Throughout last week’s struggles that saw the Sox go 1-6 over their Baltimore & Detroit, you heard many complaints about the first-place team from fans. The most consistent, however were those about the starting rotation that struggled mightily in all cases outside of spot starter Dylan Axelrod, who dazzled Camden Yards.
The “Axe Man” has a 0.96 ERA in his wins so far in 2012. Credit: UC Irvine Sports
With just under a month’s worth of games left in the 2012 regular season, it’s strange that we’re discussing Axelrod and fellow spot starter Hector Santiago in such great detail, but it’s looking like they’re both going to be important down the stretch.
With John Danks on the disabled list for the rest of the year (and since May) and Gavin Floyd temporarily shelved and still experiencing soreness, many wonder if the workload for the likes of Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, who are both already in unchartered waters for personal innings pitched in a season, is becoming too great. The Sox have prided themselves on giving them ample rest whenever they thought it’d be a benefit to themselves and the team, and with the other injury problems the team is having, it makes it much harder to spread the youngsters out and give them ‘extra’ rest.
Current bullpen long-man Phil Humber, who threw the 21st perfect game in the MLB’s history this past April has given the Sox evidence time and time again that he’s not the guy that can pick up the extra slack and eat up major innings in a spot start role; he’s been consistently inconsistent in the rotation all throughout 2012 and has even struggled in a very limited bullpen role.
Sometimes the more complex stats or “splits” help tell the story the best … and sometimes its the simpler ones are completely sufficient. I feel the latter is the case for Humber this year. In a very fair sample size of 100 2/3 IP his ERA is 5.81 to go along with a 1.47 WHIP and a 14.37 ERA in his losses. I don’t think I need to delve in much further … you guys get what I’m gettin’ at.
But with all those negatives being said, the two unexpected names that we brought up earlier – Dylan Axelrod and Hector Santiago – may just be the solution and the Sox’ way to nip the ‘IP bug’ in the bud.
Monday night Hector Santiago made his first big league start after proving he can be stretched out with some impressive long-man work out of the ‘pen. He looked very good, going 6.0 innings and only letting up 3 hits and 1 earned run which came on a Jamey Carroll solo home run, his first since 2009. Axelrod last pitched Tuesday in Baltimore, tossing 7.1 innings of 1-run ball that led to the Sox’ only victory of the road trip.
If these guys can serve as consistently reliable options to pick up starts here and there, it could really go a long way to help save Chris Sale and Jose Quintana’s arms, all while not rushing Gavin Floyd back.
“Screwgie” looks much more comfortable as a starter than as a closer. Credit: daylife.com
Going forward, 11 of the Sox’ final 28 games are against the Twins and Indians, two lefty-heavy lineups. I wouldn’t put it past Robin Ventura and Don Cooper to call upon southpaw Hector Santiago for a couple of those games if needed. It’s thought that Dylan Axelrod, who rejoined the Sox Tuesday will be the starter for the afternoon game on Sunday in Minnesota, which is technically the next time that Hector Santiago, or at least that spot in the rotation is due up.
It’s hard to predict exactly where else Axelrod could predict into the schedule, but he has done well facing some good offenses that were rather unfamiliar with him. He’s done well against the Red Sox, Yankees, and Orioles this year, all tough American League East Division foes. While I know this sounds no more accurate than shootin’ fish in a barrel, maybe team management will send him out there against the Rays when they come to town September 27-30th for a 4-game set that is in the middle of the Sox finishing the season playing a game in each of the final 16 days.
Some players rest may be needed there, though that is obviously a period of time where you need to run out your best players every day if they can muster up the strength.
The other variable to look at is that “Axe” has done very well on the road, so maybe they’d be inclined to trot him out there away from US Cellular Field, like they probably are at Target Field on Sunday.
Wherever and whenever Hector Santiago and Dylan Axelrod start, it looks like they may be viable options to help other, more prominent players stay rested for a hopeful playoff run. Moral of the story – these guys are valuable assets to the team. They may be after thoughts when it’s all said and done, but for now lets appreciate them much like we’ve been “appreciating the game” all year.
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Posted by GSB! Founder and Managing Editor, Zach Gropper.