And not only have I moved, but I've moved to two places.
All the baseball stuff can now be found at http://boston9.wordpress.com/
Everything else will be located at http://primarilycrap.wordpress.com/
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Playing To Win
I’m not sure that I get this political stuff. After spending over a year campaigning for the 2008 Democratic Presidential nomination, John Edwards gets his ass kicked in the first month of primary voting, including his own home state of North Carolina, and drops out of the race before January is even over. Yesterday, after waiting until it was a sure bet and safe to do so, he throws his support behind Barak Obama. I’m not questioning his decision to play it safe, hey why not, in 2004, however close it may have been, he lost his bid for the office of vice president, and this year he got stomped in his attempt to become the Democratic Presidential nominee. He might as well wait until it’s a sure bet so he can guarantee himself that he’ll come out on the winning side for once.
What I don’t understand is, why would a guy who has practically wrapped up the Democratic Presidential nomination want to have the support of a two-time loser?
What I don’t understand is, why would a guy who has practically wrapped up the Democratic Presidential nomination want to have the support of a two-time loser?
Monday, May 12, 2008
End Of The Line For Abe
Pawtucket pitcher Abe Alvarez was released by the Red Sox yesterday. Although this is just a mere footnote in the history of this storied franchise, it means a little more than that to me.
In 2003 he was drafted as a top pitching prospect and I was there for his Major League debut on July 22nd during the magical 2004 season. It was the first game of a day/night double-header against the Orioles, so the Sox needed to bring up a starter and Abe got the call from double A. It was a hot, sticky Thursday afternoon. The game had been on the schedule for a while as it was a makeup from a rainout in April, so I had decided to make it the game for my annual trek to Fenway with Kyla and had secured tickets a month or so earlier.
It sticks out in my mind so much because when I found out that he was going to make the start, I knew that it was going to be the Major League debut of a highly touted prospect and I (and even more importantly Kyla, even if she wouldn’t remember it) might be present while history was being made. The first thing I noticed about the guy was that he was wearing his hat so that the brim was tilted to one side, something that drives me crazy. I forgave him when I found out later that he was legally blind in his left eye, it was sensitive to light, and he wore his hat this way to help keep the light out of the eye.
Unfortunately the debut did not work out as he, or the rest of Red Sox Nation had hoped. Although we got 5 innings out of him, which was all management was looking for; he gave up 8 hits, 5 walks and 5 runs in an 8-3 loss. It was not a very memorable performance, and of course, having only been up to make the start, he was sent down right after the game so the Sox could add another reliever to the pen.
But still, it wasn’t like he was the first big time pitching prospect to have a rough Major League debut, he was only 21 and there was still a bright future ahead of him, right? He went back to Portland where he made the Eastern League All-Star team and was named the Sea Dogs “Pitcher of the Year” and things were looking good.
Having seen his Major League debut I took a particular interest in his career. Unfortunately he had already reached the high point in ’04. He was promoted to Pawtucket for the ’05 season where he made a couple of appearances with the big club and another one in ’06. But he was not progressing as quickly as it was hoped he would and by 2007 it was beginning to look like his days as an elite prospect were over and his career as a Major League pitcher was even in jeopardy. He never really managed to put it all together. At the start of this year he was moved to the bullpen, and yesterday he was finally released after posting a 6.46 ERA in 13 games.
So it looks like the days of me telling Kyla that we were there for his debut as we watch him leading the Sox to World Series titles while competing for Cy Young Awards will never come.
In 2003 he was drafted as a top pitching prospect and I was there for his Major League debut on July 22nd during the magical 2004 season. It was the first game of a day/night double-header against the Orioles, so the Sox needed to bring up a starter and Abe got the call from double A. It was a hot, sticky Thursday afternoon. The game had been on the schedule for a while as it was a makeup from a rainout in April, so I had decided to make it the game for my annual trek to Fenway with Kyla and had secured tickets a month or so earlier.
It sticks out in my mind so much because when I found out that he was going to make the start, I knew that it was going to be the Major League debut of a highly touted prospect and I (and even more importantly Kyla, even if she wouldn’t remember it) might be present while history was being made. The first thing I noticed about the guy was that he was wearing his hat so that the brim was tilted to one side, something that drives me crazy. I forgave him when I found out later that he was legally blind in his left eye, it was sensitive to light, and he wore his hat this way to help keep the light out of the eye.
Unfortunately the debut did not work out as he, or the rest of Red Sox Nation had hoped. Although we got 5 innings out of him, which was all management was looking for; he gave up 8 hits, 5 walks and 5 runs in an 8-3 loss. It was not a very memorable performance, and of course, having only been up to make the start, he was sent down right after the game so the Sox could add another reliever to the pen.
But still, it wasn’t like he was the first big time pitching prospect to have a rough Major League debut, he was only 21 and there was still a bright future ahead of him, right? He went back to Portland where he made the Eastern League All-Star team and was named the Sea Dogs “Pitcher of the Year” and things were looking good.
Having seen his Major League debut I took a particular interest in his career. Unfortunately he had already reached the high point in ’04. He was promoted to Pawtucket for the ’05 season where he made a couple of appearances with the big club and another one in ’06. But he was not progressing as quickly as it was hoped he would and by 2007 it was beginning to look like his days as an elite prospect were over and his career as a Major League pitcher was even in jeopardy. He never really managed to put it all together. At the start of this year he was moved to the bullpen, and yesterday he was finally released after posting a 6.46 ERA in 13 games.
So it looks like the days of me telling Kyla that we were there for his debut as we watch him leading the Sox to World Series titles while competing for Cy Young Awards will never come.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Slump Over
David Ortiz is slowly coming out of his slump. Going into tonight's game he was 8 for 20 with 2 walks, 2 doubles and a home run over the last 7 games, good for a 1.105 OPS. That right there should be enough to convince us that the old Big Papi is back, but if anyone needs anymore proof it came tonight when he blasted a ball into the right field grandstands off of Nate Robertson, a left-handed pitcher who absolutely owned Ortiz. In 24 plate appearances, Ortiz had 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 hbp, to go along with 7 K's for a .136 BA. Welcome back Big Papi.
On a night when Papelbon and Okajima were probably not available, Tim Wakefield provided just what we needed in throwing 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball and receiving 5 runs of support from the offense for the win. I don't know why he wasn't allowed to finish it, as he was dominating having thrown only 98 pitches.
The Detroit Tigers are lucky right now. With tonight's loss they are now 14-20 on the season. Fortunately for them their biggest competition in the AL Central, the Cleveland Indians, are not doing much better at 14-17 and trailing the Yankees tonight as I wrap up this entry. Both of these teams are going to play better baseball but I still believe the Tigers are going to have a tough time trying to win that division with the pitching staff they have.
On the other side, after hitting a bit of a wall last week, we are now on a roll, winning 7 of our last 8 games and becoming the first team to reach 22 wins on the season. The starting pitching is putting it together and the offense is starting to click. Now all we need to do is figure out a way to get to Okajima and Papelbon on the days when our starters can't get to them.
On a night when Papelbon and Okajima were probably not available, Tim Wakefield provided just what we needed in throwing 8 innings of 2-hit shutout ball and receiving 5 runs of support from the offense for the win. I don't know why he wasn't allowed to finish it, as he was dominating having thrown only 98 pitches.
The Detroit Tigers are lucky right now. With tonight's loss they are now 14-20 on the season. Fortunately for them their biggest competition in the AL Central, the Cleveland Indians, are not doing much better at 14-17 and trailing the Yankees tonight as I wrap up this entry. Both of these teams are going to play better baseball but I still believe the Tigers are going to have a tough time trying to win that division with the pitching staff they have.
On the other side, after hitting a bit of a wall last week, we are now on a roll, winning 7 of our last 8 games and becoming the first team to reach 22 wins on the season. The starting pitching is putting it together and the offense is starting to click. Now all we need to do is figure out a way to get to Okajima and Papelbon on the days when our starters can't get to them.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Colon To Pen?
Today was supposed to be the day that Bartolo Colon was to be promoted to the Big Leagues or have the opportunity to opt out of his contract. Because of his oblique injury he has agreed to push back the opt-out clause to June 1. There is still a good chance that he can help this team, but I wonder what would have happened if he did not agree to move back the clause and chose to opt out if he was not promoted.
This day comes a couple of days after Jon Lester’s best start in a Red Sox uniform and possibly Clay Buchholz best start as well. You might argue that his no-hitter was his best start, but some people who know about these things and watched both games, John Farrell, for one, have said that the stuff he had in his last start was even better than the stuff he had during the no-hitter. There is also the fact that he had the advantage of never having faced the Orioles before the no-hitter, whereas most of the Blue Jays hitters who faced him the other night had already faced him once before, last September. Which one of these two games was his best is debatable, but my main point here is that both of these young pitchers threw very good games in their last outings, both are showing signs of improvement and both have the potential, while still developing in the Major Leagues, to give us at least as much as Colon might give us with a much higher upside.
As it stands right now, it wouldn’t make sense to me to send one of them down, most likely Buchholz, just so we could add Colon to the Big League team instead of losing him.
Fortunately, we don’t have to worry about that right now and we have another month to make that decision. A lot can happen in a month. One or more pitchers could get injured or one or both of our young pitchers could struggle and make the decision on June 1st an easy one. But it’s also possible that all 5 of our starters will stay healthy, Lester and Buchholz will continue to develop and pitch well and we will find ourselves right back in the same situation of trying to decide what to do with Colon a month from now.
What would we do then? To me it would still not make sense to send one of them down and plug Colon into the starting rotation, but what about bringing him up to plug a hole in the set up role where we clearly could use some help?
Manny Delcarmen is struggling right now. Sure it could still be the effects of the flu bug he had, but he’s not the only one that had it and everyone else seems to be over it. Maybe he just hasn’t turned the corner yet, like we thought he had. Mike Timlin is also struggling big time and as much as I love the guy, I have to admit to thinking that at 42 years old he just might be done being an effective Major League pitcher. Of course I thought that last year as well and he ended up proving me wrong. David Aardsma is doing an okay job right now, but he’s struggling with control, having already walked 11 in 13.2 innings, and he has a history of this always catching up with him.
Bartolo Colon is 34 years old, normally still young enough to succeed as a starter in the Major Leagues, but shoulder problems have limited him to a total of 29 games over the last two seasons. What’s more, those shoulder problems have caused the velocity in his 4-seamer to drop from the mid-90’s to the high 80’s-low 90’s. Colon has always had a weight problem and even when healthy over the last few seasons he has struggled with endurance. It’s possible that his arm might not be adaptable to bullpen duty, especially with the shoulder problems. But if it is, wouldn’t it make sense to give it a try?
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