In short: I always said that if health is not concern, Jonathan Papelbon is your closer. Have they given his shoulder enough time to fully analyze the situation? I don’t know. I do know that some would suggest the likely scenario for a team constantly being quoted as saying Papelbon’s status wouldn’t precipitate an April arrival in the bullpen might wait a few more weeks before re-evaluating the situation on 26-year-old. But, again, evidently the Red Sox felt they had enough of a sample size regarding the pitcher’s recovery. Prudent or panic? We will see.
One aspect of this baffles me: Word from Fort Myers was that the Boston brass insinuated Dr. Thomas Gill hadn’t been asked to perform any additional check-ups of late. This was the person who supposedly had the ultimate say on the initial decision, and was quoted in The Eagle-Tribune back before Papelbon’s first spring training appearance saying;
“You can’t go to the literature and look at 200 pitchers who have had transient subluxations and say half are starters and half are relievers and this half did better than that half. That’s where my job comes into play. Whether it’s for baseball or something else, I have to figure out what physically and biologically makes the most sense.
“The question they asked me was which makes the most sense, pitching as a starter or as a reliever. Obviously, as a starter you have five days, you have time to strengthen during the season and you have a routine. We have a great pitching program for the starters. Josh Beckett pitched 200 innings and that was because he followed the program. … It’s a routine that gives a guy time to recover.”
Maybe we can get some clarification in the coming days.
Here are some more quotes, which should give you a better timeline as to how all this wackiness played out:
“They said I was going to pitch innings that matter.” â?? Red Sox pitcher Jonathan Papelbon, The Eagle-Tribune, March 23, 2006.
â??Something could very well easily change where we don’t get any help in the bullpen, and I could go back. But right now, the whole mindset is that I’m going to go back to the rotation.” â?? Papelbon, The Eagle-Tribune, September 15, 2006.
“I told (Red Sox general manager) Theo (Epstein) the other day, ‘I guess I’m going to have to go out and win my first five in a row just to quiet everybody and let them know I’m in the rotation. Right now, my whole body, mind, everything is focused on starting. I want to go out there and prove I can do this as well. It’s a little added pressure, but I like that. I like going out there and doing things nobody think you can do.” â?? Papelbon, The Eagle-Tribune, January 11, 2007.
“If I had my druthers, he would be our closer. It’s not happening. We have to respect the medical people’s advice.” – Red Sox manager Terry Francona, February 6, 2007.
“Nothing has been ruled in or ruled out, although we have had some internal discussions. I think we’re just going to wait and see how things go right now.” â?? Red Sox medical director Dr. Thomas Gill before the Phildelphia game, The Eagle-Tribune, March 3, 2007.
“That’s what I’ve always wanted,” he said of his chance in the rotation. “Now, if they wanted me to close and they went out and got another starter, that’s what I would do. But that’s not the route we took, and I’m going to take this advantage that Francona has given me to be a starter and run with it.” – Papelbon, Associated Press, March 3, 2007.
“I felt that there was always that feeling deep down in my heart that I wanted to close. For me, it just kept getting at me and getting at me until finally I went to our captain [Jason Varitek] one day and I said, ‘Tek, I’m not sleeping good at night. I’ve got to do something about it. Basically I told him, ‘Man, I think I want to close, that’s what I want to do.’â?? â?? Papelbon, MLB.com, yesterday.
