Curt Schilling is now on the 25-man roster, and Javier Lopez is not.
Lopez, a submarining lefty who had found a niche in the bullpen, was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Schilling, getting the boot over Manny Delcarmen and Kyle Snyder.
I can understand booting Delcarmen ahead of Snyder, as both are righties, but booting Lopez? Both Delcarmen and Lopez had options, and the easy way out certainly is to choose one ahead of Kyle Snyder … but was the right choice made?
Manny Delcarmen has been a force recently, but is starting to be squeezed out due to the arrival of Eric Gagne. It would have made sense to option him down so he gets more work. However, it’s completely understandable that we wouldn’t want to option a vital cog.
But Javier Lopez over Kyle Snyder?
Lopez has thrown 31.1 innings, compiling a 2.87 ERA. Compare this to Kyle Snyder, who just finished walking two batters and coughing up a run. He has a 2.68 ERA in 40.1 IP. Let’s break it down by month:
APRIL: Lopez pitched a scant three innings, giving up no runs. Snyder posted a 2.84 ERA in 6.1 IP.
MAY: Lopez pitched 7.2 IP of a 4.70 ERA. Snyder had a 0.79 ERA in 11.1 IP.
JUNE: Lopez pitched nine innings of 3.00 ERA ball, while Snyder repeated his 11.1 IP, posting a 3.97 ERA.
JULY: Lopez got up to 10 innings, posting an ERA of 2.61, while Snyder posted a 3.72 ERA in 9.2 IP.
AUGUST: Lopez was at 1.1 innings, giving up no runs. Snyder is at 2.1 innings, one run, two strikeouts and four walks.
A sidearm lefty or a soft-tossing righty? I pick Lopez. And I’m sure Lopez will be back soon to correct this injustice.
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Why keep Lopez? The only thing he has is him being a lefty, but that doesn’t matter here. Lopez is not all that great against lefties. He is in no way a LOOGY. I would much rather last a month with no lefties than have to dump Snyder. It makes zero sense to get rid of a good arm because we need a weaker lefty in the pen.
Lopez has been outperforming Snyder lately…
Snyder has one significant edge over Lopez: he’s a reasonably effective long reliever. This isn’t something we need very often, but it’s quite a handy thing to have around at times. Like, for instance, extra-inning games.
Evan, your post implies that Snyder has no options, and would have to be DFA’d. I wouldn’t do that, because he is a useful component in the bullpen. And if the choice then effectively boils down to Lopez vs. Delcarmen, then obviously Delcarmen is a more valuable performer — even after the addition of Gagne.
Lopez has done nothing to deserve demotion, but the Sox have a really nice problem: too many good pitchers. He’ll be back.
Snyder – no options
Lopez – options left
Theo loves Snyder – so Lopez’s option is used.
Also, with Schilling coming back, Lester still running up his pitch count, and Wakefield’s potential to suddenly stop throwing strikes at any time, there is the potential for a lot of bullpen innings in the near future. Lopez usually doesn’t pitch a full inning in high-leverage situations, anyway, so Delcarmen stays because 3 high-quality righty relievers are better than 2. Snyder can give a lot more innings than Lopez, and Lopez doesn’t need to be cut in order to make room. Plus, there is still a lefty in the pen in Oki. Lopez will probably make the playoff roster as the LOOGY, but is a waste of a roster spot until then.
Snyder is more valuable than Lopez is right now as he is the best option for coming out of the bullpen and eating innings in a game that the Sox are not yet conceding. In the playoffs, clearly, Lopez will have more value (Snyder won’t even make the postseason roster), but for now, that one batter Lopez COULD get out can be shut down by Delcarmen or Gagne instead.