July 7, 2008

Masterson Sent To AAA, Pen

Rob Bradford, Herald:
Terry Francona just announced Justin Masterson will be headed to the bullpen, starting with a stint in Pawtucket.
Judging from his splits, I assume the Sox are looking at Masterson as more of a specialist against RHB.
         PA   AVG   OBP   SLG
v LHB 132 .236 .379 .453
V RHB 98 .170 .255 .261
I like this move. The bullpen obviously needs help, it's always nice to have possible solutions in-house (while Masterson is clearly learning inning-by-inning, he has not seemed overwhelmed in the slightest) and Clay Buchholz is better suited to the rotation this year.

(SoSH discussion)

Gumball Bailey is taking Masterson's place on the roster.

6 comments:

Jack Marshall said...

Start a pool: Whose place does he take? I would assume it would be between Hansen and Timlin.

laura k said...

It's a smart move, I like it.

nixon33 said...

if it means that masterson will come in and not give up two tying runs to the yankees in late innings, thats fine with me.

Rob said...

Some think he could be used as a 7th/8th inning guy to bridge to Bot.

Patrick said...

Who will take over in the 5 spot? Double H or Triple H?

Patrick said...

On SoSH people are saying Masterson would be a Roogy at best.

Others have made the good point that Justin would likely throw harder coming out of the pen, adding more movement and velocity to his pitches. That would make it harder for everyone to hit him.

This is a good move. The giant Jamaican made such a seamless transition to the majors, I wouldn't be surprised to see an equally seamless transish to the pen.

And to answer my question above, double H.