Red Sox to debut Jhoulys Chacín against the Yankees tonight
The Boston Red Sox recently acquired Jhoulys Chacín after he was released from the Brewers and the righty won’t wait long to get a taste of the Rivalry.
This weekend has the chance to be a saving grace for the Red Sox or just another nail in the coffin. A four-game stand against the Yankees at Fenway Park could give Boston life or slam the door on this awful season. As we’ve seen this season it’s easy to predict how these games against New York are going to go. In 2019 the Sox are an abysmal 4-11 against their hated rival and with four more games on the docket they can’t afford to lose any of them.
Boston can’t catch a break as the season winds down and unfortunately, they need a lot of them. With none of the teams above them in the standings giving up any ground and the Sox giving away winnable games, this season is seemingly ending as miserably as it started. But that’s it for the doom and gloom as we’ve all heard enough of that this year. Tonight offers a fresh series against an exciting opponent with a fresh arm on the hill.
The Red Sox will call upon recently acquired right-hander Jhoulys Chacín to tackle the hotter than ever bats of New York. Chacín was recently released by the Brewers and Dave Dombrowski quickly picked him up.
Now that David Price is once again missing a start due to his pecky left wrist and with Chris Sale done for the season, Boston needed to bolster the starting rotation. He may not be a world-beater but he’s an experienced starter and can offer a day off for the bullpen.
In his time with the Brewers Jhoulys amassed an ugly 3-10 record with a 5.79 ERA in 88.2IP. As I said, he’s not Justin Verlander, but if he can eat innings and not give the game away, I’ll take it. When you deep dive into his metrics there aren’t many positives that get by without a negative to tie to it.
Yeah, he has a nice 8.1 K/9 but he also owns a 4.0 BB/9 with a 1.556 WHIP. It’s hard to get excited when the numbers don’t give you much to work with, however, that may be just what the Red Sox need.
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Since he’s going to be a free agent once the offseason hits, Jhoulys is basically a hired gun for the final weeks of the season. At this point, if the Red Sox want to just run him into the ground to preserve the bullpen they can do so without any long-term repercussions.
Hell, if he turns out to be a diamond in the sand then that’s pretty cool too. We’re fully in must-win mode and if that means getting a bit drastic with the pitching then that’s what has to be done.
The Yankees are no joke this season and they’re having the type of year that the Red Sox had in 2018. Every move they make is paying off huge and there doesn’t seem to be a roadblock in sight. Marching Chacín out against them may be like sending him to the gallows but with several of the aces down for the count, there really aren’t any other options.
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Time is running out for the Red Sox and this weekend could cause the sand to move quicker through the hourglass. If Boston can get some quality starts from Jhoulys Chacín then his acquisition will be more than worth it. Those starts begin tonight against the white-hot Yankees at Fenway Park. With every game being as close to a playoff game is you can get in September, the energy and stakes will be higher than ever tonight.