This entry was posted on 10/7/2008 11:05 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
Justin Masterson is doing his best to look the part of a grizzled vet during his first foray into the postseason.
The baby-faced 23-year-old right-hander has shown age beyond his years while toeing the pitcher’s mound and putting up a 2.25 ERA in four playoff games thus far. He’s even trying his hand at a playoff goatee that admittedly isn’t quite ready for prime time.
“All the bullpen guys have a chin thing going on,” said Masterson, a stunning contrast with Mr. Clean shaved head and a hirsute face. “My hair comes in blond, but – hey – I’ll take it. I’m thinking about getting a little ‘Just For Men’ to darken it up.”
Masterson’s peach-fuzz blond attempt at a playoff beard does reinforce that the rookie is merely at the beginning stages of a shimmering career, and he keeps improving with each passing day. The sidewinding sinkerballer was the beneficiary of a great deal of trust from Sox Manager Terry Francona and pitching coach John Farrell during the ultimately successful ALDS match-up against a right-handed heavy Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim squad as he worked four times in four games.
Masterson has walked three batters and been knocked around for six hits during his four innings of postseason work, but his manager still raves about the level-headed poise that the young hurler brings to the white-hot spotlight of the season.
The eighth-inning cross-up between Masterson and Varitek during the decisive Game 4 of the ALDS was a rare faltering moment during a momentous rookie season, and it’s expected that Masterson’s composed “playoff face” will be back on the next time he’s asked put out a Boston fire.
“I’m just treating [the playoffs] just like any other game,” said the picture-of-composure rookie. “Because if you sometimes make too much of it then you’re only going to hurt yourself. I’m definitely excited, but I’m also staying within myself.”
The Sox viewed Masterson as a key part of their bullpen equation entering the series against the right-handed heavy Angels lineup. After switch-hitters Chone Figgins and Mark Teixeira and lefty swinging Garret Anderson in the hitting order’s top three spots, the Angels hit five righty batters in a row and curiously refused to break up the right-handed bat convention.
Masterson utilized his heavy sinker and slider combo to neutralize righty bats to the tune of a .196 batting average during the regular season, and was largely effective against the right-handed-heavy bottom portion of LA of A’s lineup. The baby face and beginner’s beard belie the fact that the young man – just a year removed from putting up a 4.34 ERA in Double-A – has earned a key spot in the back end of Boston’s talented ‘pen.
Perhaps Manny Delcarmen will be a bigger factor against a Tampa Bay Rays lineup that could be overpowered by Delcarmen’s nuclear stuff, but Masterson is still lying in wait when he’s needed (both relievers had an ERA over 5 against the Rays this season). Most important of all, Francona and Farrell have already grown comfortable with the idea of giving the ball to a rookie as the all-important Bridge To Papelbon.
“The one thing that we see is three guys that we feel very comfortable pitching the eighth in [Hideki] Okajima, Manny Delcarmen and [Justin] Masterson,” said pitching coach John Farrell. “Particularly against a fastball-hitting team, the life that he creates with his sinker and slider have made him become a weapon. Not just because of the physical abilities, but also his ability to keep him emotions in check. His mound composure is outstanding.”
