7/7 Gm2 - Had our Phil of losing. Yanks will not smoke our Doubie

[iortiz]

Ciriaco had an impressive game tonight. I was impressed with both him and Gomez. I am going to enjoy it while I can, because who knows if a game will happen like this again.

 

I am tired of seeing people say that Ciriaco is the future 2B and is going to take over for Pedroia at 2B after Pedroia retires. Let's not forget that Ciriaco is 26 and only two years younger than Pedroia. Let's not let one game make up our mind about a guy either. He was also 0-4 in the first game with two strikeouts.

 

I love the energy he gives this team and I love the fact that he brings speed to the roster, but we need to see consistency over the next three or four weeks before we can determine that he is worth keeping on the Major League roster. Let's keep our feet on the ground and not let the hype get to us.

 

He has the tools, no question about that. I would use him at SS and let him share the load with Aviles, by now.

[SemperFi Sox]

no reason to have Punto on this team over Ciriaco.

[FredLynn]

That was a really fun game to watch for a change although our starting pitching is fast heading to the basement for ERA in all of baseball. They stand at 27th now.

 

The one thing I had not thought about until just as this game ended was the three LH pitchers going for us in a row in Fenway. I had not thought that much about this possibility because I figured Felix was running out of time as a starting cause of the innings count. However I sure in hell don't think the Sox want to go through too many spins of the rotation in Fenway running three LH pitchers out there.

 

Our ERA ranks 21st in all of MLB, not 27th. Its at #10 in the AL. Our best SP among the SP who began the season as our SP is Lester with an ERA of 4.33, followed by Doubront (4.41), Beckett (4.43), Bard (5.24), and Buchholz (5.53). I cannot remember a Red Sox team with those kind of statistics for SP. Say all you want about our offense, its impossible to contend for a ring with pitchers like this.

[Station 13]

Our ERA ranks 21st in all of MLB' date=' not 27th. Its at #10 in the AL. Our best SP among the SP who began the season as our SP is Lester with an ERA of 4.33, followed by Doubront (4.41), Beckett (4.43), Bard (5.24), and Buchholz (5.53). I cannot remember a Red Sox team with those kind of statistics for SP. Say all you want about our offense, its impossible to contend for a ring with pitchers like this.[/quote']

 

Especially with the top 3 being DL artists.

[jung]

Actually the Sox are ranked 21st in ERA for total pitching. The starters are now ranked 27th in ERA when ranked against other team starters. That is three from the bottom of all ML baseball.

 

I should point out that the Sox have lost places in total pitching and in starting pitching over the course of the Yankee series so far. They have lost 5 places to 21st in ERA for total pitching and they have lost 6 places to 27th ERA for starting pitchers.

[redsoxfan3]

He has the tools' date=' no question about that. I would use him at SS and let him share the load with Aviles, by now.[/quote']

 

I do agree with you there. I just hate when people jump to conclusions, especially if anyone in their right mind thinks this guy is going to replace Pedroia anytime in the near future. I could deal with him replacing or splitting time with Aviles. He is definitely a better utility player than Punto. Next year, I would love to see our IF consist of Gonzalez, Middlebrooks, Pedroia, Aviles, Ciriaco, and/or Iglesias. I hope that Lavarnway can take Shoppach's spot and split time with Salty, but there are going to be some people against that because Lavarnway would not be getting enough at bats to slow his production. If Big Papi really does leave, then Lavarnway would have to split time at C and DH. Who knows what Gomez will be able to do as well? With him capable of playing 1B, DH, and 3B (although hopefully we do not see him at 3B too much).

[TylerD]

Our ERA ranks 21st in all of MLB' date=' not 27th. Its at #10 in the AL. Our best SP among the SP who began the season as our SP is Lester with an ERA of 4.33, followed by Doubront (4.41), Beckett (4.43), Bard (5.24), and Buchholz (5.53). I cannot remember a Red Sox team with those kind of statistics for SP. Say all you want about our offense, its impossible to contend for a ring with pitchers like this.[/quote']

 

If our offense can keep putting up runs like they have been our pitching only has to be average to make a run in the playoffs and make the world series. Call me crazy but I still think Lester has a lot of good in him and I'm hoping he comes out after the all star break and has a nice stretch. And again like I said I don't think we need Lester or Beckett to be lights out. Especially when our stars come back from injury. They just need to be average. However with that said I think in all 3 games so far against the Yanks we have given up at least 3 runs or more In the first inning.

[redsoxfan3]

If our offense can keep putting up runs like they have been our pitching only has to be average to make a run in the playoffs and make the world series. Call me crazy but I still think Lester has a lot of good in him and I'm hoping he comes out after the all star break and has a nice stretch. And again like I said I don't think we need Lester or Beckett to be lights out. Especially when our stars come back from injury. They just need to be average. However with that said I think in all 3 games so far against the Yanks we have given up at least 3 runs or more In the first inning.

 

The real problem is that we should be scoring a lot of runs when our pitchers are pitching well. We cannot expect to score 0, 1, or 2 runs on a west coast trip and win games. Our pitchers pitched well, but we should have been scoring more. It is nice to see we were able to put up an 8 run game and a 9 run game against the Yankees, but we need to do that on a consistent basis. When you give up 10 runs, you cannot expect to win.

[jung]

Good luck scoring enough runs to reach out over the 27th best bunch of starters in baseball. I think they will and can pitch a bit better than that but not enough better to make a difference.

 

I think the real problem is that Sox Management won't see enough of a chance for this team to really make a run that they will get another arm for the rotation and with the guys they have now, there simply is not enough consistent good pitching to get the job done....at least I don't think so.

 

Remember Felix will likely fall out of this rotation just based on the number of innings he has pitched. Not sure which is worse...stayin' in or going out. I had not thought about it till just the last few days but with Felix, Frank and Jon that is three LH pitchers in the rotation at least at present. There is no way that a rotation with three LH pitchers survives in Fenway Park....so I think the whole six starters thing is a bunch of hot air. They would have to be nuts to try that for any length of time at least with the guys they have now.