Anemic Offense - where's the bullpen?

I'm going to presume you watched the game. If so - you saw the Sox are not playing like a Champion caliber team right now. Josh Beckett looked very good, better than Roy Halladay, until he began to tire a bit in the fifth inning. When I say he tired, I do not mean basic arm strength. What I mean is that there are a lot of intricate mechanics involved in throwing a pitch not only 98 miles per hour, but also within an inch or two of where you want it to go. In the 5th, he was still throwing strong (his changeup was effective at 91 mph), but he was starting to lose his location - that was mostly due to his conditioning needing to stretch out a little more to get him over 100 pitches while maintaining all the necessary mechanics. With two outs, he gave up a single, followed by two walks. Now, this puts Terry Francona in a tough spot. It is early in the season, your ace is coming off of a back injury and has not gone too deep yet. He just walked two straight batters, and Frank Thomas is coming to the plate. On the one hand, Beckett is such a competitor, he may bear down and get that last out (that might have been my guess). On the other hand, his control may be done, and Thomas will kill him. Terry decided to go with a fresh arm, and on one pitch, Manny Delcarmen left a pitch out over the plate, and Thomas ended the game with his 11th career grand slam.

Yes, that ended the game. Again, the Sox (other than JD Drew!) are having a tough time hitting right now. What does the box score tell you? There are two things that should jump out at you. First, the Sox had 10 hits, but only 4 runs. The Blue Jays had 5 hits and 7 runs. Without even seeing the game, you can see the Sox are not stringing together enough hits to generate a rally. They are getting a hit here, and a hit there. The only reason they even had four runs was that 3 of their hits were solo homers. Yes, all three were solo. Jacoby Ellsbury, Jason Varitek, and JD Drew all went deep, but with no one on base. Now, against a pitcher like Halladay, you should be happy with that. But, the grand slam took that luxury away.

David Ortiz finally got another hit, his thrid of the season, and it was an RIB double. Love to see that.

Oh, I forgot. I said there were two things that should jump out at you in the box score. If you have been screaming, "what about the four errors!", then yes, you got it. Now, let's not run out and lynch the guy, but Julio Lugo had the worst day I've seen for him on a Sox uniform. Well, that happens. These guys are human, and some days they go home and wonder why they play this game. Tonight is like that for him. That's not the reason why we lost the game, and that's why I'm not making a big deal out of it. Chances are, a guy with his talent will not make another error for a week or two. He did not cost us the game, but he does need to tighten up.

Lastly, I am simply NOT on the same page as Terry Francona yet this year. I love the guy, don't get me wrong, but a manager has to not only read the numbers, but also get in a groove and fell out what will work. Taking out Beckett when he did, did not work. Now, of course, a rational fan knows why he did it. Beckett is in his first outing coming off an injury, and starting to lose control. But, on the other hand, his middle relief has been terrible. When I looked into Josh's eyes (in HD) I saw determination. His pitch count was not so high that one more batter would have mattered. Just let him get out of the jam himself. Instead, Francona turned it over to the bullpen, and in one pitch it was over. I know - 20/20 hindsight. But, that is how I felt as it went down. The other thing I disagreed with was no pinch hitting for Lugo in the 9th. Lugo was clearly not having a sharp day - that happens. So, bottom of the ninth, two men on, and the tying run at the plate - isn't that the kind of situation we have Sean Casey for? That was supposed to be the point of a guy like Casey - to hit in those kinds of situations. Now, surely Casey may have struck out. But, Lugo was having an off night, Lugo is not likely to hit a home run. So...

Now the Sox come home to friendly Fenway, where they will hopefully get a huge boost from us fans. Let's get these guys going! We are the tenth man - let's do our part.

Tune in tomorrow for some Yankee talk in the off day.

Let's Go Beckett - Where's Big Papi?

When Abner Doubleday came down from the mountains and showed everyone the commandments etched in stone by the baseball gods, the first commandment said, "Thou shalt not walk thy leadoff batter". Kyle Snyder definitely owes us twenty readings of "Casey at the Bat" as penance for walking both the leadoff batter and the second batter of the 6th inning. Of course, both batters scored, and Brian Corey conspired with Snyder to open the floodgates for Toronto as they built up an insurmountable 10-2 lead. Corey was intent on getting that Toronto lead up there. When Snyder came out, he left with men on second and third and one out, thanks to a sacrifice bunt. Then Corey came in and gave up a single to David Eckstein that scored the two baserunners, followed by a pop-out by Matt Stairs. So, two outs, runner on first, time to stop the bleeding and get back to the dugout? No, not yet. Corey then proceeded to give up a double, a single, and a home run to the big guy, Frank Thomas. The good news from there is that Julian Tavares came in and finished off the last 2 1/3 innings and looked very good!

Any rational Sox fan knows that someone was going to get taken off the active roster to make room for Josh Beckett's return, as it has been prophesied (sorry, got stuck in biblical mode again for a second there). Sox fans now had two finalists to be cut on their scorecards. In a bit of a surprise, the cut goes to Karl Snyder. Why a surprise? Because Karl does not have an option to go to Pawtucket and be called up later.

One last note on pitching. Starter Clay Bucholz looked better than he has looked this spring. He gave up 3 earned runs in 5 innings on 6 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. He showed some toughness, which is very promising. The second inning started with a walk and two singles scoring a run, but rather than let things get out of control, he struck out the next two batters followed by a pop-up to end the inning. He got into trouble again in the 4th, and may have gotten out of it with less damage, but for an error by first baseman Sean Casey filling in for the error-free Kevin Youkilis. The good sign here was when Bucholz came back out in the 5th and had an easy 1-2-3 inning.

Last note. Again, the Sox offense looked pretty inept. When is someone other than JD Drew going to start hitting (just had to write that sentence for my man JD). Seriously. It is very easy in a 10-2 loss to point all the fingers at the pitching. But, if the Sox only score 2 runs, the ONLY way they can win is to hold the opponent to zero or 1 run. That's pretty easy math, but while Snyder and Corey provided Toronto with a huge lead, and an emotional let down for the Sox, the game was over once the Blue Jays scored their 3rd run in the 4th inning.

Where do fingers point for that? I hate to say it but Big Papi is a key culprit. Toronto has been employing the "shift" against David Ortiz, and it seems to have him off balance, more so than I've seen in the past. I think he is in a little bit of a slump. Combine that with looking out at the field and seeing all of your hot areas covered, and you can find yourself really pressing. The Sox have played 6 games this season, and so far, in 22 at-bats, Papi has a mere 2 hits creating a .091 batting average. Manny Ramirez is faring better, batting .250 with 6 hits in 24 at bats, but he, along with Ortiz, has been batting poorly in the clutch. Just look at last night, for example. Second inning, runners on first and second with one out and Ortiz grounds out to first sending runners to 2nd and third. That opens up first base, so they intentionally walk Manny, and Lowell, who also has had a slow start, softly lines out to end the inning. Then, in the 7th inning with one out and runners at second and third, Ortiz strikes out and Manny grounds out to end the threat.

So, you're a little worried about pitching? You should be worried about offense.

Yankee review tomorrow - how is the enemy looking this year?

Sox Lose - Francona Outmanaged

There were a couple of good points in the game, but not many. I watched the game at a bar with a tiny TV and no sound. Just as well, as it turned out. Here are my observations...

Tim Wakefield had a very good night, which is not unusual when he pitches indoors (indoor baseball just does NOT sound right). He cruised through 5 innings but things unraveled in the 6th. Matt Stairs hits his first home run of the season, and things went downhill from there. The Umps missed a call when Wakefield picked off Alex Rios on second base - tough break there. Manny Ramirez misplayed a ball allowing a run to score. Jacoby Ellsbury does a nice job running down a line drive in center, then drops it when he hits the wall. I mentioned before, the one thing Ellsbury needs more work on is plays that are against the wall. He's young, he'll get there, but this one also allowed a run to score. By the time Wake gout out of the inning, it was 3-0, Toronto.

It was 3-0 because Shaun Marcum had one hell of a night. He strike out 8 batters, all of them swinging. That tells you he was sharp. Until he ran into our man JD Drew, who crushed a nice three run home run that I thought was going to wake the Sox up. Unfortunately, that was all the offense they could muster.

In the 7th, I thought Terry Francona got out-managed, or at least his strategies fell short. That happens. He took Wakefield out and sent Aardsma in with the top of the order up. Aardsma proceeded to walk Eckstein. Then, Francona pulls Aardsma with the lefty Matt Stairs coming up. Stairs had already homered, and Francona liked the lefty-lefty match up better and sent Javier Lopez in. At first I thought it was a little early for that, but then I saw his plan. Do everything you can to get out of the 7th, then you're all set up for Okajima in the 8th, and Papelbon in the 9th. Good idea. But, Blue Jay manager John Gibbons said, "I'll see your lefty and I'll raise you a righty batter" as he sent in Shannon Stewart to bat. Terry calls that hand, they lay their cards on the table, and Gibbons wins as Stewart singles to put two men on, no out, and the meat of the lineup coming up. Francona goes back to the bullpen with Manny Delcarmen, who does a great job of getting Alex Rios and Vernon Wells to both pop out foul to Kevin Youkilis. But, the BIG man, Frank Thomas stepped up to the plate next. Delcarmen was trying to be very careful with Frank, and who can blame him? The first two pitches were balls inside - he was trying to paint that inside corner. On the third pitch he got it for strike one. Now that he's got Thomas thinking fast ball inside, he wants to keep him off balance with a change up - low and dropping out of the zone. Oops, the change up sits in the zone and Thomas crushes it. Tip your hat to Decarmen, he stays tough and gets the next batter out on two pitches to end the inning. But, the damage is done, and the Sox were out of bullets.

Francona made two more moves in the 8th. First he sent Coco Crisp in to hit for Jacoby Ellsbury. Again, at first I thought, huh? But then I realized the Jays had a new pitcher, lefty Brian Tallet. Rather than have the lefty - lefty match up, he sent Coco Crisp in to bat right handed, and he went up there being aggressive, swinging at the first pitch, then popping out on the second pitch. Then, he sent Jason Varitek in to hit for Kevin Cash. No lefty-lefty match up stuff going on there, Francona just felt Varitek is a better batter. But, not last night. The Sox only had 4 hits all night, and Cash had one of them - a nice two out double in the third. He was in the flow of the game, and I may have stayed with him, but it was not a bad idea to try Varitek. 'Tek, unfortunately, struck out.

Manny Ramirez, who usually hits very well in Toronto, had a tough night. He flied out and struck out swinging twice, before finally hitting a ground ball single with two out in the ninth. Too little, too late.

Interesting weekend. Today, we get to see Clay Bucholz's first start of the season, and tomorrow a vintage match up between Josh Beckett and Roy Halladay! Sunday is the game not to miss!

Sox Clean Up Fenway for Opener

Preparing for Tuesday's home opener, the Red Sox continued their work on getting Fenway cleaned up. On order of business is always to clear out any lingering Yankee fans. There are a number of ways to do this, one is to simply sprinkle a trail of money and they'll general follow it out. But, the Red Sox are experimenting with an innovative (and 'green') method. They are employing a hawk to patrol the park and keep it clean of rodents, and other unwanted refuse. In his first day of work, the hawk circled above. Maybe it was because she was from Bristol, CT - a known bastion of Yankee fans, or maybe it was because her name Alexa Rodriguez is simply too close to the Yankees' own A-Rod, but either way the hawk picked her for cleansing. Unfortunately, Alexa got quite a scare, and a scratched scalp. The Red Sox are rethinking this plan, and have removed the hawk, after apologies to Alexa and her family. For now, they are back to using the money trail.

Okay - all joking aside, I'm looking forward to an Eastern Standard Timezone game tonight! Look for Manny to break out the big bat - he generally thrives in the Rogers Center having hit 23 home runs there in his career. Wakefield's knuckle ball also fares well indoors. Could be a good night, but Toronto has been picked by many as the favorite to win the AL East. So, look for Toronto to take this very seriously. Beating the reigning MLB Champions (always feels good to type that) would give them a lot of confidence.

I've talked a lot about Bartolo Colon being a potential ace up Theo's sleeve. Colon pitched a gem yesterday in Pawtucket allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk in 5 innings. He struck out 5 batters, and only faced one batter over the minimum over those 5 innings. He threw 74 pitches, 45 of them for strikes, and topped off at 96 mph on the radar - his last pitch of the night was clocked at 95. I expect he'll get at least one more start with Pawtucket. They'll want to see him stretch his pitch count to 90+ pitches. The extra time also gives them a chance to get a look at the current 5 man rotation. So, good news in Pawtucket.

On Monday, the Sox' day off, we'll analyze the 2008 New York Yankees - are they to be feared, or are their best days behind them?

Next stop - Canada

Good win yesterday, but not a prefect performance. Very good pitching on both sides for the first 6 innings, and then Big Papi breaks out the big bat for a 2 run home off of old friend Alan Embree. It does feel odd watching the A's trot so many ex-Red Sox pitchers out of their bullpen, doesn't it? They've got Embree, Keith Foulke, and Lenny Dinardo out there.

For me, the story of the day was John Lester. Like I said before, the key for Lester is his command. If he is locating and moving his fastball around where he wants it, it sets up his other pitches better, and keeps the batter off balance. When his command is off, batters either get better pitches to hit, or sit on more pitches, driving up the pitch count - which is when you know Lester is not sharp. Yesterday he was sharp and it showed.

The other big story was Kevin Youkilis setting a new MLB record of 194 consecutive error-less games at first. His reward - the first base bag signed by his teammates, and the ball is off to Cooperstown. Nice job Youk!

The offense was, at times, offensive. First inning, bases loaded, no outs and what happens? Ortiz strikes out swinging, Manny strikes out swinging, and Drew grounds out. You have to tip your hat to Harden - he worked out of that jam. But, the Sox really let him off the hook there. Especially Manny and Papi - just a fly ball brings in one run. While Manny remained cold (0 for 4, 2 strikeouts, and left 8 men on base), Papi warmed up with a 2 run homer in the 7th. In the 8th, the Sox again loaded them up with no outs, but this time the little guys got it done with Pedroia and Youk both hitting RBI singles. Then, in the 9th, Jason Varitek hit his second, oops, first home run of the season to wrap things up.

Like I predicted, Francona let Okajima and Papelbon both rest. In this game, that was an easy decision with the lead they generated late in the game. I expected Manny Delcarmen to get the nod for the ninth inning and he did, and did well with a 1-2-3 inning.

So if you are a learned fan, what do you see down the road, and what are you interested in...

The upcoming schedule is a huge test. You wanted to know if this team is a top contender again? You are about to find out. The Sox play 3 in Toronto, the team many pundits are picking to win the AL East, followed by two home series against Detroit and New York, after which they are back on the road to face Cleveland and New York again. This is scary. If they are cold, they can find themselves with a big hill to climb to get back in. It will take quite and effort to dominate this stretch, and if they do, that could very well lead to a letdown. Scary trip!

Also, I am interested in how Francona handles the outfield. We have two speedy and talented center fielders. Francona hates to sit young talent for too long so he'll get Ellsbury in as much as possible. But, Crisp is a gold glove candidate, and a high paid veteran. JD Drew got in an early rut last season. If he does again, Ellsbury could spell him (like Cora did for Pedroia last year). My guess is that Francona will take it a game at a time for the short term. Each game, he'll examine matchups to see if Crisp or Ellsbury would give him an edge. In a tie, he'll lean towards Crisp by default, but plug Ellsbury in enough to give him work. From there, I think Francona expects it will work itself out. In other words, a trade, an injury, or performance will make it obvious what to do.

At least we they are in the Eastern Time Zone!

Stay tuned - we'll start breaking down the enemy before they get to town. Are the Yankees as big of a threat as they claim to be, or is the opinion that their aging roster is done for more accurate? All that and more coming soon. Don't change that dial.

Captain to the Rescue

You've probably heard it before - it's all about pitching and defense. Last night's game was a perfect example of that. Matsuzaka had a terrific game! Great to see him so sharp, only allowing 1 run and 2 hits in 6 2/3 innings. Add to those numbers 9 strikeouts and no walks, and you are looking at a nice night. With a guy having such a nice night in such a close game, I thought it was a tough decision for Francona to pull him with 2 outs in the 7th. My guess is that Francona planned on pulling him after 7 no matter what, so it was only one batter different. And that one batter was Cust, who had hit a home run off a good pitch in the second inning, and is a lefty - all adding up to having Okajima face him. That plan kind of backfired when Okajima walked Cust, but he got the next batter on a pop-up, so no harm done.

If you are a regular reader, you recall prior to game one I said Ellsbury batting 8th would not last long - only until his bat started getting warmer. Last night he was back at the top of the order doing some nice damage. I also surmised that Papelbon's less than stellar performance against the Dodgers was likely due to him trying some new things in a meaningless game - like a new slider he's been developing. Last night, he threw nothing but fastballs and was his old dominating self. Great to see, although I hope the slider does improve, having more weapons is a good thing.

Defense was very sharp - no signs of fatigue after the day off. Crisp was diving all over center field, Lugo was a vacuum at short, and Youkilis tied ex-Dodger Steve Garvey's major league record of 193 consecutive errorless games games at first base. That is good company to be in.

The offense for the Sox was quiet, unfortunately. Youk scored from 2nd in the 6th with 2 outs on an extremely close play at home. The ump probably could have called it either way, but it think he got the call right - looked like the tag from A's catcher Suzuki just missed. The only other run also involved a close call against the Sox as Varitek's 2 out smash in the 6th appeared to barely clear the yellow line in right center for a home run, but the umps saw it as a double. Luckily Youk scored on the hit, and thanks to great pitching, the lost run was a non-factor.

While the Sox looked sharp, other than on offense, the A's, again, were a bit mistake-prone. Not a good thing against a team like the Red Sox. Suzuki got picked off stealing at a somewhat questionable moment in the 3rd - but I think they were trying to be aggressive. The Captain turned that threat back. In the 8th inning, with a runner on first and no outs, Jack Hannahan lays down an awful bunt right into Mike Lowell's hands allowing Lowell to easily throw out Bobby Crosby at second. Had the bunt gone towards first base, the sacrifice would have worked easily. In the 4th, first baseman Daric Bartman simply dropped an easy foul pop-up by Mike Lowell, but escaped damage when Lowell went on to strike out.

This afternoon, I'm not sure, with it being so early in the season, if Francona will go back to Okajima or Papelbon. So, we're going to need either a lot of offense, or a solid night from Lester and the rest of the bullpen. JD Drew will be back in the lineup, so I expect we'll see Ellsbury sit this one out. As much as we love him, he's the 4th outfielder as long as Crisp plays well.

Funny sight of the night...

Late in the game, the NESN cameras showed an A's fan happily holding up a nice big sign overhead proclaiming that they still believe! Unfortunately, the sign was upside down and created a very comic moment. Maybe when he looked up it looked right side up to him? Glad he's on their side!

Steinbrenner Buys Naming Rights to Fenway

In a shocking new development that is sure to send ripples across Major League Baseball, George Steinbrenner, with what may prove to be his final official command from high atop the Yankees lofty tower, has announced today that he has bought the naming rights to Fenway Park. Fans are in shock as they now wait in fearful anticipation of what name George will choose.

John Henry did not return calls, but made a brief statement via email last night. "As you know, we are committed to providing the best possible baseball experience for our fans, and to do that we have to look at creative ways of generating revenue. On the surface, this may appear to be a win for the Yankees. But, think about it. What have they gained? Not much more than the potential for some verbal one-up-man-ship. But from our point of view, we have raised a tremendous amount of new revenue that we can now invest in scouting, player development, and free agency. But, that's not all, this deal is so lucrative for us, that we are in effect draining the Yankee's own funding. Plus with the Boston Globe being owned by the New York Times, we felt there was some inevitability to all of this anyway."

Terms of the deal have not been made public, but sources confirm the Red Sox will be receiving in excess of One Hundred Million Dollars per year. That will, in effect force the Yankees to begin thinking about payroll cutting. In fact, the Steinbrenners have been spotted secretly meeting with the Florida Marlins over the past week, presumably comparing payroll strategies.

All of Red Sox Nation awaits word on what the final name will be. Guesses have been thrown around, including:

Yankee Outhouse
Steinbrenner's Bathroom
Loserville Stadium

Reaction from Red Sox fans has been mixed. "Are you f**'n kidding me?", said Joe from Everett. "That's the last straw - I'll never step foot in that place again". While Mary from Cambridge had a more hopeful view. "I don't care what they call the place - as long as we kick their butts! I love the strategy of taking away the Yankee's biggest weapon - MONEY".

Steinbrenner has asked for fans to weigh in on the new name. All comments to this posting will be forwarded to George's son Hank, who will be making the final decision.