the plate) out, try to get a run, have pap pitch the 10th, using the closer for a 4 out win. obviosuly did not work out that way.
Question 4: After the offense wasn't able to get a run—and Papelbon's already gone an inning-and-a-third—why bring in Timlin over Byrd?
lefties kill byrd. i think tito felt that timlin, facing the bottom of the rays lineup, could have gotten you through that inning and theb bring in byrd the next inning. we all know timlin struggled this year, but the one thing you do not expect him to do is beat himself by walking people (byrd would fall into the no-walk categroy as well). Home Plate Ump Sam Holbrook, after givng david price a goft strikeout of mark kotsay, squeezed timlin big time against navarro and zobrist, leading to farrell's ejection. a weak ground ball, and a shallow flyball scored the run, but the rays should have hugged the real hero for them, Holbrook. the rays did nothing in the 11th for that win, but it was apparent holbrook wanted to go home.
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Stew Winkel 8 months ago
i thought francona left beckett in too long in the fifth. i didn't mind him starting the inning, but he had to be on a much shorter leash. once beckett let upton on, that had to be it. there isn't a great option there, because if i am remembering correctly, pena has good numbers off of lopez. but beckett was clearly done, and you can't let him face pena there. and he definitely never should have faced longoria. i like francona, and i know there are no perfect managers. but one area i would like to see improvement is with getting his starters out of the game - he seems to on many occasions leave guys in one batter too long, he did it in game one with dice-k and was fortunate to get out of the situation.
the other moves, i don't really mind. i probably would have liked to have seen masterson continue, saving papelbon for two full innings. but the bullpen gave the sox 5.2 shutout innings before timlin came in. the offense needed to find a way to win at that point.
as far as timling v. byrd, neither one is a great option. it is tough to argue for byrd, a starter who likely isn't used to relieving and also hasn't pitched in a long time.
liked the article - like you point out, asking questions about decisions by francona doesn't mean you think he stinks or should be fired. it just means there are questions.
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Scott Stanton 8 months ago
Hey Stew,
I agree that Francona seems to leave pitchers in an inning too long at times. Maybe it's just that I have flashbacks to Pedro Martinez and Grady Little back in 2003 every time a pitcher starts to shoe signs of wear, but remains in the game.
Just for reference sake, you were correct. Pena's numbers vs Lopez are pretty good (3 for 8 with a HR).
I do agree that it is a tough call between Timlin and Byrd, neither had really pitched for a while. But the way I saw it was that the game was kind of in a gridlock, so why not toss the guy out there who you know is going to give you 5 decent innings. Definitely a tough call though. Of course, it all could have been avoided had Masterson stayed in and they still had Pap. Lot of options with those two, in regards to having them both go 2 full innings, when you've got a rest day the next day.
Glad you enjoyed the article, and thanks again for your input. I always appreciate hearing what others think. And I'm definitely not saying Tito's a bad manager, so I'm glad that was clear. Who could argue with a manager who's wearing two World Series rings?
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