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Bat Masterson with another walk. Perhaps another walk and a HBP would help the twins out??

Ahhh. Apologies my friend. I tolerate only 5 passed balls... yes, only 5.

Honestly, even when something goes right, you are pessimistic.

Nice Kottaras.

Thankful for: long season TBs slow start

Pedroia seems to be having a pretty quiet .872 OPS season. He may have been left on a lot by Papi.

Seems like a better spot for Ramirez, or Saito, or Bard than Masterson. Hmmm

Nice pitch for the K there. Good tailing fb.

Jason Bay is the man.

Yes... Dice, Lars and Bard for Felix Hernandez. and Johjima...

Dice just needs to be this teams 4 or 5 starter. He is inconsistent, frustrating, etc, but he is often effective in a weird way.

It could be a godsend for the Sox that he was unwilling to get a medium sized extended payday because he wants Rivera money. He may be just stupid enough to screw himself over, unwilling to relinquish the candy bar to get his hand out of the vending machine.

We need a catch-all Papelbon thread (searched 3 pages, couldn't find one). I wanted to ask specifically: Where has Papelbon's splitter gone? Can anyone fill me in about some decision not to use it anymore? Pitch f/x doesn't have a single recorded split in 2009: http://www.fangraphs.com/pitchfxo.aspx?playerid=5975&position=P&pitch=FS or it says he's throwing it 10.3% of the time, exactly the same as his slider. F/X seems confused. It was his best secondary pitch and he's not using it... any ideas where it has gone?

Penny is throwing mid 90s, throwing strikes and appears healthy, at times dominant. I see no reason he can't be the Brad Penny of a few years ago when he started the All Star game. At the very least he's looking like a more-than-servicable 4th or 5th starter.

Buchholz got up to 97 and had only one three ball count. Please be able to do that (throw strikes) in Boston, Clay. I don't know if this was exactly their plan, but in terms of young MLB caliber pitching the Sox have really out-done themselves. Kelly- 19 (project) Bowden, Tazawa- 22 Hagadone, Bard- 23 Buchholz, Masterson- 24 Lester- 25 There are still 4 guys there who really should be MLB contributers as pitchers in the near future (Bowden, Tazawa, Hagadone and Buchholz) and the Sox already have a great staff. I have no clue how the Sox will ultimately integrate Buchholz into the rotation, but it needs to happen this year. Here's a guy who has already tossed a no-no, almost pitched a perfect game today, and who has been striking out more than 1 per IP in the majors even when he struggles. Until Bowden is pitching no-nos and absolutely dominating the competition, there is no real hurry to get himself, Hagadone or Tazawa into the 'bigs. The club is just that good. If Buchholz is blocked though, then the Sox may need to make a move to clear up some space.

Okay, I know this isn't your artwork and I'm sure you've seen someone do it elsewhere, but I've literally been laughing about this for a few days now. Good stuff Dipre (even though I was the one who resurrected the thread.

Hopefully nobody minds if I mention, 1st place (by W%) for the Sox. Excellent.

Game. Too bad for the Yankees. I guess they're back into 3rd place.

I think Peavy really screws over the Padres with his NL only demands. Yes, he's willing to probably go to Boston or NY, but those teams likely won't give up the prospects it would take and they don't want to pay the salary for what amounts to a solid #2 pitcher. It would be much better for the Padres to be able to trade him to a team the simply won't see for a few years. Big blunder by the Padres FO to go this far and have it not work.

How big a difference does it make that Scott Kazmir seems to be a distant reminder of the former (fearsome) Kazmir? Over the past year or so he just hasn't seemed like the same pitcher. This may have been predictable from a pitcher who had thrown more than 200 MLB innings by the time he was 21. His demise might be just the blessing the Sox need. That said, the Rays were really smart to get Garza, and Shields is a good pitcher too. To me, with Kazmir of old they are the best team in the AL. With this Kazmir they are beatable 3 out of 5 nights. Big difference.

I doubt it is that simple. Hitting MLB pitching is extremely difficult. I do agree that this should be a good start for him though, as he can at least not worry about the stupid homerless streak anymore.

He swung at the first pitch in his first two at bats I think, and one at bat he K'd looking pretty pathetic. The HR swing was a good one, a shot to CF, and the 2B was a pretty solid shot too, at Fenway. It would have been an out elsewhere most likely. Even the HR swing was sort of 'muscled' out, it wasn't a blast. Either way, it was a pretty special moment IMO, as he got a standing ovation and his team gave him the silent treatment when he got back to the bench, and then lots of hugs all around. Good stuff.