seabeachfred

Sorry Pal, I don't think he will turn into a pumpkin. Right now he is a vastly superior hitter to Drew who is getting his lunch eaten down at Pawtucket ( one for ten and an infield single to boot) And he hit a home run last night. And, again, Drew must not play against lefthanders and be ready to be pinched hit for late in a close game where we need a hit. We've won seven in a row with finally a leadoff man up there doing the job. Let's not spoil it.

Andy, we have a lot of Drew lovers on this board and to say that his entry into the lineup tomorrow will have a negative effect on the offense is tantamount to treason with some people I'm afraid. However, look at the picture. He is one for 10 at Pawtucket, that an infield single, he hasn't faced Major League pitching since last October 30 and then didn't exactly distinguish himself. He was 4 for 61 in the post season last year----and we have two people say I write this because "I hate him", forgetting the stats to back it up. They also like to pan Holt as a flash in the pan but his Minor League record is not bad, he is a number of years younger than Pedro Ciriaco was when we got him and is a better all around defensive player. Holt has shown he can hit, he has also shown he can hit lefthanders and that says something since he's a left hand hitter himself. Drew, 2013.....196 against lefthanders. Drew must NOT play against southpaws and it is looking more and more like he shouldn't even be on the team. He is, though, and Farrell must use him wisely and that means he does NOT bat against lefthanders, and when late in the game if he gets off to a very slow start as expected I don't want to hear any "I don't want to lose him" from Farrell but rather send a pinch hitter up for him. Despite what one person says here I want Stephen to do well. I just have doubts right now after all that missed time and I happen to think Brock Holt is better than many people here think he is. He takes a short swing, his quick with his hands and has a presence in the field and at the plate. We may have struck some gold. We do NOT send him back down. Hell, he is now hitting 337 after four more hits today. The Red Sox can't be that crazy, can they?.......And he has been front in center in seven wins in a row. Let's not ruin it. Keep him in the lineup.

Keep this going Navafan. Somebody somewhere likes you very much. Great win tonight---but there was a thorn. I was really ticked off hearing Price run off at the mouth. We have some terse news for him with his panning of Papi. How many damn rings do you have Price? Papi has three!!!!!!!!

You know damn well I owe you a big Mea Culpa on my part. Your faith in Ruby was rewarded tonight and I have to wipe some of the remaining egg off of my face for my previous panning of the guy. He resembled nothing like that guy I saw in 2011 with the Dodgers. I congratulate you for your prescience in seeing what I didn't. I was very wrong about Rubby and I candidly admit it. If this is something we can expect from the guy we are going to be in pretty good shape if Owens and Renaudo come through as well. Hell, I feel too good to get pissed at myself except to not jump to conclusions on small samples like the one I had on DLR. Hell, I wanted Herrera gone and he was a star tonight. Well if there is any consolation from where I sit is that I would rather look like a fool and have the Red Sox win than be right and see them lose. Again, congratulations

I've been accused of being a De La Rosa basher but we need him to really step up big tonight and he has to because our lineup will be a little weaker without Pedroia in it, but we have found a way to start winning games again and do it in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. Let's keep it up. BTW, I'm watching the Braves-Marlins on the tube and from what I'm seeing we might really be better off with AJ right now than Salty. He has gone 17 straight AB's without a hit and he has looked exceptionally bad today.

Which one is that SFF? I have so many of them I can't keep track of each one. You mean Rubby or Herrera? All that concerns me is that we do what's needed to take care of the Tampas. They really irritated all of us last night, thanks to the ineptness of the umpires. The team has to band together and bring home a "W".

I sure as hell don't want Xander playing third base long term. First of all it would permanently block Garin Cecchini, our best young hitter in the minors---and it means that we have to say bye bye to Middlebrooks who I still think can get his act together. Speaking of Drew today might have been a good time to activate him for tonight's game. With Pedroia out (and hopefully this isn't a serious injury), we have the pathetic and worthless Herrera in the lineup tonight, a player who should have been sent down or DFA'd a month ago. It adds nothing to our offense and doesn't do much for our defense either. No, I want Xander back on short by late this year or next year at the latest. With him on third we might have to put Devon Marrero at short and, frankly, I'm sick of having a bunch of weak hitters in the lineup.

We don't know the extent of Pedroia's injury SFF so if he is out for any length of time we are not only in some trouble but Bogaerts would have to play third, Drew at short and assuming Farrell doesn't get a brain cramp, Holt at second instead of the useless and pathetic Herrera. You're right though. All of a sudden Xander does look better at shortstop. Wonder if Drew's signing light a fire under him. Right now he is one of the best players in the league.

Go man go Navafan!!!!! You're on a roll. And let's see if the umpires can do their jobs today instead of acting like a bunch of candy asses.

NC84, the people we should really be pissed off at are the gutless umpires and crapped out last night when they didn't eject Price after he hit Carp. The g utless bastards warned both teams in the first inning when they should have only warned that ******* sitting in the Rays dugout and that dipshit on the mound. That Price wasn't shelved after he hit a second batter tells me only that these umps had as much backbone at a chocolate éclair. Their lack of courage has only dialed the tension up higher and I can assure you if you don't already know it already that the first Red Sox player to go down tonight is going to result in some pretty ugly stuff.

I notice you brought Sixteen Tons in to back your play. Right!!!! The guy sits his big fat ass at his computer all day, never played the game, never coached the game, never scouted the game and there he is giving you succor and support. Pretty said lady when you can't pick your men better than that loser.

You get more ridiculous by the hour Southie. You think you can get personal with me and I'm just supposed to take it? Think again. You attacked me first, remember? And I wasn't wrong with anything I said about Xander. He was hitting about 125 with RISP until three games ago. You could have looked it up yourself instead of running off your big mouth. You want to disagree with me that's fine but if you get personal with me I will retaliate in kind and, please, don't fall back on your feminism for defense and protection. I give political correctness as much slack as I give you.

It's almost like we're playing the Yankees when we play the Rays nowadays. I keep watching and wonder if it's me. There seems to be a lot of angst and hatred between our two teams and Madden doesn't help with his snears and half-ass comments either. Great win tonight. This was special.

Cut the s*** lady and get your head out of your ass. Until recently Xander did NOT hit well as all with RISP. He's doing a lot better now and that's fine, but put a sock in your big mouth and look it up. He was hitting about 125 with RISP and that is only good in your half-ass convoluted thinking. And that crack that I hope Drew fails and we lose if we have to depend on him for a hit.....sorry but you're full of s***.... Eat my shorts!!!!!!

Nava, whatever mojo you have bottle it and make a case of it. We are going to need it for the rest of the season. The game went ten and we won. When I left the room for a few minutes I noticed that Pedroia was out of the game and Herrera in. PLEASE, someone tell me Dustin is not hurt.....PLEASE!!!!!!

That was a horseshit post Jacko; you're better than that.

Nava Fan----we really need your top stuff mojo tonight. We face Price with our fourth or fifth starter and Workman has to keep the Tampas from getting a lot runs so we can keep the game close and pull a walk-off or winning rally late in the game. I wish we had more than three righties in the lineup tonight but it is what it is so give us all a real extra helping of upbeat mojo.

Bell, that would certainly be fine with me, but I will believe it when I see it. I can't see them paying Drew ten mil to platoon him. We'll see soon enough.

Spud--I just want to be sure we don't thrown off course now that we finally seem to be playing better as a team. Our hitting is slowly improving with Gomes, Sizemore, AJ, and even Bradley starting to add to the cause. If Drew can come in and get the job done, fine. I just feel it will take him some time to get is timing and if that is so we could be putting a weak hitter in the lineup and taking out one who is hitting very well. That only works if the guys I mentioned get even hotter and Dustin and David go on a tear to cover for Drew's slow start.

SK, good post and thanks for getting back to me on this topic. Obviously I can't ride this out with WMB and Bogaerts because right now the former is on the DL. However, when he comes back I would much rather go with that tandem than have Bogaerts in a position he says he doesn't like as much as SS and a recently signed player who went 0 for 4 last night for Pawtucket and hasn't faced a ML pitcher in close to seven months. I take it you don't hold much for Holt's long range effectiveness. You might be right but right now I see a hungry player scratching and clawing and trying to make the most of a chance to play regularly---and holding his own while doing it. Of course, of Drew starts I have to root like hell for him and hope he meshes with the team. I'd be a total fool and complete ass if I was rooting for him to fail. Whatever success he can attain that will help our team I'm fully behind that.

Like predicting all along that the Red Sox would crash and sign him? Maybe? Perhaps if he does well you can then come out and be your usual snarky self and tell me how off the chart I was, but if Drew fails miserably at the plate you will hear it from me over and over. If he is platooned, then fine. I can live with that. If he is batting against all comers, well, that is pure ******** because even you know he can't hit southpaws worth a damn. Please, though, be honest about it. I may be obnoxious but I am never boring.

No Spud, it is NOT a good problem. Unless there is a serious injury it is a very bad problem because we signed a guy who we never ever should have resigned and most likely put a player who is playing terrific baseball for us either on the bench or back in the minors. That is ********!!!! Besides for the ten mil we're paying Drew he most likely will be in the lineup against all comers and we all know, or we all should know, that he can't hit lefthanders worth s***......196 last season, and do you remember how miserable he looked at bat in the playoffs last fall? What was it, four hits in 61 at-bats. It would be nice if Holt could play a little outfield and I don't if he can or if he has ever played out there, but the team seems to have made a small recovery and has won four games in a row and have come from behind in a couple of them to win. Our momentum should not be halted in its tracks and that is what Drew's entrance in the lineup can and most likely will do. Yes, I know this is a minority opinion and very unpopular with many here, but I still insist signing him was a mistake. I just hope I'm not proven to be right in this instance.

Perhaps!!!! But I also know playing Drew against a LH pitcher is a disaster in the making. Does 196 register? That's what he hit against them last year and he hasn't hit ML pitching since October and he would have to face David Price tomorrow. Are you saying you're all right with that? Please don't because that would be a catastrophe. As I've said all along, Drew should never have been signed. It was a panic and choke move and it is going to cost us the services of Brock Holt who has proven he belongs in the lineup. When you see all the other guys in the lineup hitting in the low 200's and Brock hitting around 320, it is absolutely idiotic to sit the kid down or send him back to the minors for "more damn seasoning when so many others are stinking up the field with inept hitting. Whether Holt has 50 hits or 150 the fact is he is doing the job and doing it well and I think it will hurt the team to have Drew in the lineup because it will take about a month if we're lucky for him to get the timing. It took him that long last year and had a part of ST before he had that serious concussion that knocked him out of action. In short Drew should be arrested for loitering any time he heads for the plate with a lefty on the mound and I freely predict that while his defense will be fine his hitting will fit for out house.

The problem is that Holt is going to be screwed and shouldn't be. He needs to be kept in the lineup---somewhere somehow. How about moving Papi to first for the time being, Xander to DH and keep Brock in the lineup. I said from the start that I didn't like the idea of signing Drew and his entry into the lineup tomorrow could result in the digestion of bitter fruit. There is no way he should bat against a LH pitcher, especially since he hasn't faced ML pitcher since last October and even more especially since he hit only 196 against them last year. Start him on Saturday when he face a righty.

Aw contraire Pal. It was a hit and they gave him one. The ball was scorched and the throw to second wouldn't have gotten Holt had it been clean. He was safe. I saw hit, Holt said so with his hands and that's that. They gave Xander a hit.