Most concerning issues with this team and the poor start.

[SoxSport]

The Sox looked just fine today. Nothing like home cooking. Pap looked good.

They have to be concerned about Lackey. He had nothing. No heat. Just a curveball.

#2 starter he is not.

 

They have got to straighten out their pitching fast. Wake may be an early retiree.

 

Can you believe that Colon? Fails for three teams, then smells like a rose in NY. What's he taking?

[SoxSport]

did anyone see the stat on ESPN today? said something like red sox chance of making playoffs was 60 some percent. and now it is 30 some percent.

 

Ha. Tito should hang that in the locker room. Too bad he is too nice to do that. Too nice, period.

 

ESPN has a NY bias. MLB.com is more balanced. They've got Millar on there now.

Millar is a piece of work. He and Damon must have loosened up that locker room in 04.

[redsoxmaniac19]

Hi, everyone!

THEY FINALLY WON! IN YOUR FACE, YANKEES! After all

this Red Sox misery, they FINALLY CAME THROUGH! YES!!!

 

Sincerely,

redsoxmaniac19

 

April 8, 2011

[BigPapiEnFuego]

lol i no rite

[VA Sox Fan]

From The Globe:

 

A few words from Yaz

 

Mike Vega passes on these comment from Carl Yastrzemski:

 

"I told Francona that I'm undefeated throwing out the first pitch. Both games of the World Series, they won. So they'll win today. He wants me to come back tomorrow if they win."

[SCM33]

John Lackey is concerning.

 

The most concerning pitcher currently on the Redsox, until Beckett pitches on Sunday.

[yeszir]

From The Globe:

 

A few words from Yaz

 

Mike Vega passes on these comment from Carl Yastrzemski:

 

"I told Francona that I'm undefeated throwing out the first pitch. Both games of the World Series, they won. So they'll win today. He wants me to come back tomorrow if they win."

 

Yaz mojo, I like.

[rwb]

as they are simply too good and this start may be a blessing as they needed a wake up call.

[redsoxrules]

as frustrating as it is , I agree

[Youk Of The Nation]

Okay, seriously. I've merged the last six threads already.

 

We DO NOT need more than one thread to talk about the slow start to the season.

[SCM33]

Okay, seriously. I've merged the last six threads already.

 

We DO NOT need more than one thread to talk about the slow start to the season.

 

 

YEAH!!!! Post in the one that I created!!!!

 

 

Seriously though. 1-7 and the starting pitching has been awful. When do we start to really wonder that this time might actually be flawed?

 

The 100 win season was such a foolish projection. Now, only 8 games into the season and we have almost 1/9th of the losses allowed for a 100 win season.

 

I said it in the offseason that one of my goals would have been to sign a starting pitcher to kick Lackey and Beckett in the ass. Lackey clearly needed it, we will see what Beckett does 2morrow night, but the Yankees tatooed him all season long last year.

[Redsoxwin15]

I think the problem with the Red Sox is Salty. Beckett is pitching great now that Varitek is catching. Also, Papi, Youk, and a lot of other Sox players need to get out of their hitting slumps. Pedroia, as usual, is awesome defensively and offensively. If Salty gets a better handle on the pitching staff and the Sox start hitting, I think it will be a good season.

[SCM33]

I think the problem with the Red Sox is Salty. Beckett is pitching great now that Varitek is catching. Also' date=' Papi, Youk, and a lot of other Sox players need to get out of their hitting slumps. Pedroia, as usual, is awesome defensively and offensively. If Salty gets a better handle on the pitching staff and the Sox start hitting, I think it will be a good season.[/quote']

 

I am in agreement.

 

Let Varitek catch a rotation with these guys. If they start to win and the starting pitchers produce, who cares if he hits .130.

[SCM33]

Dice-K.......terrible. I said it in the offseason, they needed to sign another SP to give some guys (Beckett, Lackey, Dice-K) a kick in the ass. That, and they needed to either re-sign Vmart or bring in a Catcher other than Salty.

 

Saltalamacchia should not be given another start.

 

He cant hit, he cant throw, he cant catch....christ, he cant even make contact.

 

Who knows how much he is costing our SP's out there.

 

I have no problem with Varitek catching everyday.....even if he hits .170 with zero power all season, its better than the alternative.

[SCM33]

Yeah, Salty needs to take a seat. He looks like single A pitching would mow his ass down.

 

Scutaro needs to sit as well.

 

Ditto for Crawford, I dont give a s*** how much he makes, I was against him being here anyway. For the money they are paying Crawford.....Vmart would still be here and I wouldnt have to hear a word about Salty.

 

Salty is terrible, what a terrible decision to think he could start. What an even worse decision to sign Crawford at the expense of VMART.

 

Someones ass (looking at you Theo) will be in a sling if they dont turn this around.

[example1]

Someones ass (looking at you Theo) will be in a sling if they dont turn this around.

 

No it won't.

 

Nobody could predict Crawford with a sub-.200 OBP at this stage. One coul dpredict that he wouldn't be worth the amount they paid him, but not his horrid start or the horrid start of the rest of the team.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

As for issues? OFFENSE. Terrible. You don't score you can't win.

[SCM33]

No it won't.

 

Nobody could predict Crawford with a sub-.200 OBP at this stage. One coul dpredict that he wouldn't be worth the amount they paid him, but not his horrid start or the horrid start of the rest of the team.

 

They most certainly will be looking at him.

 

He essentially had a blank check book to spend almost 50 million dollars.

[example1]

They most certainly will be looking at him.

 

He essentially had a blank check book to spend almost 50 million dollars.

 

Few disagreed with the moves at the time. Whether you were on the scouting or sabermetric side, this team appeared primed to push 100 wins this year. If anything, some people were against Crawford because it seemed like an extravagance.

 

If he had left a stone unturned then I think you would be right, but it just isn't going to happen.

 

Plus, Francona would be the first person to go because, for better or worse, they're stuck with the players they have for a LONG time and Francona clearly isn't getting the best out of them.

[SCM33]

Nobody disagreed with the moves at the time. Whether you were on the scouting or sabermetric side, this team appeared primed to push 100 wins this year.

 

If he had left a stone unturned then I think you would be right, but it just isn't going to happen.

 

Plus, Francona would be the first person to go because, for better or worse, they're stuck with the players they have for a LONG time and Francona clearly isn't getting the best out of them.

 

Not that it matters, but from day one.....I said VMART needed to be re-signed and that there was no way in hell Salty was a MLB catcher. The Crawford signing essentially negated any chance of him coming back.

 

You might be right about Francona, and that sucks.....his loyalty to his players, which was always his biggest asset could become his biggest flaw with a team that has no identity or leaders.

[example1]

Not that it matters, but from day one.....I said VMART needed to be re-signed and that there was no way in hell Salty was a MLB catcher. The Crawford signing essentially negated any chance of him coming back.

 

You might be right about Francona, and that sucks.....his loyalty to his players, which was always his biggest asset could become his biggest flaw with a team that has no identity or leaders.

 

I liked signing VMart too, but it didn't happen.

 

This team seemed to have a formula to predict how many wins their team would have, with a +/- of maybe 3-4 wins on either side. Year after year they were able to make reasonable guesses about where their team stood, what an addition of Player A or Player B would mean, and they could play that out over a few years.

 

Sadly, they weren't concerned about whether VMart could produce, they were concerned about whether he could stay at catcher for the length of his contract and felt that they had numerous other reliable options that could do better. Right now, that type of calculation seems really petty and high-minded. At the time, it seemed like the type of ultra-fine refining that this FO was capable to do because they had team-construction down to a science.

 

Currently, it is like there is an infection on this team. Or, it is like other teams have this team's "playbook" and have figured out how to pitch to Ellsbury, Crawford, Ortiz, Drew, and Youkilis like a football defense that knows what offensive play is coming.

 

When this type of thing happens in the middle of the season we don't worry. Usually we have seen a few wins and believe that the team is better than they look on their worst day. Inexplicably, in this case, we haven't seen this team even win consecutive days, let alone have any decent winning-streak. They COULD be as bad as they look, because we don't know better.

 

Statistics say they will ascend to the mean, but they might also just suck and throw every metric and previous way of thinking about teams into disarray.

 

It totally sucks, but if it turns out that this team does NOT get better, then it will have been because of as-of-yet unknown reasons, not because the team didn't use the best available information to construct their team.

[SCM33]

It totally sucks' date=' but if it turns out that this team does NOT get better, then it will have been because of as-of-yet unknown reasons, not because the team didn't use the best available information to construct their team.[/quote']

 

The reasons will be known.

 

They will be:

#1 Starting pitching (I also said they should have signed someone to light a fire under Lackey/Beckett/Dice-K's ass).

 

#2 Relief pitching (they did do an overhaul, we will find out how it works out).

 

#3 Catcher, which also contributes to the shittyness of both the starting and relief pitching if you cant call a game/catch/throw. Offense or defense, Salty cant do either. In fact, hes brutal

 

In my mind, those are the 3 most glaring issues. Get Salty the f*** out. Let Varitek call the games and catch for the pitchers. If the team is still losing, then look elsewhere, but I think that Salty is hurting this team in more categories than the boxscore.

[example1]

The reasons will be known.

 

They will be:

#1 Starting pitching (I also said they should have signed someone to light a fire under Lackey/Beckett/Dice-K's ass).

 

#2 Relief pitching (they did do an overhaul, we will find out how it works out).

 

#3 Catcher, which also contributes to the shittyness of both the starting and relief pitching if you cant call a game/catch/throw. Offense or defense, Salty cant do either. In fact, hes brutal

 

In my mind, those are the 3 most glaring issues. Get Salty the f*** out. Let Varitek call the games and catch for the pitchers. If the team is still losing, then look elsewhere, but I think that Salty is hurting this team in more categories than the boxscore.

 

I totally agree.

 

I don't think they could have done much with the pitching this year, with Beckett, Lackey, Matsuzaka, Buchholz and Lester all solidified moving forward. Lee wasn't coming here, so NOT signing Lackey last year and waiting for him wasn't going to work.

 

What I hate is that everything just seems so f***ing hard for the Sox right now. They truly making hitting look like the "hardest single thing to do in sports", when most other teams are at least in a competitive battle with the pitcher.

 

Meanwhile, the pitchers are not just unable to pitch effectively, they are consistently missing by feet. They are wasting pitches in the dirt, letting the opposition not even have to think about swinging.

 

f*** I'm sick of it.

 

The worst thing of all is that there isn't a single move on the horizon or any viable excuse to make. This team was selected by the experts to win the World Series or at least the division because they are the best team... on paper.

 

I don't even want to watch this team anymore, but it is the baseball season and during the baseball season I watch the Red Sox... I don't know what I would do with myself otherwise. I bet others share that really agonizing feeling with me.

[redsoxfreak91]

At this point we would have to win our next eight series in order to get to a .500 average. That means that means we have to wait about a month to get back to .500 baring we turn the ship around tomorrow. I gave Crawford a break up to tonight, but seriously, at this point everyone should at least have a few good games. Everyone has had two starts now and only beckett and lester have even had 1 good outing. I am the most optimistic fan there is, but this is getting ridiculous. I am expecting a long winning streak soon or at least some consistent play or this season may be over faster than the hype surrounding it.

[Wasatch]

Yeah, it better end real soon. When your down 15-20 games it can be very hard to come back.

[DwightFright]

It's incredible how Joe Maddon has suddenly found new life in his Rays. Those players really play for him. And it's also incredible how Cashman kept the Yanks hiding in the weeds by making so many correct tweaks without panicing. The Yanks have their problems as well, but management of that team doesn't seem one of them. The Sox management is in complete disarray. When the Fenway faithful are already booing this team in April, it's time for John Henry to make hard chocies and shake things up.

[SCM33]

there are literally about 10 other threads about the same thing, including the one I made two weeks ago.

[SoxSport]

Yeah, Salty needs to take a seat. He looks like single A pitching would mow his ass down.

 

Scutaro needs to sit as well.

 

Ditto for Crawford, I dont give a s*** how much he makes, I was against him being here anyway. For the money they are paying Crawford.....Vmart would still be here and I wouldnt have to hear a word about Salty.

 

Salty is terrible, what a terrible decision to think he could start. What an even worse decision to sign Crawford at the expense of VMART.

 

Someones ass (looking at you Theo) will be in a sling if they dont turn this around.

 

Crawford was a luxury they didn't need--not with Kalish pretty much ready.

Salty was a gamble. Without insurance.

 

Nobody's ass ever pays working for the Red Sox. That's one of their problems.