....yeah right.
In any case, the Sox are taking my advice and showing extra caution with Jake Peavy. He won't pitch Saturday after getting struck by a line drive during his rehab assignment start Monday night.
The options for the Sox on Saturday include starting swingman D.J. Carrasco, which worked once before (sort of) against the Yankees, or dipping down into the minor leagues for Carlos Torres or phenom Dan Hudson.
If it were my call, I think I would just go with Carrasco. He's a veteran who won't be intimidated by the environs at Yankee Stadium. The last time we saw Torres, he refused to find the plate in a game against the Cleveland Indians.
Hudson is an interesting guy -- he started the year at low-A ball and has pitched at four different levels this season. He's been effective at every level and possesses a 2-0 mark with a 3.43 ERA in four starts at Triple-A Charlotte. But I don't think I'd make the kid make his first big-league start at Yankee Stadium against a hard-hitting New York club.
In any case, Jose Contreras won't be starting Saturday. I have to believe most Sox fans are pleased by that.
I say just use Torres or Hudson and get the growing pain out of the way. Let both rotate Jose's spot and if Freddy starts to malfunction use the other and let the two kids show us what we got IMO.
If they use Torres or Hudson, they'll have to make a roster move. I assume they would have to do something with Contreras. I doubt they'll designate him for assignment with the roster expansion coming up on Sept. 1. Jose might come down with a "sprained AC joint in his right shoulder" sometime in the next couple days and land on the DL. I know I always hate it when my AC joint acts up.
A lot depends on what happens the next two games. If they get deep outings from Danks and Buehrle the next two nights and they don't need Carrasco, they can start him on Saturday. If they get a starter knocked out early either tonight or tomorrow, they'll have to use Carrasco and make a roster move for Saturday.
One thing to keep in mind about Torres -- he's not a kid. He's 26 years old. He's been in pro ball for five years. I don't think he's part of the future plans. There's no real desire to get "growing pains" out of the way with him. He's a fill-in, a "Quad-A" pitcher, the kind of guy who is going to ride the shuttle between the bigs and Triple-A for a few years. Hudson is much more of a prospect, so I think they need to handle him a little more carefully. If they don't go with Carrasco, they should go with Torres. Hudson is still very early in his pro career, and a start at New York might be more than he can handle at this point in time.
Ah, I did not realize that Torres was much older than Hudson, my bad.