De La Torre making a name for himself
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| Photo Courtesy of WEEI |
Contributing Writer
Jose De La Torre is starting to make a name for himself, especially after last night. He pitched 2 and 2/3 innings with 3 strikeouts and 1 run given up last night. De La Torre's appearance was a revelation. He showed that he is a viable option in the bullpen going forward, and I for one hope they keep him around for a little while longer. At the very least they should keep him up for the rest of the rest of the Tampa Bay series. He's had success against Tampa. He's pitched 7 innings, struck out 8 and only given up 2 runs against the Rays, according to WEEI. But I hope the Red Sox keep him up longer than just last night. He's a valuable arm to have in the pen, especially given the fact that he can go multiple innings
Last night's outing was big for two reasons. He showed us what he can do, and probably most importantly he also showed his ability to eat up innings, like I mentioned above. That was important after the game against the Yankees went into extra innings, and the bullpen was depleted after the game. The ability to eat up innings could also be valuable if the starter works himself into an early jam. He's also highlighted the recent emergence of some of the young arms we've got in the bullpen, like Drake Britton and Pedro Beato (they both pitched scoreless innings against the Yankees). I can't predict the future - Britton and Beato might end up not working out, but De La Torre has had success on more than one occasion. But I think that they will all work out.
The emergence of these young pitchers does not mean we should stop looking for bullpen help. I still think we could use one more experienced hand in the pen to steady the ship, so to speak. I like Koji Uehara as closer, but again, we need another pitcher just to shore things up. These young guys should be a huge help to the pen going forward, but we still need help.
Thoughts? Tweet me @ConorJF1016 or leave a comment below.
