Red Sox Add Ross Ohlendorf To Rotation Candidates

By Rob Neyer - National Baseball Editor

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Feb 16, 2012 - Honey, I really do appreciate that you spent so much time in the kitchen. I always appreciate it, and I'm sorry if I don't say that enough. But rossohlendorf for dinner, again???

According to , the Boston Red Sox have signed ex-Pirates right-hander Ross Ohlendorf to a minor-league contract. Now, Ross Ohlendorf has gone 2-14 over the last two seasons, which might seem a bit lacking for a team that seems in some desperate need of some rotation help.

But as High Heat Stats points out, that 2-14 mark includes Ross Ohlendorf's 1-11 record in 2010 ... when he actually posted a league-average ERA in 21 starts. And the year before that, Ross Ohlendorf went 11-10 with a solid ERA.

Granted, in 2011, he was awful, but that was in just 38.2 innings. Over those innings he allowed a whopping 60 hits plus 15 walks and 6 hit batters. That’s a problem. But if he was just injured in 2011 and can return to 2010 form, he would make a fine 4th or 5th starter for any team.

Well, I'm not sure if I would say he was just injured. His shoulder was messed up. His shoulder was messed up for a while, and might still be messed up. It was messed up at the tail end of the 2010 season, and messed up during most of 2011. Ohlendorf opened last season in the Pirates' rotation, made two starts, then hit the Disabled List and didn't return to the big club's rotation until late August. From that point, he made seven starts and was terrible in five of them. In his last start, against the Brewers, he pitched five innings and gave up three home runs.

He wasn't just injured. He was injured and might still be injured. We've come to think that doctors can heal anything that ails an ailing baseball pitcher. Generally they can, at least to some degree. The big stuff. But they can't seem to fix Rich Hardens and they also have some trouble with shoulders. And frankly, it's not like the Boston Red Sox have some brilliant history of keeping pitchers healthy. I'm not saying it's systemic. They're probably just unlucky that way. But they sure don't seem to have some magical touch.

Which is to say that Ross Ohlendorf probably won't win more than five or six games for the Red Sox in 2012. But given the nominal cost of bringing him aboard for a look-see, the Sox are just a little better today than yesterday.

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Rob Neyer

National Baseball Editor

Rob Neyer began his career with legendary baseball author Bill James, and later worked for STATS, Inc. and ESPN.com, writing more words for that website than anyone else. Rob has written or... Read full bio

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