Clay Buchholz gives the bull pen some much needed rest with a sparkling performance tonight. He has clearly been the best starter so far this year. Most impressive was his ability to throw his change up in any count.
Other big news was Mike Lowell pinch hitting for David Ortiz in a big spot. Looks like Lowell will be taking at bats away from Papi.
Also, not lost is Adrian Beltre's error in the eighth. Gotta make that play.
All of these one run games are taxing the bull pen.
End story is the club is 2-0 in Toronto. We need some kind of winning streak.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
State of Sox
The Sox finished their 10 game home stand at 4-6. So where do we currently stand?
No Ellsbury or Cameron. Our outfield has been the worst in baseball. Hermida, Van Every, Hall, MacDonald and Reddick does not remind anyone of Evans, Rice and Lynn or even Damon, Nixon and Ramirez for that matter.
The bullpen has been inconsistent. Okijima gave one up yesterday. Delcarmen has still a shadow of himself. Some guy named Acthinson pitched the other day and Ramon the Elder makes it look like we got shafted giving up CoCo Crisp.
Offensively, Youkilis, Martinez, Drew, Ortiz and Scutaro are all off to very slow starts.
The starting pitching has been suspect. Lackey has been up and down, Lester looks out of sync, Buchholz still nibbles too much and Wake has been banished to the pen. Beckett has been only okay.
Defensively, the team cannot throw out base runners and makes some untimely errors. This whole run differential thing has not panned out just yet.
So in short, we look to be in a great deal of trouble. The Rays and Yanks look to be 95-100 win teams right now. We can only hope that we turn this thing around.
No Ellsbury or Cameron. Our outfield has been the worst in baseball. Hermida, Van Every, Hall, MacDonald and Reddick does not remind anyone of Evans, Rice and Lynn or even Damon, Nixon and Ramirez for that matter.
The bullpen has been inconsistent. Okijima gave one up yesterday. Delcarmen has still a shadow of himself. Some guy named Acthinson pitched the other day and Ramon the Elder makes it look like we got shafted giving up CoCo Crisp.
Offensively, Youkilis, Martinez, Drew, Ortiz and Scutaro are all off to very slow starts.
The starting pitching has been suspect. Lackey has been up and down, Lester looks out of sync, Buchholz still nibbles too much and Wake has been banished to the pen. Beckett has been only okay.
Defensively, the team cannot throw out base runners and makes some untimely errors. This whole run differential thing has not panned out just yet.
So in short, we look to be in a great deal of trouble. The Rays and Yanks look to be 95-100 win teams right now. We can only hope that we turn this thing around.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Absolutely Ridiculous
9 stolen bases in 6 innings!!!!!!
Unbelievable. Victor Martinez is losing a lot of free agent money.
Unbelievable. Victor Martinez is losing a lot of free agent money.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Why the Rays are a bad match up for the Red Sox
The four game sweep at Fenway is complete. The Sox are obviously in a very bad place right now. The Rays are extremely hot. We should not panic, there is a very long way to go. However one thing is very clear, The Sox do not match up well with the Rays.
Here's why:
The Rays make the Sox look very unathletic. BJ Upton and Carl Crawford are considerably better athletes than anyone the Sox have. Jacoby Ellsbury is athletic but not on the level of these two guys. Athleticism in baseball is not imperative. For instance, the 2009 Sox were more athletic than the 2009 Yankees. Having better athletes does not guarantee a better team but it sure helps. Which leads us to ...
The Red Sox have no answer to the Rays' running game. Crawford has stole thirty-one straight bases against the Old Towne team. But it is not just Crawford. Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett and even Carlos Pena have successfully swiped bags versus the Boston battery. Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek have been awful but some of the blame has to go to the starting pitchers. Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz have to give them a chance. We know it is not easy but the Rays will continue to take advantage of this aspect of the game because ...
Joe Maddon has the Red Sox' number. This guy, who worked under Mike Scioscia in Anaheim, has made all the right moves against the Sox. I like the fact that he is unafraid to make a gutsy move. Be it introducing a shift for many dead pull lefty hitters to bringing in a fifth infielder with a runner on third, Maddon loves to take calculated risks. Maddon has also done a great job managing match ups in his bullpen. Of course, it is not too difficult when you have talented players like ..
Evan Longoria. Simply put --- he is the best young position player in the game. Albert Pujols is the best but I would take Longoria and his fifteen more years in the majors right now. Longoria is young, drives in runs, hits bombs and plays sound defense. He also has "game". This means he gets it done when the game is on the line.
I would rather have the Sox play anyone (including the 2009 World Champs) than the Rays.
Here's why:
The Rays make the Sox look very unathletic. BJ Upton and Carl Crawford are considerably better athletes than anyone the Sox have. Jacoby Ellsbury is athletic but not on the level of these two guys. Athleticism in baseball is not imperative. For instance, the 2009 Sox were more athletic than the 2009 Yankees. Having better athletes does not guarantee a better team but it sure helps. Which leads us to ...
The Red Sox have no answer to the Rays' running game. Crawford has stole thirty-one straight bases against the Old Towne team. But it is not just Crawford. Ben Zobrist, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett and even Carlos Pena have successfully swiped bags versus the Boston battery. Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek have been awful but some of the blame has to go to the starting pitchers. Josh Beckett and Clay Buchholz have to give them a chance. We know it is not easy but the Rays will continue to take advantage of this aspect of the game because ...
Joe Maddon has the Red Sox' number. This guy, who worked under Mike Scioscia in Anaheim, has made all the right moves against the Sox. I like the fact that he is unafraid to make a gutsy move. Be it introducing a shift for many dead pull lefty hitters to bringing in a fifth infielder with a runner on third, Maddon loves to take calculated risks. Maddon has also done a great job managing match ups in his bullpen. Of course, it is not too difficult when you have talented players like ..
Evan Longoria. Simply put --- he is the best young position player in the game. Albert Pujols is the best but I would take Longoria and his fifteen more years in the majors right now. Longoria is young, drives in runs, hits bombs and plays sound defense. He also has "game". This means he gets it done when the game is on the line.
I would rather have the Sox play anyone (including the 2009 World Champs) than the Rays.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Dear Tim letter
Dear Tim Bogar,
Tie game, no one out, in the sixth last night and you send Youkilis from first on Ortiz's double??? Are you serious? There's no one out! Did you not feel comfortable having runners on second and third and no one out? Mark Balfour was not lights out, plus Beltre, Hermida and Varitek were all swinging the bat well.
Last night's game was the first of ten home games in a row. The suspended game pitted our #1 Beckett vs. the Rays' #5 Davis, the only run scored by Tampa Bay was on a ground ball lost in the lights (read that again for effect)! This is a game we needed to have and you decide to channel your best Wave 'em in Wendel Kim.
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, we demand better from you.
Tie game, no one out, in the sixth last night and you send Youkilis from first on Ortiz's double??? Are you serious? There's no one out! Did you not feel comfortable having runners on second and third and no one out? Mark Balfour was not lights out, plus Beltre, Hermida and Varitek were all swinging the bat well.
Last night's game was the first of ten home games in a row. The suspended game pitted our #1 Beckett vs. the Rays' #5 Davis, the only run scored by Tampa Bay was on a ground ball lost in the lights (read that again for effect)! This is a game we needed to have and you decide to channel your best Wave 'em in Wendel Kim.
Timmy, Timmy, Timmy, we demand better from you.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Don't even tell me you ...
... are not worried about David Ortiz' start to the season. He has not looked good against hard throwing righties, soft throwing lefties, breaking pitches, pitches up, down, away, or in. It is obvious he is trying to jack everything sees. When he was going good, he would drive the ball the left center field gap. He isn't even trying to do that.
... don't like the Royals' uniforms on Sunday. The baby blues were sweet.
... didn't smile when Tek hit two home runs on Saturday.
... miss JD Drew. His stiff neck/back has allowed us to watch the stroke of one Jeremy
Hermida.
... think the Red Sox - Yankee games are too long. Dear Joe West, the lack of a time limit is one of the reasons baseball is a great sport. I understand the commissioner's office wants to speed up the games but some of us actually enjoy the "gamesmanship" of baseball.
... are against signing Josh Beckett to a four year extension. The Sox now have the best rotation (Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz, Dice-K) in baseball signed until 2012.
... aren't concerned that Victor Martinez has thrown out one of ten base stealers thus far this season. The Rays come to Fenway this weekend. If you have Carl Crawford on your fantasy team, my guess is you will win steals this week. Many of the throws haven't even been close.
... don't like the Royals' uniforms on Sunday. The baby blues were sweet.
... didn't smile when Tek hit two home runs on Saturday.
... miss JD Drew. His stiff neck/back has allowed us to watch the stroke of one Jeremy
Hermida.
... think the Red Sox - Yankee games are too long. Dear Joe West, the lack of a time limit is one of the reasons baseball is a great sport. I understand the commissioner's office wants to speed up the games but some of us actually enjoy the "gamesmanship" of baseball.
... are against signing Josh Beckett to a four year extension. The Sox now have the best rotation (Beckett, Lester, Lackey, Buchholz, Dice-K) in baseball signed until 2012.
... aren't concerned that Victor Martinez has thrown out one of ten base stealers thus far this season. The Rays come to Fenway this weekend. If you have Carl Crawford on your fantasy team, my guess is you will win steals this week. Many of the throws haven't even been close.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Did the opening series versus Yankees tell us anything?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!!
First of all, why would the MLB schedule makers have a Red Sox - Yankee series to kick off the season? I went to both Sunday's opener and Tuesday night's game and the electricity that was in the air on Sunday night was simply because it was the opener. The Sox could have been playing the Connecticut Tigers and it would have been just as loud. Neil Diamond, Steven Tyler, a 5 year old yelling "screw 'em", and Pedro will do that to a sell out crowd.
Tuesday's game did not feel like a typical rivalry game. Seemed like a waste of guaranteed buzz to me.
The series itself told of us very little.
First of all, why would the MLB schedule makers have a Red Sox - Yankee series to kick off the season? I went to both Sunday's opener and Tuesday night's game and the electricity that was in the air on Sunday night was simply because it was the opener. The Sox could have been playing the Connecticut Tigers and it would have been just as loud. Neil Diamond, Steven Tyler, a 5 year old yelling "screw 'em", and Pedro will do that to a sell out crowd.
Tuesday's game did not feel like a typical rivalry game. Seemed like a waste of guaranteed buzz to me.
The series itself told of us very little.
- David Ortiz's 0 for 7 start means nothing. These sportswriters need to find other things to write about.
- Joba Chamberlain had one good outing and one bad. Sounds like a typical reliever.
- Curtis Granderson is not the next Willie Mays, Bernie Williams or even Melky Cabrera.
- JD Drew is not going to be replaced by Josh Reddick.
- Josh Beckett is going to be fine. Signing him for four additional years is good, smart business.
- The Sox offense will be fine. There is far more balance this year than since Manny left a year and a half ago. Mike Cameron, Marco Scutaro and Adrian Beltre combined are a better trio than Jason Bay, Julio Lugo and Mike Lowell.
- Scutaro's error on Tuesday does not make run prevention a failed experiment like the 2003's closer by committee.
Keep faith Sox fans and don't overreact Yankee followers, there is a long way to go. The 2009 Sox taught us that after the eight consecutive victories to open the rivalry.
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