a700hitter

This is a reality check-- 28th out of 30. It is why we are in last place. We can stomp our feet about not being a last place team, but that's where we are, and if the pitching situation doesn't improve, we will be treading water in the division. 28th out of 30 is horrendously bad after 1/3 of the season. It is worse than I had feared it would be.

I wouldn't screw with a role that has been solidified. I'd rather that Atchison and Morales share Bard's upcoming starts until Dice K is ready.

He has apparently changed his mechanics to be a starter. If he has changed arms slot, etc. You don't just change back over night. These guys do so many reps to get their mechanics where they want them. The process of changing back is the same. The issue is not that it is less difficult than stretching out to be a starter. Granted that is true, but he has screwed up the mechanics that made him successful in the pen. It wasn't the length of yesterday's game that caused Bard an issue. His lack of command in the 1st and 2nd inning blew up the game. With his current mechanics, there is no reason to believe that he would have been any more successful pitching the 8th yesterday than he was in the first inning. There is a chance that they have screwed him up for a while.

No, they are not stuck with Punto. They could bring up Ciracio (sp).

It's an easy call with regard to McDonald. He gets DFA'd. It's a harder call when Ross and Ells return. Byrd would be the first on the chopping block. As between Nava and Pods, I don't know if Nava's OBP will be significantly higher than Pods so as to offset the other things that Pods does well. He is the better fielder and base runner. He's a good bunter and a more well-rounded player. It's a tough call. Over the next month Nava will not get as many walks at the top of the order in front of the big boppers. He'll see a lot of fastballs. He'll have to hit himself on base.

Another problem with this Bard situation is that he may not be immediately successful if they move him back to the pen. He has admittedly gotten away from the things that had made him successful. He's not going to be able to snap his fingers and go back to dominating the 8th inning. The longer the Sox wait, the more trouble he will have re- adjusting to the bullpen.

Valentine says that he is not ready. If he is saying that, I have to believe that Dice K doesn't think he is ready. He is the one who stated that he wasn't ready less than 2 weeks ago. He said that he wasn't close. I haven't read that he thinks he is ready after these last 2 starts.

Wow!!! That is not the kind of history that you want to make as you are trying to become a starting pitcher.

I was really hoping that he had turned the corner in his last start. It looks like it was one step forward and two huge steps back. He has not been progressing.

With Morales pitching 4 1/3 innings today, I wonder if they might give him a spot start before Dice K is ready. Atchison can pitch 4 innings too.

No, I am saying that it is time to pull the plug on the experiment. If we were 10 games up in the division, they'd have more of a luxury to be patient with him. This division is a dog fight. Only a handful of games are separating first place from last place. They can't afford to give a way games like this every 5th day.

It was an historically bad start-- the worst in Red Sox history. He will end up killing some of our guys in retaliation. He has the most walks of any pitcher. It's time for him to go back to the pen.

It's got nothing to do with what I expect after the bad start or blah blah blah. I am just stating some facts. We're a third of the way through the season and in last place. It's time to pull the plug on the Daniel Bard experiment. It's time to stop saying it's early and to get serious and stop pursuing thing that are just not working.

Paint it however you want it, but it is still last place.

Punto is clutch.

When your starting pitcher shits all over himself from the first inning, it will suck the life out of a team. You can't win them all, but Bard is not able to show any consistency as a starter. He can't get the walks under control. That's just fatal. Today marks the one-third mark for the season I think. The experiment has gone long enough without results this season. He can try again next spring. maybe he can get a spot start or two during the remainder of this season, but they need to pull the plug on him now. It' June 3rd -- the one-third mark for the season, and the Sox are still in last place.

Every team in the division has serious flaws. Tampa has great starting pitching -- that is its strength. There offense is not very good, especially without Long and Jennings. Matsui could be a nice pickup for them. Their bullpen is nothing special. The Yankees have a so-so rotation with Pineda being injured and Hughes continued inconsistency, but they have a powerhouse offense. Their bullpen is still strong, but it took a major hit with Mo going down. The Orioles are vastly improved. They have good balance, but are not spectacular in any aspect of the game. Their offense is pretty strong, but not on a level with the Yanks, Sox or Toronto. Their starting pitching has done surprisingly well, but they are not deep at all, and the talent level there is not high. They lack a big stud in the rotation. Their bullpen looks pretty good. Toronto has a very strong dangerous linup. Encarnacion is coming into his own, but Bautista is still looking for his stroke. Their starting pitching with Morrow, Romero and Alvarez is decent but not deep, but their pen is weak. Because each team has some big weaknesses, the Sox are able to stay close playing what is really a band of misfits. The Sox rotation has the capability of being the best in the division with the emergence of Doubront. That plus four excellent offensive players: Ortiz, Youk, Pedroia and Gonzo could carry them through on a nice streak even while a lot of guys are on the DL.

Here's a story about the Zimmer -Pedro incident that will prove that i am a very intense fan. In August of 2004, my company brought this lady in from a big bank to head my section of the Law Department. She had a meeting with me and 3 others who would be her direct reports. At the end of the meeting baseball came up and someone mentioned that I was a Red Sox fan. The new boss then told me that she grew up in the Bronx and that she was a very big Yankee fan. I told her that I could live with that, but I would always be a Sox fan. With that she asked me how I felt about what Pedro did to poor Don Zimmer. I thought for a moment and then I told her that normally I would be very opposed to the abuse of the elderly, but in this case Zimmer had that and more coming to him since 1978 when he buried Bill lee in the pen and pitched Bob Sprowl against the Yankees. She looked at me and laughed and said, "why don't you tell me how you really feel." We never had a problem. Only a sick fan would risk offending a new boss in that way.

He used to call Don Zimmer "the Gerbil."

The Abreu thing is just a pet peeve that I have been carrying since 2006. I am not anti-Nava. I feel great for the kid. I was at the game in 2010 when he hit the Grand Slam. I just don't have a high opinion of his skills. He has improved his fielding a great deal since 2010, but he is still just average. He'll need to get onbase at a very high rate to find a place in the majors, but he is continuing to produce in that regard. I hope he continues what he has been doing.