Sky

Howard has been hot for a month, but there is little reason to expect it to continue and he adds very little outside of the occasional power. He plays no defense, has a BB% rate of 5% and K% of about 27% and his ISO right now is .282, it hasn't been near that level since 2009. Plus he is owed a lot of money over the rest of this year and next, which clogs a roster spot for a DH when internal options are available for much cheaper. Speaking of which, Arcia will be back soon and at worst he can perform equally to Howard offensively but comes cheaply and with upside. As for Revere, he is a one tool player that has some value but not much. I would much rather see Rosario and Hicks continue to see playing time until Buxton and others force their way onto the major league club. Revere himself is not cheap either, and is a likely non-tender candidate this off-season.

He was lucky to make it out of the 6th unscathed. He loaded the bases with one out. It was clear that while his stat line was solid, he wasn't at his best last night. I have no problem with the manager taking him out and allowing a reliever to begin the inning. I imagine his workout routine and his workload over many seasons will have a far greater impact on his arm strength than 12 pitches in a single game. Just seems like a stretch to second guess a rather insignificant decision by the manager. If he somehow got hurt because he went out in the 7th just to reach an arbitrary 100 inning limit, in a game that was essentially in hand at that point, there likely would have been many on here questioning why he needed to even go out for the 7th.

Leading 8-2 after the top of the 7th, I cannot think of a reason for letting him pitch the 7th.