5/4 VS Anaheim.

[SCM33]

Van Every....Mr. Buzzkill

[Beaneater]

Anyone else think Lester's ERA is going to be microscopic by late August?

[italstallianion]

Anyone else think Lester's ERA is going to be microscopic by late August?

 

 

Especially if you go by post-April ERA.

[SCM33]

Nice job closing it out.

[Spudboy]

Anyone else think Lester's ERA is going to be microscopic by late August?

 

It will be lower!

 

In any case, I'm glad you could join the festivities and enjoy the whole game tonight.

[Beaneater]

Especially if you go by post-April ERA.

 

Even with the early-season starts it's going to be microscopic. But without them, you're right, it's going to be filthy.

 

That's a pleasantly stress-free inning for Paps.

[VA Sox Fan]

f*** the negativity.

 

Go Sox!

[Beaneater]

It will be lower!

 

In any case, I'm glad you could join the festivities and enjoy the whole game tonight.

 

Yeah, I didn't plan on it and I probably wouldn't have if the game hadn't been close and interesting. But it's fun to do every once in a while.

 

Ugh, past 2 AM here and I'm not sleepy at all. It's going to be a long day tomorrow.

[Dipre]

Dipre mojo baby!

[Beaneater]

RIP Big Papi avatar mojo baby!

[Spudboy]

The NESN post game show just mentioned reports of wrist injury for Ortiz!:lol:

 

Ok.

[SCM33]

The NESN post game show just mentioned reports of wrist injury for Ortiz!:lol:

 

Ok.

 

No they didnt.....are you serious?

[Cocos Disciples]

Coco in attendance mojo works again! Sox are 2-1 in my presence, and I'm going tomorrow.

[Dipre]

Coco in attendance mojo works again! Sox are 2-1 in my presence' date=' and I'm going tomorrow.[/quote']

 

Yo extremely white dude, i'm a let you finish, but Dipre mojo is the best mojo of all time......OF ALL TIME!!!!!

[yeszir]

Coco in attendance mojo works again! Sox are 2-1 in my presence' date=' and I'm going tomorrow.[/quote']

 

I cant believe you missed Lost to watch a baseball game

[Spudboy]

No they didnt.....are you serious?

 

Yes. Carron said it.

[Cocos Disciples]

Psh that's what DVR is for.

[yeszir]

Psh that's what DVR is for.

 

Kate dies.

[Chamomile]

Lester's dominant, the Red Sox come up with timely hitting late in the game and Papelbon has a clean inning to end the game. Couldn't have been a better game for us if fans drew it up themselves.

[Chamomile]

It looks like Lester's the first of the Big 3 to round into shape this season. Once Beckett and Lackey come around, we're going to be a real force. Matsuzaka should have an ERA around 4 and Buchholz is a bit of a wild card. If he performs poorly, he's an average 5th starter but if he continues to pitch well, we could be a 100 win team, even with our slow start.

 

The Yankees were only 1 game over .500 at this point last year. It's almost as if we've switched roles this year and they finally got off to a good start and we are the team that's struggled out of the gate.

[yankees228]

It looks like Lester's the first of the Big 3 to round into shape this season. Once Beckett and Lackey come around, we're going to be a real force. Matsuzaka should have an ERA around 4 and Buchholz is a bit of a wild card. If he performs poorly, he's an average 5th starter but if he continues to pitch well, we could be a 100 win team, even with our slow start.

 

The Yankees were only 1 game over .500 at this point last year. It's almost as if we've switched roles this year and they finally got off to a good start and we are the team that's struggled out of the gate.

 

Not to mention that through 28 games last year the Yankees were actually two games below .500. Difference is, the Yankees had a pretty key piece waiting for them in game number 29.

[Chamomile]

Not to mention that through 28 games last year the Yankees were actually two games below .500. Difference is' date=' the Yankees had a pretty key piece waiting for them in game number 29.[/quote']

 

The Red Sox have been hurt just as much, if not more more by injuries so far. Alex Rodriguez had a 4.7 WAR last year. Cameron and Ellsbury alone had a WAR of 8 last year and Matsuzaka had a WAR of 3.3 the last time he was healthy.

[yankees228]

The Red Sox have been hurt just as much' date=' if not more more by injuries so far. Alex Rodriguez had a 4.7 WAR last year. Cameron and Ellsbury alone had a WAR of 8 last year and Matsuzaka had a WAR of 3.3 the last time he was healthy.[/quote']

 

Yeah, I'm not saying the Red Sox aren't hurting. Again, I can't back this up by numbers, but for the most part, since 2005, the Yankees' success has directly correlated with A-Rod hitting. I've never seen a Yankees' team where one player is as important as A-Rod is to them.

[a700hitter]

It looks like Lester's the first of the Big 3 to round into shape this season. Once Beckett and Lackey come around, we're going to be a real force. Matsuzaka should have an ERA around 4 and Buchholz is a bit of a wild card. If he performs poorly, he's an average 5th starter but if he continues to pitch well, we could be a 100 win team, even with our slow start.

 

The Yankees were only 1 game over .500 at this point last year. It's almost as if we've switched roles this year and they finally got off to a good start and we are the team that's struggled out of the gate.

They'll play better, more consistent ball when the pitching gets on track, but if we are 10 games behind 2 teams in our division by the end of May, the will not have a shot at a playoff spot unless they can run the table head to head against the Yankees or the Rays.

[MNSoxChief102]

Not to mention that through 28 games last year the Yankees were actually two games below .500. Difference is' date=' the Yankees had a pretty key piece waiting for them in game number 29.[/quote']

 

Tis true... that said, I have no doubt that if the Sox play reasonably well and stay in the race through the first half, a major deal will go down before the trade deadline to acquire a big bat. Adam Dunn would be my first guess, especially if the Nats fall out of contention this summer (and they should eventually). Even if we let him walk, we'd get two picks in return.

 

Our pitching staff is built to play deep into October, but they have to have some semblance of run support as well. Adding a solid bat to the lineup would take care of that problem IMO.

[Chamomile]

Yeah' date=' I'm not saying the Red Sox aren't hurting. Again, I can't back this up by numbers, but for the most part, since 2005, the Yankees' success has directly correlated with A-Rod hitting. I've never seen a Yankees' team where one player is as important as A-Rod is to them.[/quote']

 

A-Rod was tied for 3rd in WAR among his teammates last year. Robinson Cano had the same WAR in a down year. I think people tend to overrate A-Rod because he's the big name player but he hasn't been quite the same since his hip surgery.

[Chamomile]

They'll play better' date=' more consistent ball when the pitching gets on track, but if we are 10 games behind 2 teams in our division by the end of May, the will not have a shot at a playoff spot unless they can run the table head to head against the Yankees or the Rays.[/quote']

 

Don't you think it's a bit dramatic to think we'll be out of contention if we're 10 games back with over 100 games left to go and 15 or so games left against the teams we're chasing in the standings? It's a marathon, not a sprint.

[yankees228]

A-Rod was tied for 3rd in WAR among his teammates last year. Robinson Cano had the same WAR in a down year. I think people tend to overrate A-Rod because he's the big name player but he hasn't been quite the same since his hip surgery.

 

Well, part of A-Rod's low WAR is the time he missed, coupled with the fact that he did struggle coming back from the injury. However (and I know you can't eliminate any time), he was a very different player after Girardi sat him for those first two games in Florida. If you go back to the second game of the Atlanta series, he finally appeared to be fully healthy, and he was really great from that point forward.

 

And that brings me back to my initial point. I'm not talking about exactly what the numbers say, but when A-Rod is producing, the Yankees are almost always winning. It's not something that can necessarily be quantified, but it's a trend I've noticed. Last year is a perfect example.

 

A-Rod missed the first 28 games, and the Yankees started out 13-15. When he came back, he wasn't hitting for a great average, but he hit his share of home runs, and the Yankees went on a nice little run. However, around the beginning of inter-league play, A-Rod was really scuffling, eventually leading to those two days off in Florida.

 

In my opinion, not only can you pinpoint the turnaround of the Yankees season to one game, you can pinpoint it to one moment, or one hit to be more exact. Second game of the Atlanta series, sixth inning, score tied 1-1, bases loaded for an ice cold A-Rod. A-Rod singles in two runs, the Yankees win the game, and then A-Rod suddenly starts really hitting. Furthermore, right when A-Rod turned his season around, the Yankees went on an absolute tear for the entire rest of the season (amazingly, almost having zero blips on the radar, besides the sweep out in Anaheim right before the ASB). A-Rod had his common cold patches during the rest of the year, but, for the most part, he was his old self and the Yankees were winning.

 

Then, for the first time since he's been a Yankee, A-Rod hits for the entire postseason, and the Yankees win the World Series.

 

Obviously there are times when the Yankees have won, and A-Rod hasn't been playing well, and vice-versa, but this has been a pretty solid trend, especially over the past couple years. Is A-Rod to the Yankees tantamount to LeBron James to the Cavs? Absolutely not. However, for whatever reason, the Yankees seem to play well when A-Rod is playing well, and that's why I think A-Rod coming back last season was a bigger lift to the club than people realize (especially when just looking at his pure numbers).

[Chamomile]

Well, part of A-Rod's low WAR is the time he missed, coupled with the fact that he did struggle coming back from the injury. However (and I know you can't eliminate any time), he was a very different player after Girardi sat him for those first two games in Florida. If you go back to the second game of the Atlanta series, he finally appeared to be fully healthy, and he was really great from that point forward.

 

And that brings me back to my initial point. I'm not talking about exactly what the numbers say, but when A-Rod is producing, the Yankees are almost always winning. It's not something that can necessarily be quantified, but it's a trend I've noticed. Last year is a perfect example.

 

A-Rod missed the first 28 games, and the Yankees started out 13-15. When he came back, he wasn't hitting for a great average, but he hit his share of home runs, and the Yankees went on a nice little run. However, around the beginning of inter-league play, A-Rod was really scuffling, eventually leading to those two days off in Florida.

 

In my opinion, not only can you pinpoint the turnaround of the Yankees season to one game, you can pinpoint it to one moment, or one hit to be more exact. Second game of the Atlanta series, sixth inning, score tied 1-1, bases loaded for an ice cold A-Rod. A-Rod singles in two runs, the Yankees win the game, and then A-Rod suddenly starts really hitting. Furthermore, right when A-Rod turned his season around, the Yankees went on an absolute tear for the entire rest of the season (amazingly, almost having zero blips on the radar, besides the sweep out in Anaheim right before the ASB). A-Rod had his common cold patches during the rest of the year, but, for the most part, he was his old self and the Yankees were winning.

 

Then, for the first time since he's been a Yankee, A-Rod hits for the entire postseason, and the Yankees win the World Series.

 

Obviously there are times when the Yankees have won, and A-Rod hasn't been playing well, and vice-versa, but this has been a pretty solid trend, especially over the past couple years. Is A-Rod to the Yankees tantamount to LeBron James to the Cavs? Absolutely not. However, for whatever reason, the Yankees seem to play well when A-Rod is playing well, and that's why I think A-Rod coming back last season was a bigger lift to the club than people realize (especially when just looking at his pure numbers).

 

Again, I think you're giving way too much credit to A-Rod. The Yankees started out at 17-18 with A-Rod in 2008 and they started out at 14-16 with A-Rod in 2007. So I find it hard to believe that A-Rod was their savior last year.

 

Besides, as good as A-Rod is, he isn't as valuable as Cameron, Ellsbury and Matsuzaka combined.

[yankees228]

Again, I think you're giving way too much credit to A-Rod. The Yankees started out at 17-18 with A-Rod in 2008 and they started out at 14-16 with A-Rod in 2007. So I find it hard to believe that A-Rod was their savior last year.

 

Besides, as good as A-Rod is, he isn't as valuable as Cameron, Ellsbury and Matsuzaka combined.

 

A lot of things went wrong at the beginning of 2007, and I think everyone would agree that he completely carried them that year. As for 2008, I'm pretty sure their record when he was on the DL was below .500, and if they played to the same winning percentage over that time as they did when he was healthy, I think they would have made the playoffs (or come extremely close).

 

I agree with the last part, although I do believe A-Rod to the Yankees is a special case.