Is Wakefield going to be a liability in the playoffs?

Question

As a lifer in the Red Sox Nation I can't help but feel a little guilty for not having much confidence in Wakefield even though his stats are not horrible. Do the rest of the sox fans feel this way? Did Aaron Boone (2003) kill my confidence?

Answer 1

I don't understand how he can be a liability. His ERA right now is second among starters (3.36) and he's always been great at eating up innings. The biggest problem the team has had when Wake starts is hitting behind him. He has consistently gotten the worst run-support of any RS starter and among the worst in all of baseball. BUT, that is not his fault and it is something over which he has no control.

When he pitched on Saturday in Texas, the Sox scored 5 runs in the sixth inning which (if I remember what either Remy or Orsillo said correctly) was more runs than Wake is used to getting in entire games. Sure he had two bad starts before that to the Yanks and the Tigers where he gave up 6 and 5 earned runs, respectively, but those games were the most he's given up so far this year.

When you look at the other three games for which he has been tagged with a loss, he gave up 1 ER (2 R) to Texas, 3 ER (4R) to Toronto, and 3 ER (3R) to the Yankees. Not bad outings at all. In that April 6 game against Texas the final was 2-0. On April 23 against Toronto it was 7-3. On Aptil 28 against the Yanks it was 3-1. Not much help.

If you throw in the two bad outing against the Yanks and Tigers that I mentioned before, those finals were 6-2 and 7-2, respectively. So in his five losses, the Red Sox have only scored a combined 8 runs (or 1.6 per game). In his five wins, the Sox have scored 31 runs (or 6.2 per game).

So, I wouldn't worry about Wake, he'll be fine. We just need to make sure the bats are awake when he pitches.

Answer 2

I guess everyone forgets about 2004 and how Wakefield did when we needed a pitcher in the extra innings on the playoff games against the Yankees of all teams and helped us get the World Series. Wakefield demanded that he got the ball to pitch in the extra innings in the '04 playoffs again against the Yankees who just the previous post season send us home and a walk off home run off of Wakefield. Now this just might be me but that takes some balls to be able to do that. And also, I live in the Northeast and I've been a life long Sox fan myself, and it get rather cold up here during post season play and when it gets cold the knuckle works at its best and they way that we are playing it seems as though we are going to be playing in some cold weather. So to answer your question, yes Wakefield is going to be a liability to us. Keep the Faith


GO SOX!!

Answer 3

he's a much better pitcher than his career stats show. wakefields biggest problem has always been the lack of run support boston gives him.
he is a hit or miss kind of pitcher, when most pitchers have a bad day it's not as bad as wakefield having a bad day generally speaking. however, those off-days don't come too often and with the exception of 2003, and even that was fairly excusable given the circumstances (grady little's lack of knowing how to manage a baseball team, and he had already pitched in that series)
with the pitching staff the red sox have this year, wakefield being off shouldn't be an issue come playoff time. along with thier current roster they should also have lester and gabbard in the playoff's which gives you two more good young arms.
even if he does poorly in his playoff starts, with beckett, matsuzaka and schilling the sox should be in good shape for any playoff series.

Answer 4

He won't be a liability if the Sox make the playoffs. He might not start because teams don't need five starters in the playoffs but they will bring him in the game in certain situations where they need a few innings, a key out, or to face a batter he has had good success against in the past. Control is always an issue for a knuckle ball pitcher because you never know if he is going to get the ball over the plate and you don't want to see him throwing fastballs when he gets behind on a hitter.

Answer 5

Wake pitches like a hero in the playoffs. Usually. Boone probably had something to do with it. His biggets problem is run support. He'll alos do whatever his team needs him to do, like giving up a start in the playoffs to switch the matchups, absorb a few innings, or even close. The guy's arm is made of rubber or something. Biceps by Mattel. At least twice he's thrown over 160 pitches in a game. Don't say, "Yeah, sure, but he's only a knuckleballer," until you've thrown that many pitches sixty feet six inches. By 85 or so you'll feel like you need an amputation.

Answer 6

Don't you remember Wakefield almost single handed beating the Atlanta Braves in the playoffs his rookie year when he was with the Pirates? Then he selflessly gave up his start in 2004 ALCS against the Yanks, which set up the Red Sox come back from the dead. I wish there were more Tim Wakefields.

Answer 7

as a sox fan you should know that the yankees killlllll wakefield for the most part

and boone's moon shot in game 7 was icing on the cake

hes a proven starter and he'll do fine bcuz odds are the yanks are not gonna make the playoffs

Answer 8

i think of that the bench isn't the priority. The bench is obtainable in and produces while they could. Stuckey, Maxiell, and Johnson have all had useful contributions in the time of the sequence. i think of that the priority lies greater interior the commencing shelter play. while Billups and Hamilton do no longer play nicely the Pistons falter (ex. interest 3). while that occurs, the line up desires to work out greater Stuckey, Afflallo and Dixon. To be user-friendly, i would not ideas if Stuckey performed 40 minutes on an analogous time as Bilups performed 8 the way Chauncey is playing real now.

Answer 9

I love Tim Wakefield, but I totally get your nervousness. Especially against the Yanks. When his knuckleball is not dropping or stays up, you just know they are going to crank that thing out! I would not worry about the playoffs though. As long as there is no injuries, he would not be starting and coming out of the bullpen if needed. Wake is a class act though and when his pitches dance, no one can touch him.

Answer 10

Don't count him out just yet. Knuckleballers tend to be a streaky lot, and Wakefield is no exception. He could be one of your most valuable pitchers by the time the playoffs come around. When hes ON, he can be that effective.