Thursday, June 15, 2006

Tavarez must go!


Red Sox fans, didn't your heart sink into your metaphorical scrotum when you saw Julian Tavarez come out to pitch at the start of the 12th? This guy has turned into an absolute headcase. His stuff is electric, at times he's unhittable but more often than not he can't find the strike zone and then the hitters can just sit back and wait for the right pitch with which to break your heart. In this case an overkill grand slam by Jason Kubel (thanks for the career highlight, Julian) that wiped out one of the best pitching duels of the season, Curt Schilling vs. Johan Santana. And Mike Timlin, just coming off the disabled list, could only go one inning, after two nearly perfect innings by Papelbon.Wouldn't you rather see the rookies get some experience in these situations, as it was obvious even before last night that Tavarez is far from reliable? And to waste a game in which both Varitek and Gonzalez contributed at the plate is a crying shame! And don't even get me started on Coco Crisp trying to pull every pitch into double plays!Tavarez has one save this year -- an absolute disgrace to a marginal stat -- a game where he entered with a five-run lead, walked practically everyone in site and was bailed out by the arm of Willie Harris on a play at the plate that would've tied the game."I beg Red Sox management to get rid of this guy (he's had enough chances to prove he can't do it) and let's find out what stuff these kids are made of.

No comments: