Yesterday, the Red Sox made what I consider to be a rather significant announcement in setting up their rotation for the upcoming weekend series against Kansas City:
This matters because the Red Sox now have exactly 15 games left. That’s three perfect trips around the rotation when coupled with off days scheduled on the 14th, 21st and (if they make the playoffs) 28th. In other words, the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 starters this weekend align perfectly to be the No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 starters for the Wild Card series with an off day each trip around the rotation also baked in.
So while nothing is official, the Red Sox going Gray, Suarez, and Tolle during the next three games kind of feels like them writing down their initial playoff starters in pencil. One one hand, I get it: Gray has been their most reliable starter all year, Suarez has a career 1.48 ERA in 42.2 career postseason innings, and Tolle feels like the logical remaining choice from there.
But what do you guys think? Do you worry about potentially handing the ball to such a young, inexperienced pitcher in Game 3 of the Wild Card series for the second year in a row? Does Ranger Suarez stumbling against both the Yankees in that game in New York on August 30th and against Japan in the World Baseball Classic in March make you question his ability to still automatically turn it on when the postseason starts?
Talk about this and whatever else you’d like on this well deserved Red Sox off day (they’ve played 54 times in the last 56 days), and, as always, be good to one another!
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