The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

[boston22407]

Lackey on the DL with right elbow sprain

 

i bet he is fine ,just for him to spend time with his wife

[SoxSport]

Team against RHP .729

Team against LHP .763

 

What are you basing this claim off of, exactly?

 

The team has sucked in hitting generally, so far. That's what the stat shows.

 

What your stat doesn't show is generally all of their LHd hitters don't hit as well against LHd pitchers, especially power numbers. That includes AdGon prior to last season.

It's a no brainer for a manager to throw any lefty at them--especially in Fenway.

 

And especially since they don't have much in RHd hitting beyond Youks and Pedroia--and maybe Lowrie. That's a glaring imbalance. Epstein is well aware of this, and don't be surprised if some changes are made. Restoring some balance will also make your left handed hitters more effective (by seeing more RHd pitching).

[Palodios]

The team has sucked in hitting generally' date=' so far. That's what the stat shows.[/quote']

 

I'm going to stop you here. The best offensive team in the majors in 2010 hit .786. And you're bitching about the Red Sox hitting .763 against LHP. Do a little research before you go on a rant next time.

[Palodios]

The good-- the offense showed some serious life in the late innings tonight. Also, can we clone A-gon and put him at every position?

 

The bad-- Dice-k. Strikes please?

 

The ugly-- the gamethread

[Cocos Disciples]

Good: Adrian Gonzalez once again. Jason Varitek had two RBI hits. The hitting in general, from the 6th on.

 

Bad: 12 RISP. Not scoring any runs off Tillman, a mediocre pitcher (at least for now).

 

Ugly: Watching Dice-K pitch. Just a nightmare.

[Palodios]

The good-- Buchholz is looking like an ace again, Salty with a game-winning hit, and the back end of the bullpen gets it done again.

 

The bad-- Phil Coke dominated this lineup? Really!? What is with this team getting pounded by mediocre pitching?

 

The ugly-- The weather. This team will be exhausted if they have to deal with too many rain delays this week. The Cubs aren't coming back to Fenway this year, so the weekend series will probably get forced in.

[Beaneater]

The good-- Buchholz is looking like an ace again, Salty with a game-winning hit, and the back end of the bullpen gets it done again.

 

The bad-- Phil Coke dominated this lineup? Really!? What is with this team getting pounded by mediocre pitching?

 

The ugly-- The weather. This team will be exhausted if they have to deal with too many rain delays this week. The Cubs aren't coming back to Fenway this year, so the weekend series will probably get forced in.

 

I agree with your good and bad. The ugly has to go to Crawford, who honestly doesn't look like he knows what sport he's playing. His two K's were atrocious. Even in his (ironically game-winning) last at-bat, he swung at a 92-mph fastball after the catcher had already caught it and thrown it back to the pitcher.

 

Honestly, he looks like me in my last two years of Little League. I couldn't hit worth crap, and I knew it, and that screwed me up even more. I'd get to the point where I was literally deciding whether or not to swing before the pitcher even released the ball. That's what Crawford looked like last night, swinging at junk that was never in the strike zone. Ugh.

 

Seriously, folks -- is he going to turn it around, or is he broken?

[SoxFanForsyth]

He's definitely not broken, and to be fair Gonzo looked awful against Coke as well. Seemed to be very deceiving on his delivery to LHP, and that's helped him limit all LHH to a .172 BA this year.

 

Craw is coming around, but he's been seeing a lot of bad luck. He hit a ball hard right up the middle the other night and Tillman just kind of swung his glove behind him and actually caught it. Gardner made a diving catch that would usually be down for a single. And I've seen countless rips to the right side of the IF that just aren't getting through. His BABIP is .248, almost 90 points down from his career numbers.

 

He is hitting .281 in May, but he's still not hitting the ball well. Nothing for extra bases. Just ground balls up the middle when he gets on base. He has only hit 4 XBH this month. Not exactly what we wanted from him.

 

I almost question whether hitting him 8th is the answer. I can see it from a "Let's let him get settled into Boston with all the pressure", but now I wonder if it has turned into him saying "I gotta start crushing so that I can get back into the top of the order". He's said that he feels like hitting 8th is a demotion for him, and rightfully so. Maybe putting him toward the top of the order would help him to get going.

[RedSoxFaithful]

I agree with your good and bad. The ugly has to go to Crawford, who honestly doesn't look like he knows what sport he's playing. His two K's were atrocious. Even in his (ironically game-winning) last at-bat, he swung at a 92-mph fastball after the catcher had already caught it and thrown it back to the pitcher.

 

Honestly, he looks like me in my last two years of Little League. I couldn't hit worth crap, and I knew it, and that screwed me up even more. I'd get to the point where I was literally deciding whether or not to swing before the pitcher even released the ball. That's what Crawford looked like last night, swinging at junk that was never in the strike zone. Ugh.

 

Seriously, folks -- is he going to turn it around, or is he broken?

 

He's fine, how quickly you forget those 2 walk off hits and his 10 game hit streak. It's not even like we are losing, we are winning!!

[RedSoxFaithful]

He's definitely not broken, and to be fair Gonzo looked awful against Coke as well. Seemed to be very deceiving on his delivery to LHP, and that's helped him limit all LHH to a .172 BA this year.

 

Craw is coming around, but he's been seeing a lot of bad luck. He hit a ball hard right up the middle the other night and Tillman just kind of swung his glove behind him and actually caught it. Gardner made a diving catch that would usually be down for a single. And I've seen countless rips to the right side of the IF that just aren't getting through. His BABIP is .248, almost 90 points down from his career numbers.

 

He is hitting .281 in May, but he's still not hitting the ball well. Nothing for extra bases. Just ground balls up the middle when he gets on base. He has only hit 4 XBH this month. Not exactly what we wanted from him.

 

I almost question whether hitting him 8th is the answer. I can see it from a "Let's let him get settled into Boston with all the pressure", but now I wonder if it has turned into him saying "I gotta start crushing so that I can get back into the top of the order". He's said that he feels like hitting 8th is a demotion for him, and rightfully so. Maybe putting him toward the top of the order would help him to get going.

 

The one thing I would like to see from Crawford more is stealing bases, this has been almost nonexistant this year.

[Beaneater]

Forsyth, you're right that Gonzo looked bad last night too, so maybe I'll give Crawdad a pass for his pitiful ABs yesterday. We'll just say that Coke was dialed in against LHHs and leave it at that.

 

Faithful, I know we're winning. That's great. I actually got to watch the second half of the game last night (first time this season) so believe me that I'm happy we won. I'm a glass-half-full happy kind of guy. I don't think we'll ever sniff the wrong side of .500 again this season. That's gooood.

 

But Crawdad has blown so far, 10-game hitting streak and all. It's hard to believe that this shell of a player has been one of the top OFs in baseball year in and year out. I'm hoping that it's just a bad slump, but last night the eyeball test told me that Crawdad has some serious mental issues right now.

 

And in order for him to steal bases, he's got to be on base. That has been the problem so far this year.

 

Anyhoo, we're all hoping he gets his head together and starts playing reasonable baseball.

[Station 13]

5/19 Detroit

 

Good: Beckett with a solid outing. He was lucky somewhat with a few hard hit ball finding fielders. Somehow allowed 1 run in a frame where he allowed several bullets.

 

Ortiz crushed a mistake pitch (hanging slider) over the bullpen.

 

Bad: Tek/Bard. I blame the combo for that s***. Why do you play around late in games? If you throw 98, throw it.

 

Ugly: Weather still suck.

[SoxSport]

5/19 Detroit

 

 

Ortiz crushed a mistake pitch (hanging slider) over the bullpen.

 

Bad: Tek/Bard. I blame the combo for that s***. Why do you play around late in games? If you throw 98, throw it.

 

 

Papi is doin' good so far. So is Pap.

 

Bard did the curve routine season opener in Texas and got bombed. This time he should be fined. Where is the coaching?

[SoxSport]

The one thing I would like to see from Crawford more is stealing bases' date=' this has been almost nonexistant this year.[/quote']

 

Therein lies a problem with Tito. This is not a running team. Besides, he has CC batting 8th-- in limbo until he hits his way out. He needs to bat in the 2-hole. And either he or Ells should be stealing if either gets on base. Tito has to play those two guys back to back to maximize their speed at the top of the lineup. And he's been sleeping lately, batting Pedey 2nd while Pedey has been hitting about .100.

 

Time for CC to bat 2nd again, Tito.

[Palodios]

Good-- Has Beckett ever pitched this successfully in his career? He looked a little less impressive last night, but his numbers are getting unreal.

 

Bad- I was sitting just behind right field, and Drew looked terrible defensively. He had a bad drop early, and there was another play where he jogged to pick up a fly ball from the ground that he very easily could have gotten under.

[SoxSport]

The bad-- Phil Coke dominated this lineup? Really!? What is with this team getting pounded by mediocre pitching?

 

 

LHP is killing them with that unbalanced lineup. Youks is the only RHd power bat. And that's not enough, Theo. You gave up two big RHd bats in the offseason. And Tito hasn't offset that some by using Ells and CC speed at the top of the lineup.

[Palodios]

LHP is killing them with that unbalanced lineup. Youks is the only RHd power bat. And that's not enough' date=' Theo. You gave up two big RHd bats in the offseason. And Tito hasn't offset that some by using Ells and CC speed at the top of the lineup.[/quote']

 

We had this same exact argument four days ago, in this same exact thread, and the numbers show that you were wrong. Stop trolling please.

[ORS]

We had this same exact argument four days ago' date=' in this same exact thread, and the numbers show that you were wrong. Stop trolling please.[/quote']

I think he/she/it is a bot. No matter what the results are on the field, the litany of complaints doesn't change, even when the results show how wrong they are.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

9/17 vs Rays, 4-3(L)

 

The good: Carl Crawford and Mike Aviles. 2 people no one expected to do much played a role in the loss.

 

The bad: Jon Lester is not consistent. He needs to get out of the early innings faster an not struggle against weak offensive teams.

 

A-God needs to find his stroke. He's still hitting the ball but he's not the guy I want at the plate when the game is on the line.

 

The ugly: Too many men LOB. It's really pissing me off. Blowing off too many oppurtunities. We could have won this game if we can execute at the right time. That rookie pitcher had nothing and we got only 1 run and it was due to a groundout.

 

Someone light a fire under this teams ass. I don't understand how a team this stacked can do so bad. Forget the injuries they're playing like s*** everywhere. Pick it up and bury the Rays chances of taking the wildcard.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

4/8 @ Tigers, 13-12(L)

 

The Good: Padilla was money today. He really impressed me today. Signs of offense today. We've been sleeping the first 2 games. Could have done a better job with RISP today though.

 

The Bad: Clay Buchholz. He got rocked today. His control today was absolutely atrocious.

 

The Ugly: The bullpen and it's not even close. Game should have been over in the 9th. How you can't protect a 3 run lead int he 9th and a 2 run lead in the 11th is absurd. Not panicking but that was some ******** we saw today. Should of had the win today.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

I like this thread and would like it if it got revived again. On a side note, I really wish ORS would return.

 

4/24 vs A's, 6-5(W)

 

http://24.media.tumblr.com/7472ed8b9c8f2aec757b1b7d00464cf9/tumblr_mlscewOoaI1qzuh3do1_500.png

 

The good: Even though Lester was off his game, he was able to give up only 3 runs. That's a good sign if that's how he performs on an off day. The A's aren't scrubs when it comes to offense, that's a win to me. The Sox are getting better at RISP, but it could improve.

 

The bad: Uehera. Not concerned about him but his last 2 outings he gave up a HR. Couple of loud outs

 

The ugly: Will Middlebrooks, easy. Not only can he not hit, he can't stop hacking at the first pitch. They need to bench him.

[Bellhorn04]

So the idea is to list one good thing and two bad things? Hmmm...

[Big Guy]

bench middlebrooks? STOP IT

[VA Sox Fan]

I miss ORS too! Also example1. Two of the best/smartest posters over the years.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

So the idea is to list one good thing and two bad things? Hmmm...

 

I didn't make the thread, just follow the rules. Usually there is a lot of good so it outweighs the bad and ugly. I like it because I get to see the perspective of other members of the game.

[kapsis21]

The good: John Farrell

 

The bad: Drew and Middlebrooks still struggling

 

The ugly: Gomes he just does not belong here.

[User Name]

Drew hit a two-RBI triple.

[mvp 78]

G: almost everything about this team's performance and culture (this team is outpacing most poster's projections)

 

B: Drew starting out slow, injury to Lackey after 18 months of rehab

 

U: everything about 2013 Aceves, just horrible

[mvp 78]

Drew hit a two-RBI triple.

 

He'll come around eventually. Just slow going for now.

[RedSoxfanforlife305]

Drew hit a two-RBI triple.

 

Which is nice, but he's still struggling. I'm not really concerned though.