99 problems but Francona ain't one

There are many things wrong with the Red Sox right now but Terry Francona is not one of them. He is severely limited by the current roster and injuries.

It is making me a little cranky rooting for guys named Josh Reddick, Chris Anderson, Chris Woodward and Fernando Cabrera when the season is on the line. Did we not sign Rocco Baldelli to play when J.D. Drew pulled a groin? So Rocco hits a ball off his foot and goes on the 15 day DL. Throw in the fact that Kevin Youkilis serves a five game suspension during a big series in Texas and what is Francona supposed to do? Pinch running Clay Buchholz on Friday night, sitting Dustin Pedroia are both leading people to criticize the manager. Terry Francona is the best manager the Red Sox have ever had.

Here are the Red Sox three biggest problems in descending order;

#3 Opponents' ability to steal bases. If I heard this right the other day, Jason Varitek has thrown out just 9 out of 102 would be base stealers this season. When Brad Penny is pitching 27 out of 29 base stealers have been successful. Teams that give opponents a free ninety feet (walk, stolen base, error, passed ball) are usually going to struggle. I have always hated it when the team's philosophy is to give away a base. Remember the Grady Little years, when the team would allow the opponent to steal third with two outs without even a throw? That kind of stuff drives me nuts.

Solution -- Penny needs to quicken his delivery with runners on base. His response of "I just won't allow base runners" is not acceptable. Varitek catches John Lester and Josh Beckett only. Give Victor Martinez the other three starters.

#2 Bottom third of the batting order. Varitek and Alex Gonzalez are not threats. With Drew out of the line up, so is Reddick and Anderson. I like Drew in the seventh spot. I agree with Lou Merloni this morning when he said, "other than Youkilis no player is having a good offensive year". The line up resembles a good National League one.

Solution -- Casey Kotchman and Mike Lowell get additional at bats in the games that Varitek does not catch. This in itself is helpful. We can really only hope that Bay, Ortiz(should not dh versus lefties), Pedroia, and Ellsbury get hot.

#1 Starting pitchers #3, #4, and #5. Throwing five innings and giving up four runs is simply not good enough. Penny, Buchholz, Junichi Tazawa and the departed John Smoltz all have been supplying this type of line far too much. When Tazawa went five innings and gave up three runs (one earned) versus the Tigers, we all smiled. This type of performance should be expected not celebrated. These five inning stints are also taxing the bull pen.

Solution -- Hmmmm. Paul Byrd is readying himself for a September call up. Tim Wakefield (shoulder then back now calf) is about ten days away. Who has the second most wins for the Sox -- yup, Wakefield with eleven. Dice K is losing weight and getting is shoulder ready for a September addition to the roster. Michael Bowden has struggled over the last two months in Pawtucket. We are going to have to pray that the current three can keep it together until reinforcements arrive.

These next two weeks are CRUCIAL. I cannot believe we must hope that Dice-K or Byrd come up big. In Dice-K/Byrd we trust does not sound too inviting.