State of the Nation Address

My fellow members of Red Sox Nation:

We are gathered here today to evaluate where our beloved team stands at the beautiful game's all star break. Best record in the league, three game lead in the division, six game lead in the wild card chase -- all of these are moot points. Playoff appearances are earned in August and September. Championships are won in October.

Let's see where we stand;

Starting pitching -- Beckett and Wake have been phenomenal. Lester, after some early problems, has emerged as THE top left hander (Seriously, who would you rather have? CC?) in the American League. Penny has done his job as the #5 starter. Dice-K seems to be a lost cause for 2009. Smoltz has been inconsistent.



Relief Pitching -- After being lights out up to June, this group has come back to earth but still ranks as the best in the league. Ramirez, Bard, Okijima, Delcarmen and Papelbon have all pitched up to or beyond expectations. Masterson and Saito need to pick it up



Catcher -- Varitek has regained his power. We can't measure how comfortable guys are throwing to him. His ability to throw out would be base stealers is suspect. Kottaras has done what the team needs him to do -- catch the knuckleballer. Offensively, he is not good.



Infield -- Youk's recent struggles aside, he has been very good. Pedroia is fine. He is not getting a lot of good pitches to hit. He'll benefit hitting with runners on base. Green has been a savior. Think where the team would be without his steadiness in the field. Lugo sucks. I know he has done well offensively, but watching him try to play defense is truly difficult. Lowell had a great start to the year. These next couple of weeks will be big. Kotsay is doing what he is supposed to do. Bates and Bailey are two fill ins that if they get important at bats in October means we are in trouble.



Outfield -- Bay's average is plummeting but his power and runs batted in have been impressive. He is very underrated defensively too. Ellsbury is hitting nearly .300 with 40 steals. The line up has far more balance when he bats lead off. Drew has been healthy which is nice. If Bill James and the boys did not come up with the OPS stat we would think he is awful. Drew, while not worth 14 million a year, has done his job. Rocco from Rhody has proved to be a good pick up.



Designated Hitter -- Ortiz has heated up over the last thirty games. Hopefully, he keeps it going.



Overall, there is room for improvement but the boys have performed well as a whole. Offensively, the team has yet to hit its stride. Bay carried them early while Youk and Ortiz have gone through hot streaks.



Things to look for in the coming weeks.



Lowell's return. This is big time. If he is not 100% the team will be forced to trade away a valuable reliever or minor leaguer.



Lowrie's return. If healthy gives great insurance at 3B and probably platoons at SS. Also means bye bye Julio.



Clay's day. Buchholz gets the start this Friday in Toronto. Can they really send him back down if he fires off a 7 inning, four hits, eight k's, no runs game? A great problem to have.



Smoltz's effectiveness. So far a mixed bag. He has shown flashes of dominance. Interesting to see how well and quickly he can progress.

Theo's Move. Hello Halladay? Victor Martinez? Garrett Atkins? Good Bye Penny? Bowden? Buchholz? Saito? We'll cover this in the next blog. This should be most interesting.