While some (me) had hoped the Rays would tap Wade Davis to replace Scott Kazmir in the Rays rotation, the Rays have decided to go with an old favorite in Boom Boom, Andy Sonnanstine. Sonny, who was sent to Durham in late June to make room for Scott Kazmir after going 6-7 with a 6.61 ERA/5.13 FIP in 15 starts, will now take his place once he is officially recalled on Tuesday. Since going down to Durham, Sonny has gone 5-3 with a 4.40 ERA/3.37 FIP in nine starts. After posting a career low 2.27 K/BB earlier this season, Sonnanstine has bumped that back to 4.0 in his Durham stint. There is also a case of mono, but Andy's gotta do what Andy's gotta do.
Assuming Sonny will take all of the remaining turns, there is a chance he could be seeing the Red Sox quite often. If you remember Sonny did some of his best Sonny things against Boston last September. If Sonny can pitch to or around his career number of a 4.27 FIP, the loss of Scott Kazmir will be minimal even if he posts a 3.5 FIP the rest of the way. If Sonny makes seven starts and averages five innings per start with a 4.5 FIP and Kaz does the same with a 3.5 FIP, the difference is a whopping four runs total.