I'm not sure if we've created threads before the first MLB starts of Hansack, Buchholz and Masterson.... but after a game like Sundays, I figure we need some positivity around here. I saw Zink's last game in Pawtucket, and while he didn't come out on the winning end of things, I liked what I saw. A good knuckleball, and a Moyer-esque fastball (hey, better than Wakefield's heat, anyway). This could go a variety of ways, but unless I'm mistaken, we have a good streak of first call-up wins. Hopefully we keep that going.

Congratulations on reaching the major leagues, and I hope that knuckler is dancing tomorrow.

I like your thread description , so I looked up Wakefield's lifetime record against Texas. It's his worst against any AL team . However, like snowflakes, no two knuckleballs, or knuckleballers, are alike. So, Charlie will rule over TX (crossed fingers icon).

That 13-4 record and 2.89 ERA speaks a lot for him.

I was always hoping Zink could become our next knuckleballer and keep the tradition going for every 5th start. He's not very young, but Wake wasn't too when he started to play, so I'm thinking all positive. Go Zink!

I'm all about the Zink bandwagon. Here's hoping he proves me right. :

I'm very excited. I may have to skip class so I can watch it.

Yes! The knuckleball lives.

If Zink and Wakes are in the rotation together in September or in 2009, does that mean that Kevin Cash catches 40% of our games?

We can only hope he would catch that many games. Better defense than Varitek and he (unlike Varitek) does not make Doug Mirabelli look like a great hitter.

There's only .30 difference in OPS between the two, and you do get superior defense with Cash. Although, I think Tek seems to be improving as of late. Regardless, I don't see Varitek starting only 3 out of every 5 games.

Why is everyone assuming that Tek will be back in a starting capacity next year? He looks completely done at the plate and he's a defensive liability. I am aware that he is a sentimental favorite with certain elements of the fan base, and by all accounts he's a good guy, but it is time for him to move on to the Dodgers with the rest of the 2003 Red Sox All-Stars.

Let's hope Zink can galvanize this club.

The Rangers should test his mettle, though.

I hope we don't see Zink plating a lot of runners.

(/engineer humor)

Seriously, I hope he can succeed at the MLB level. He's certainly got one of the best mentors available to him. I hope he's still pitching for us in 2018.

I am definitely looking forward to seeing what he can do. Whatever the reason, he seemed to figure something out in the minors this year that has given him consistent success down on the farm. The Sox seem to have pretty good success with bringing guys up to start home games for their MLB debut. Here's to hoping that trend continues...

I just hope that Zink doesn't inherit Wakefield's run support. Particularly against the high-powered Rangers offense.

He seems to have gotten a little run support so far.

He'll be back unless Boras is unreasonable in terms of years and/or money. In other words, if Boras finds someone willing to meet what the Sox consider to unreasonable amount, he's gone.

Well, that went well.

Hi Charlie. Bye Charlie.

Flat stuff, a knuckler that doesn't tumble, leaving pitches up, a little bad luck, and a bad bullpen will do that to you...

We won. He learned. We have byrd now.
Go Sox

I'm rooting that he gets another shot. The Rangers are a good-hitting team and he obviously didn't have his best stuff yesterday. And, hey, the Sox won.

He wasnt that bad. He actually pretty much dominated the top run scoring team in baseball the first two times through the order.

My point wasn't that he was atrocious and never should be back again.

However, his knuckleball didn't look good yesterday, he left a ton of pitches up, he had some bad luck in the fifth, and the bullpen allowed his runners to score.

All of which add up to a poor start, and a return to AAA-- that's all.

He'll be back up in the big leagues at some point (maybe this year, maybe not) but while he has made strides in the last couple of years, he will still need to pitch much better than he did yesterday (Texas Rangers or not) to stick around permanently. I admit that I have only seen him pitch once or twice (an on TV, not live) before last night, so I can't speak for whether he was nervous or he is typically leaps and bounds better than that or what, but he looked like he needed a bit more seasoning from what I saw yesterday.

Isn't this the last year we have Zink under our control? I don't understand most of that service years stuff, but I remember hearing that he was eligible for free agency after this year (apparently you can only stay in the minors under a teams control for so long).

I believe he would be eligible for minor league free agency if he was not added to the 40 man roster. We now added him, so we own him for roughly the next 6 years.

The downside is that now that he's on the 40 man we burn an option year in every year in which we send him to Pawtucket. So at this rate he will be out of options at the start of the 2011 season I believe.

EDIT: NN had it right, I was wrong... 2011. I suck at simple math.

A minor leaguer can elect to sign with another organization (become a minor league free agent) after six years in the minors if they have not been added to the 40-man roster. Charlie Zink is now on the 40-man roster, so he is not eligible for minor league free agency. (Unless the Red Sox remove him from the 40-man roster at some point, which is unlikely because they are not hurting for slots and there are some below Zink on the totem pole, probably Hull, Van Every and Bailey, regardless of Zink's disasterous debut.)

In the meantime, Zink was just optioned down to Pawtucket today, so that makes 2008 the first of Zink's 3 possible option years. As long as the Red Sox see fit to allot a 40-man roster slot on Zink, he will be with the club at least through 2010 at a minimal salary.

Also of note is the fact that 2008 was actually Zink's 7th year with the Boston organization without inhabiting the 40-man roster. So he could have chosen to sign with another organization in 2008, but he chose to remain here. Also, he has been exposed to the Rule 5 Draft a few times and never drafted.

Anyone else have catchers good at catching knuckleballers?

Im sure they do... since its, you know, the most overated skill in the world. Pretty much any MLB catcher can learn to do it fine. Except Josh Bard.

What? Jason Varitek? This myth needs to stop. Tek could certainly could catch a knuckleballer. Its a tactical move. A decision the team has made to preserve Tek. He caught Wake fine in the past (though he doesnt enjoy it). He allowed three passed balls in that 04 playoff game... So what? It was the 12th, 13th and 14th innings during a f***ing stretch when Tek caught something stupid like 60 innings in 48 hours(exaggerating for effect). Tek was exhausted.

Of course, Im not advocating Tek should be catching Wakefield regularly... the piggyback system of having a caddy for Wake is a good idea. It gives regular rest to the starter and lets someone concentrate on working with Wake. Im just saying Tek and everyone who is a decent MLB catcher can most likely learn how to catch a knuckler at least passably... except Josh Bard because he was too thickheaded to stay back on the ball like Doug and Cash and he had to stab at it which caused a crazy amount of passed balls. The team tried to work with him on this but he for some reason refused to follow what Doug had done, which was sit back in the catcher's box and let the ball come to him. I remember hearing this discussed on EEI. We dont even know if Bard would have eventually improved his approach because they acted so quickly to get Doug back. Meanwhile, everyone has taken this two week stretch as conclusive evidence that you need a special catcher to catch knuckleball pitchers/Wakefield. This is not so and has not been so in baseball history.

Catching a knuckleball isnt easy, but its not some weird, super rare skill. This myth needs to end.

Well, I would have been eating crow had Zink been lights out in the Buchholz thread, so I'll be among those to say it was a really disappointing outing. The fact that every other guy that toed the rubber sucked beyond belief doesn't excuse anything. They say unlike Wakefield's knuckleball that dances around, that Zink's just tumbles. Well, it seemed to tumble right down to the middle of the damn plate a little too often. We should all keep in mind he pitched on short rest, and it was against the most potent offense in baseball. The year he had in AAA to date suggests to me that he's a much better pitcher than we saw last night. Ideally, I'd like to see him get another shot in different circumstances. But I can't argue too much with the decision to send him back down.

Keep your head up, Charlie.

Bring him back in September and give him another start after the playoff picture has been cemented, to make sure the rotation is lined up for Game 1 of the ALDS.