AL EAST 2009

[Jimbo]

You must have missed Tazawa hitting Cabrera and Martinez having words with Porcello after having to jackknife away from an inside pitch. This happened earlier in the game. Also, there were a total of 3 HBP's the night before, Cabrera and Youk among them.

One thing for sure, Youk has to work on his takedown move....

Cabrera got hit twice before the Youk incident.

Victor needed to relax, they are allowed to pitch inside and it was NOT going to hit him ... remember, if they go back to not allowing pitchers to pitch inside, well see worse games than we do now.
Already have a strike zone the size of a brief case.
Now you gonna allow the guy to hang over the plate too ?

 

[Jimbo]

From May 1 through the present, Beckett has been the best pitcher in all of baseball.

Unfortunately it's Beckett and Lester, and hope for the bestah!

From May 1st, I'll still take Verlander.

 

[BillD1984]

I'm not seeing many holes , Sox beating up on the Tigers pretty regularly.

While it's true that the Sox have looked good the last three nights, I STILL don't trust this team over the long haul.

Look, I really hope I'm wrong, but I still say this team has holes (except for the bullpen).

 

[vurbano]

Against good pitching and solid hitting they stink.

 

[Jimbo]

While it's true that the Sox have looked good the last three nights, I STILL don't trust this team over the long haul.

Look, I really hope I'm wrong, but I still say this team has holes (except for the bullpen).

As usual, if the Tigers don't make it ... and they still can, there's still a lot of games left. I'll root for the Red Sox .
Only way I'll root for the yankees is if they play the White Sox in the playoffs.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Cabrera got hit twice before the Youk incident.

Yep, already said that, guess you missed it.

Victor needed to relax, they are allowed to pitch inside and it was NOT going to hit him ... remember, if they go back to not allowing pitchers to pitch inside, well see worse games than we do now.
Already have a strike zone the size of a brief case.
Now you gonna allow the guy to hang over the plate too ?

Never said anyone was right or wrong, just mentioning that there were plenty of HBPs to go around....

 

[BillD1984]

From May 1st, I'll still take Verlander.

While you're certainly entitled to your opinion, Beckett has been lights out since May 1. Beckett is now 14-4 with a 3.10 ERA a WHIP of 1.11 and 145 K's in 157 IP, and he absolutely SUCKED in April.

Meanwhile, Verlander is 12-6/3.45 with a WHIP of 1.19 in 159.1 IP. He does have a significant advantage in K's with 186.

Again, I said Beckett has been the best pitcher in baseball since May 1. Beckett's stats that I provided include his dismal April, when his ERA was somewhere north of 8.

So unless Verlander was as bad or worse than Beckett in April, I don't know how you can say he's pitched better than Beckett since May 1.

 

[Mets82]

Sad to say and I certainly hope I'm wrong, but I have to agree.

There's just too many holes right now..........

Just trying to be real about it.

Hey, Bill. I was wondering what had happened to the Sox. I mean I needed them to beat the Yankees. I mean is this just a rough patch or are they in trouble. I thought they pitched well but couldnt hit. I will say watch out for Victor Martinez. I think this guy will help this team and not get a hit here and there.

 

[BillD1984]

Hey, Bill. I was wondering what had happened to the Sox. I mean I needed them to beat the Yankees. I mean is this just a rough patch or are they in trouble. I thought they pitched well but couldnt hit. I will say watch out for Victor Martinez. I think this guy will help this team and not get a hit here and there.

The starting rotation after Beckett and Lester is in a state of flux right now.

It's funny because most Sox observers (myself included) thought the starting rotation was as deep as the bullpen.

But alas, Smoltz bombed, Penny has been inconsistent, Buchholz isn't there yet and Dice-K and Wakefield are on the DL.

Then there's the shortstop situation, and an aging group of everyday players (Lowell, Ortiz, Varitek and Drew).

This team, as currently constituted, is still good enough to make the postseason. But IMO, they won't be hanging a third championship banner at the Fens this decade.

 

[Jimbo]

While you're certainly entitled to your opinion, Beckett has been lights out since May 1. Beckett is now 14-4 with a 3.10 ERA a WHIP of 1.11 and 145 K's in 157 IP, and he absolutely SUCKED in April.

Meanwhile, Verlander is 12-6/3.45 with a WHIP of 1.19 in 159.1 IP. He does have a significant advantage in K's with 186.

Again, I said Beckett has been the best pitcher in baseball since May 1. Beckett's stats that I provided include his dismal April, when his ERA was somewhere north of 8.

So unless Verlander was as bad or worse than Beckett in April, I don't know how you can say he's pitched better than Beckett since May 1.

fwiw, JV's April was terrible, people thought it was going to be another year like last year, he looked bad in spring training too, he told people that he was making adjustment, but no one apperantly believed him.

I'd say number's wise they are very close.

 

[Jimbo]

JV. was 1-2 with a 6.75 era in April,
28 innings, 34 hits, 21 runs and 9 walks.
Since then, mostly untouchable.

Beckett in April:
2-2 7.22 era
28 innings, 36 hits, 24 runs, 16 walks

It really doesn't get much closer than that !

And to think these are these guys BAD month.

Jimbo

 

[BillD1984]

JV. was 1-2 with a 6.75 era in April,
28 innings, 34 hits, 21 runs and 9 walks.
Since then, mostly untouchable.

Wow, that's a pretty remarkable turnaround too! :up

Verlander was phenomenal today. His last pitch of the game (in the 8th inning) was 99 MPH.

At this point, I don't think anyone could argue with Beckett OR Verlander as the Cy Young favorite.

 

[Jimbo]

Wow, that's a pretty remarkable turnaround too! :up

Verlander was phenomenal today. His last pitch of the game (in the 8th inning) was 99 MPH.

At this point, I don't anyone could argue with Beckett OR Verlander as the Cy Young favorite.

I'm not really worried about the Cy Young voting ...
If it stays the same with these two, Beckett will win it easily.

Particularly if the Sox make the playoffs.

I happened to listen to the Sox feed of the game today (radio) I know they were plenty impressed with JV, just as the Tigers were with Beckett the day before.
To bad these two could not have matched up in this series.

 

[SandraC]

Hey, Bill. I was wondering what had happened to the Sox. I mean I needed them to beat the Yankees. I mean is this just a rough patch or are they in trouble. I thought they pitched well but couldnt hit. I will say watch out for Victor Martinez. I think this guy will help this team and not get a hit here and there.

Ah, the annual migration...as soon as the Mets fall by the wayside, Met fans all become Red Sox fans!


Sandra

 

[cosmo_kramer]

The Boston Red Sox acquired shortstop Alex Gonzalez from the Cincinnati Reds on Friday for a minor leaguer.

[ame="http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4399324"]Boston Red Sox acquire shortstop Alex Gonzalez from Cincinnati Reds - ESPN[/ame]

 

[BillD1984]

Boston Red Sox acquire shortstop Alex Gonzalez from Cincinnati Reds - ESPN

I liked Gonzo a lot when he was here in 2006. he's a GREAT fielder.......something the Sox desperately need on the left side of the infield!

Since Nomar left in July 2004, the Sox shortstops have been Cabrera, Renteria, Gonzalez, Lugo, Lowrie and Green.

Gonzo was my favorite...................................

 

[AntAltMike]

...he was here in 2006. he's a GREAT fielder.......

Is, or was? He missed 2008 while recovering frm knee surgery. Any reports on how that might have affected his range?

 

[BillD1984]

Is, or was? He missed 2008 while recovering frm knee surgery. Any reports on how that might have affected his range?

Very good point. I had forgotten that Gonzo went under the knife.

Then again, his range can't be much worse than Green's.

 

[Jimbo]

Potentially a HUGE weekend for the BoSox.

Weekend series with the yanks and Sox.
Sox winning tonight would put them 6.5 GB going in.

Sox could be back in the thick of things, possibly 3.5 back, OR pretty much OUT of contention at 9.5 GB and the AL East would pretty much be over.
Or ANYWHERE in between .... the in between would do the Sox NO Good.
9.5 back with, then 38 games left would be a HUGE deficit

Jimbo.

 

[AntAltMike]

The Red Sox rotation is rounding into shape. Beckett and Lester are pitching like Beckett and Lester, Buckholtz has given up no more than 2 runs in any of his four previous starts, and tonight, Masterson has a shut-out through six...

Hey!! Wait a minute!!