Yes, it was against the Royals, but Kason Gabbard pitched outstanding last night. 3 hits and 1 walk to 8 strikeouts is simply amazing. Aside from Daisuke’s shutout, it was probably the most impressive and dominating performance of any starting pitcher we’ve seen thus far this year. And of course, it happens on the day Curt Schilling, whom Gabbard is replacing (temporarily?) is beginning his rehab assignment.

I don’t really understand why Schilling needs to plan on 2 starts in AAA with Pawtucket from an injury standpoint. He’s either ready or he isn’t and that should be evident from just one outing. My assumption all along is that the Sox are sandbagging Schilling for the end of the year run and post season and don’t want him pitching in July simply to save him. Last night’s performance by Gabbard simply reaffirms that we don’t really need him until later on this season considering the way the starting pitching has been performing.

So what will this mean to the rotation? Well, we still have a couple weeks before Schilling comes back, so anything could happen between now and then. But let’s assume no injuries. Beckett, Wakefield and Daisuke of course aren’t going to be missing any starts. That means Schilling has to replace either Gabbard (3-0) or Tavarez (5-7). I think the obvious answer is Tavarez is heading to the bullpen. He has pitched well, but has given up 12 earned runs in his last 2 starts. He’ll hit 100 innings by next week, a mark he hasn’t reached since 2002 when he started 27 games for the Marlins. I’m not saying he can’t pitch more than 100 innings, but he is 34 and should fall victim to the “only so many pitches in his arm” theory. They may not move him back right away, but once rosters expand in September, I expect to see Tavarez working out of the pen. Come playoff time, he won’t be starting at all with 4 guys ahead of him, so it will be best to keep him coming out of the bullpen and get him used to coming in the game with guys on in crucial situations, etc. If he can be the big out getter in the post-season, this team is notably better.

As far as Gabbard goes, well, let’s see what he does against a non-Kansas City team next time out. But, as things stand now, Gabbard is pretty much what we were expecting Lester to be this year. A decent, quality left handed starter who will give you quality innings. Except Gabbard walks less guys.

He doesn’t have much aside from the great curve ball and we’ve all seen one-pitch wonders fall from grace (Casey Fossum immediately comes to mind) rather quickly once the scouting reports get around on them. But if he can keep throwing strikes, it makes it pretty hard to wait on those 89 MPH fastballs. Plus, I like him becuase he is from Vero Beach, where my parents have a place. I hope he can keep it up!

Side note - Sons of Sam Horn has a great picture of him and his… um, social life. Use their site for any other info you want to know about the guy.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 12:16 pm and is filed under General Postings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.