2009 Spring Training

[ORS]

Lester fanned 6 in 4 1/3 before hitting his pitch count. He struggled with location in the 1st, but settled in and dominated after that.

[diony]

Jed Lowrie is destroying baseballs in Spring Training.

 

.406/.459/.781/1.240 in 32 AB's.

 

Julio Who?

 

Oh ST numbers.

 

Angel Berroa is destroying baseballs too, .421/.436/.711 . He's real.

 

Derek Who?

[ORS]

Dirka, dirka!

[BoSox21]

Difference is, Jed Lowrie is a good ballplayer

[riverside sluggers]

Lowrie is just tearing the cover off the ball. He is just another patient hitter in the Sox lineup to make the pitchers work. In 39 ABs this spring he's K'ed just 3 times

[David Bowie]

i'm afraid all of the hope is a pipe dream. devil rays are only getting better.

[example1]

...Whereas the elderly Red Sox players like Lowrie, Ellsbury, Lester, Buchholz, Masterson, etc., are over the hill.

[David Bowie]

Who the f*** are they?

 

save it

[Keeper]

Wow, good new poster.

[rician blast]

i'm afraid all of the hope is a pipe dream. devil rays are only getting better.

 

Very in depth post, Ziggy.

[a700hitter]

Papelbon looked human again today giving up baserunners and runs, and JD Drew has been taken for X-Rays after being HBP on the hand.

[ORS]

...and JD Drew has been taken for X-Rays after being HBP on the hand.

What a pussy.

[rhet]

Papelbon looked human again today giving up baserunners and runs' date=' and JD Drew has been taken for X-Rays after being HBP on the hand.[/quote']

 

Baldelli might be seeing more action than he bargained for this season.

[BoSox21]

Its JD Drew, im sure he bargained for a ton of action

[riverside sluggers]

Papelbon looked human in September, and then extended his playoff scoreless streak to 25 innings. He is the least of their concerns

[rician blast]

...JD Drew has been taken for X-Rays after being HBP on the hand.

 

Drew hit by pitch...reports say he could have gotten out of the way of the pitch if only his knee wasn't sprained and his back didn't go into spasm and his neck wasn't tight and his wrist wasn't strained and his eyes didn't have conjunctivitis and he didn't have jock itch, hemmorhoids, a toothache and a large oozing pimple on his ass.

 

Krist, this guy is a f***ing train wreck.

[ORS]

The x-rays were negative. f***ing pussy wasn't even seriously hurt. Soft ass faker.

[David Bowie]

calm down man

 

it's spring training.

 

the best faker was nancy kerrigan

[TheKilo]

calm down man

 

it's spring training.

 

the best faker was nancy kerrigan

 

no ur mom lol

[Quinny]

brad penny is set to pitch in his first game tomorrow (set to throw 45 ptiches). ill be kinda interested to see how he does. do you guys think he is still in line for a rotation spot?

[David Bowie]

no brad penny f***ing sucks. I wouldn't trust him with a f***ing spring training game. He's a choker.

[Dojji]

Watching Daisuke in the WBC.

 

Is it just me or has Daisuke Matsuzaka lost about 4 MPH off his fastball? His first few games in the big leagues he was sitting 93-94 and touching 96, now he's sitting 89-91 and lucky to touch 93.

[Teddyballgame10]

Watching Daisuke in the WBC.

 

Is it just me or has Daisuke Matsuzaka lost about 4 MPH off his fastball? His first few games in the big leagues he was sitting 93-94 and touching 96, now he's sitting 89-91 and lucky to touch 93.

 

Yea that's the first thing I noticed to. This thing scares the s*** out of my especially for Dice-K, a pitcher who seems to labor in every start. His velocity is definitely down I hope he doesn't break down in August. Almost 100 pitches in the 5th, seen that before.

[example1]

Watching Daisuke in the WBC.

 

Is it just me or has Daisuke Matsuzaka lost about 4 MPH off his fastball? His first few games in the big leagues he was sitting 93-94 and touching 96, now he's sitting 89-91 and lucky to touch 93.

 

I didn't notice any huge change. I think last year he was sitting more around 92 and could hit 95 at big moments. He's been sitting 91-89 in the WBC from what I've seen.

[Dojji]

Still love to know what happened to that plus-fastball we shelled out all that money for.

[TheKilo]

Still love to know what happened to that plus-fastball we shelled out all that money for.

 

How can you afford him in these tough economic times ?!?!?!?

[jacksonianmarch]

He still has it and he shows it when he needs to. I think he's adapting. He was pretty wild with the hard heater. Maybe its a location thing.

[David Bowie]

He was probably on roids like kenny powers.

[example1]

Still love to know what happened to that plus-fastball we shelled out all that money for.

 

We shelled out all that money for his fastball? I thought we were getting a pitcher who would throw any of his 5 or 6 pitches and leave hitters baffled...

 

I realize that he's stressful to watch, but is there any doubt about this guy's talent?

 

If someone told you that after 2 seasons Dice-K would be 33-15 with 372 IP would you have been disappointed? I wouldn't have been. And if you like stats (like me) and someone said, in 372 IP he'll have 355 Ks and a 3.72 ERA I would be impressed. I would be shocked he had done that well with a 1.32 WHIP (same exact WHIP both seasons BTW), but I would be heartened with his .230/.324/.369/.693 averages against.

 

If anything I think he's scared by the power of the major league game so he nibbles. He seems to prefer being forced to make his pitch or give up a walk, rather than throwing something that he knows is hitable by the world's best hitters. Seems like a smart use of his repetoir, but it doesn't stretch him out much in the 100 pitch-limit culture of 2009.

 

He's a totally bizarre and unique pitcher. I think 2007 represents what "bad" Dice-K #s can look like, and 2008 represents what "good" Dice-K #s look like. There's no doubt that he likes pitching on a big stage and can have good outings in those situations. He's great underpressure... hell, he's his country's ace and his country is arguably the best baseball country in the world.

[BSN07]

We shelled out all that money for his fastball? I thought we were getting a pitcher who would throw any of his 5 or 6 pitches and leave hitters baffled...

 

I realize that he's stressful to watch, but is there any doubt about this guy's talent?

 

If someone told you that after 2 seasons Dice-K would be 33-15 with 372 IP would you have been disappointed? I wouldn't have been. And if you like stats (like me) and someone said, in 372 IP he'll have 355 Ks and a 3.72 ERA I would be impressed. I would be shocked he had done that well with a 1.32 WHIP (same exact WHIP both seasons BTW), but I would be heartened with his .230/.324/.369/.693 averages against.

 

If anything I think he's scared by the power of the major league game so he nibbles. He seems to prefer being forced to make his pitch or give up a walk, rather than throwing something that he knows is hitable by the world's best hitters. Seems like a smart use of his repetoir, but it doesn't stretch him out much in the 100 pitch-limit culture of 2009.

 

He's a totally bizarre and unique pitcher. I think 2007 represents what "bad" Dice-K #s can look like, and 2008 represents what "good" Dice-K #s look like. There's no doubt that he likes pitching on a big stage and can have good outings in those situations. He's great underpressure... hell, he's his country's ace and his country is arguably the best baseball country in the world.

 

 

That's a fair way to sum up Dice-K IMO. He's hard to watch, and it drives me nuts when he's at 100 pitches in the 5th inning, but he gets the job done and keeps the Sox in the game. If some of the Sox prospects pan out, I wouldn't be surprised to see Dice-K shopped around. Maybe in like the 4th or 5th year of his deal. I don't see the Sox resigning him after his deal expires, Boras is going to want 20M a year for him.

 

Japan plays good as a team with their style of play. I would still say America, Dominican and Latin America produce overall better players. But I get your point.