Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians ALCS Pitching Schedule

By Dan in Red Sox ⋅ October 10, 2007 at 12:36pm ⋅ Post a comment

Date	Time	Match-up
Friday, Oct 12th	7:07 pm EDT	C.C. Sabathia vs Josh Beckett
Saturday, Oct 13th	8:07 pm EDT	Fausto Carmona vs. Curt Schilling
Monday, Oct 15th	7:07 pm EDT	Daisuke Matsuzaka vs. Jake Westbrook
Tuesday, Oct 16th	8:07 pm EDT	Tim Wakefield vs. Paul Byrd
Thursday, Oct 18th	8:07 pm EDT	Josh Beckett vs C.C. Sabathia
Saturday, Oct 20th	TBA	Fausto Carmona vs. Curt Schilling
Sunday, Oct 21th	TBA	Jake Westbrook vs. Daisuke Matsuzaka

The one match-up here I don’t like is the Wakefield start. He shouldn’t start in the post-season. The Red Sox can put out a better pitcher. When you have three strong starters, there is no need to start anyone else. On Tuesday, Josh Beckett should pitch on four days rest against Byrd, obviously a would-be great match-up for Boston.

Then Curt Schilling, our definite second-best pitcher, can go on Thursday on five days rest instead of his now planned seven days off.

On Game 6, Dice-K can pitch on five days rest.

This schedule works out perfectly because, if Game 7 is needed, Josh Beckett could start on Sunday with five days rest when he’ll be fully rested. The Red Sox will then have used their Ace out three times in one series, an obvious advantage over any other strategy, assuming that, on four days rest, Beckett can be effective. If there is no Game 7, Beckett would be ready for Game 1 of the World Series.

It is still possible if the Red Sox get down early they will move Beckett into a Game 4 start. We’ll see. Hopefully it won’t have to come to the Red Sox losing to get the pitching schedule changed. Read my blog Theo Epstein!

Tags: ALCS, Cleveland Indians, playoffs

Discussion

2 comments for “Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians ALCS Pitching Schedule”

Two thoughts to add…

(1) If Beckett pitches game 4 on short rest, he will need to be restricted in both games 1 and 4. Recent history is filled with excellent pitchers who were not able to bounce back effectively. Very few lasted more than five innings in the second game.

(2) Matsuzaka has pitched poorly on normal rest this year (what you are calling “five days rest” is commonly referred to as “four days rest” in the pitching splits — see baseball-reference.com). He has pitched very well when he gets an extra day between starts, as he did in Japan. Pitching him in games 3/7 allows that extra day of rest. Pitching him in games 3/6 does not.

One alternative would be to pitch:
Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Schilling, Wakefield, Beckett

Posted by Valentine | October 10, 2007, 1:24 pm
True that Valentine. Considering how much better Matsuzaka does after 5 days rest you could argue for the schedule to be changed.

After 5 days rest Dice-K is 9-4 with a 3.83 ERA and with 4 days rest he’s 5-7 with a 5.29 ERA.

My main goal in making the schedule was to avoid allowing Wakefield to start, getting Beckett in three times, and getting pitchers rest. Wakefield scares me because if he’s not on his game he can blow it all up.

Wakefield has had a bad second half with a 5.77 ERA and in the month of September he had a 8.20 ERA. But refering back to how a pitcher does after rest, after 6 days rest career wise Wakefield has a 3.94 ERA in 55 games. I still wouldn’t be optimistic about his start.

The Red Sox got Dice-K because he was a big game pitcher. So he needs a chance to be one. I’d fit Dice in for two start.

I’m still sticking with:
Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka, Beckett

Posted by Dan | October 10, 2007, 4:32 pm