Bullpen 2024

If Whitlock and Houck both do end up in the starting rotation, which I’ll continue to doubt until it happens, I’ll expect Winckowski in the bullpen as the long guy. Keep him semi-stretched but still in MLB.

www.sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/podcasts-other-milb-media-stuff.41269/

I don't know if Justin Slaten should get his own thread so I'll put this here. I wandered over to SOSH last night, the place I use to frequent and post about 10 years ago and found this interview with Slaten I thought was interesting. A few highlights if you don't want to spend the hour to listen:

Justin was struggling in 2022 when Jack Leiter, after returning from the futures game, showed him how Shane Baz threw his cutter. Later on a Texas coach told him it might be the best pitch in the system. (Makes you wonder why he wasn't protected and if he could be almost as big a steal as Whitlock).

Pitching in Boston in April wont bother him because he said nothing could be worse than his college experience pitching in March in New Mexico in 30 degree weather with huge wind.

He much preferred football to baseball until his teen years. He had strong support from his family with his parents and grandparents attending his games and his grandfather being a huge fan of Out of the Park baseball.

Andrew Parker (along with Ed Hand) have done a few other podcasts with players (Blaze Jordan, Hunter Dobbins, Zach Penrod, Greg Weissert) as well as one with Ian Cundall. SOSH is a place where SP is often quoted with their opinions held in high esteem.

Assuming a 5-man rotation of Pivetta, Bello, Crawford, Houck, and Whitlock (although there's still a turn or two remaining), I wonder if they keep Winck and Criswell stretched out in Worcester to start the season, in case something happens to one of the five on the opening trip. Both have options.

If so, the top eight (currently healthy) RPs would appear to be (IMO) Jansen, Martin, Weissert, Bernardino*, Campbell, Luetge*^, Slaten', and one of Rodriguez*^, Jacques*, Booser*, or Hagenman, with Benitez* and Guerrero in the wings, where the asterisks are southpaws, carats are out of options, and the apostrophe is a Rule 5 pick. Luetge, Rodriguez and the latter four are not currently on the 40-man although two spaces could be opened by moving Giolito and Hendriks to the 60-day IL.

If Winck and Criswell are optioned, Walter* and Murphy* would be available as emergency long men, able to swap in for Weissert, Bernie, Campbell, or Jacques, all of whom have options.

Why not just keep Winck, Criswell, or both with the big club in long-man roles? For the club, not rostering Luetge, Slater, or Rodriguez, two of whom are among your most seasoned options, is tantamount to losing them, so you can't keep either Winck or Criswell if you want to keep those three. For Winck and Criswell (not that they have a choice) being sent down as starters keeps alive their hopes of ultimately becoming big league starters (Winck, for one, told @bradfo that he still harbors these hopes and it's not a stretch to imagine Criswell does too). Both have seen how long it can take to regain that path once you've been move to the pen.

2024 is clearly a year that management considers important for gauging what they have in their young depth. Like Winck and Criswell themselves, the club certainly hopes that both have long-term futures as successful starters, so keeping them stretched out in Worcester keeps that dream alive for all parties (at least for the time being -- once the season starts and injuries and poor performances rear their ugly heads, all bets are off).

Barring injuries in the next fortnight, this seems like the most likely outcome to me. Pivetta, Bello, Crawford, Houck, Whitlock // Jansen, Martin, Weissert, Bernardino, Campbell, Luetge, Slaten, Rodriguez

I wonder to what extent logistics for the first two weeks of the season have on the bullpen composition. Like if they stash Cooper Criswell in AAA to start the year and need an emergency starter, getting him from Worcester to Seattle, Oakland, or Anaheim is not a quick commute.

Bad news potentially coming for Murphy soon.

I just read the piece he felt discomfort all through camp.

Is Weissert getting the last spot? This is very surprising if accurate.

Per WooSox Broadcaster Mike Antonellis on BB on the WooSox transaction page: “I wouldn't read into this. Sometimes they have to do funky things to get guys in the gameday system. I've seen it many times over the years.” 🤷‍♂️

I wonder if he's going to be aggressively shopped the next few days here. Coming off his 2023 I gotta think there's some team that would be happy to have him on their 26 making the minimum

They've seemed a little down on him because his stuff+ doesn't match up with the good results, but that might hurt his trade value as well? He's probably more valuable to us as depth, especially with how much spaghetti we're throwing against the wall. And I don't love playing the option game like that, but fwiw if it was him or Weissert I liked Weissert better this spring.

Looking at the current bullpen set up on the projected roster on this site - we have age (Jansen, Martin) - and aside from Winck, new and unproven at the ML level or on our team - esp now that it is Joely instead of Brennan. Pretty baffling decision.

Could be great - or if injuries hit, or the kids don't have it, could be a disaster.