ORS

He seemed to pitch pretty well in NY in October. He started the season hot with 2 of his first 3 games at Fenway during a cool spring. I don't think there's much to that theory.

Loretter with the pretty play.

Nice pitch for the looking K.

That was pretty f***ing stupid. At least let him swing the bat with 2 strikes. You never know what could happen (Philly).

YOUK!

K

No, I didn't mean, "Where did it miss?" The 3-2 to Renteria missed by 3 ft., that's nerves.

Geez, where the hell was that 3-2 pitch? He's got the big league arm, but he still needs to work-out the head part. That type of failure to perform is purely nerves. And, why the hell couldn't Rent-an-error GIDP like he would have last year?

Arod strikes out looking with 1 down, runners on 2nd and 3rd, in a 5-3 game.

It will be nice to see what he can do when he's getting the outside corner. I'm not one to complain about the strikezone, and the ump has been consistent. That said, he's thrown some very nice pitches that could have gone either way. He'll be really tough with a generous zone.

Life. There are signs of life in the offense.

Yeah, there was good reason to promote him. He started the season in a terrible slump, but when he pulled out of it, he was white hot. I think the split is from like April 20 on. Three hot weeks for a player in his second year at a level warrants a promotion.

I don't expect a seamless transition, but I think the 'seam' will have to Malaysian sweatshop horrible to be worse than what we are getting now. We'll have to agree to disagree.

This isn't knee-jerk at all. It is purely rational and calculated. If FTS (Foulke, Tavarez, Seanez) are going to be as inconsistent as they have been, then I see no reason to continue using them as they have been used. MDC, Hansen, VB (MHV) are going to take their lumps, which is pretty much what FTS have been doing, but MHV are part of this team moving forward, unlike FTS. If it is reasonable to expect the same level of performance from both groups, then go with the group that you have long-term plans for. That way you get their learning curve out of the way, or in the worst case scenario, find out if they aren't worth keeping.

To say that the Sox can't afford to let young players take their lumps on the way to establishing themselves as MLB players is a narrow view. Clement, the proven player, is about as lumpy as you can get, and that is the type of player that will be available via trade. The landscape of the FA market has changed since revenue sharing began. Fewer and fewer premiere players are hitting the market because teams have the revenue to extend them before the become free-agents. The Sox have a chance to have one of those premiere players from within the system with Lester.

The 2004 Angels brought a lefty in to face Ortiz in the 10th in game 3. How'd that work out?

The best bullpen in baseball last season didn't have one. I don't care if a pitcher slings it up there with his Johnson, from the left or the right, as long as he can get batters out.

There's a Seanez faux-optimism thread, a thread calling for Tavarez' head, etc, etc. But I want to talk about the bullpen in general. Timlin coming back on Tuesday will be big. With him and Papelbon (bow before him), it is essentially a 7 inning game when they have the lead. But, what about those high-leverage situational relief spots in the 6th/7th innings? Who can we trust? Right now, I have absolutely no faith in the trio of Seanez, Tavarez, & Foulke. They are just too inconsistent for my liking. Leads are squandered, come-back momentum is killed. They fail as often as they get the job done. If that is the norm for our middle relief, then those opportunities need to be part of the learning curve of the next generation. In terms of contract status, Seanez is the easiest to DFA, so dump him. Call up Hansen. And start giving the ball to him and MDC as regularly as they have been giving the ball to the three hosers mentioned. The lumps they will take like all rookies do won't be any worse than what we are seeing now. Thoughts?

Doug, that was right down Broadway, man.

Game over. The 'ez brothers are back to being worthless.

Dude, the catcher just stole a base. The catcher.

I don't like this change. Tavarez is a better GB pitcher with the double play still in order, and Seanez is a K/FB pitcher. Mench scares me against him. If a K was needed here (2nd and 3rd, 1 out) it would make more sense, but I like Tavarez better here. EDIT: Nevermind, DeRosa steals 2nd without a throw. This team gets run on pretty easily sometimes.

Sanity prevails. Youk with the PH hit, 6-4.

Having Willie Harris be one of only 5 players starting both games of a double-header when tomorrow is the off day makes about as much sense as wiping your ass with your bare hand.

Dougie's going deep.......