Justin Masterson shows up big

Posted on July 24, 2008
Filed Under 2008 Season | 6 Comments

We mentioned a while ago that Justin Masterson was being converted into a reliever (link) and last night was his first relief appearance in a major league game. He definitely didn’t disappoint.

Masterson came on in relief of Buchholz. There were 2 men on base and only 1 out. He proceeded to strike out the next 2 guys he faced to end the inning (one was a righty, one was a lefty.) Justin went another 2 innings, striking out one more guy without allowing a hit or issuing a walk.

The poise and maturity of Masterson is just astounding. He’s only 21 years-old, began the year in Double-A Portland, started games for Boston, got converted to a reliever, had only a few innings in Pawtucket to hone the skill, and then was thrown directly into the fire against Seattle. Obviously Justin Masterson isn’t going to become the next K-Rod but he could definitely be one of the missing links in the bullpen.

7 more days until the trade deadline..

Comments

6 Responses to “Justin Masterson shows up big”

  1. Michael Christopher on July 24th, 2008 9:47 am

    Honestly.. when I was 21 I was still out every night until 4 AM, skipping classes the next morning, and popping caffeine pills so I wouldn’t fall asleep during my job. This kid brings maturity to a whole new level.

  2. Nicholas on July 24th, 2008 11:47 am

    Looking good!

  3. Soxlosophy on July 24th, 2008 3:18 pm

    Good to point out he ended the sixth with a whiff of a lefty- he even got him (Lahayre, i think) with 3 straight inside sliders to get out of the jam. If he can work inside to lefties like that, it’ll be huge.

  4. Bottom Line Rob on July 24th, 2008 3:43 pm

    Good stuff SA… the blog is looking great!

    I think the Sox would have preferred to get Masterson a few more outings in AAA, but he proved that he can get out at the big league level as an RP… now the question is… who loses their roster spot when Ortiz comes back tomorrow…?

  5. Michael Christopher on July 24th, 2008 4:11 pm

    Thanks! Yeah, they definitely would have liked him to get some more work done in Pawtucket but like Soxlosophy pointed out, if he can get lefties out.. he’s gold. His slider had wicked bite on it last night and his velocity was ramped up more than usual too.

    As for who loses the roster spot.. I hadn’t even thought about it. To be honest I had forgotten that we’d filled his place with a pitcher. Hansen maybe? Not sure..

  6. Michael Christopher on July 25th, 2008 8:42 am

    Brandon Moss it is. I didn’t even know he was still on the roster…

Leave a Reply