jacksonianmarch

Orlando Cabrera never led you to winning the division. Just the world series.

Joba was fat. He had a tricep strain, which can happen to anyone. He never had elbow "tendonitis" or shoulder "tendonitis" which are typically bad omens for young pitchers.

That is some SERIOUS change that he shelled out for that. That is likely a 10 million dollar donation. He is not all that bad Pats nation. Great gesture.

buch looks rusty

I watched a game in Pawtucket that Olsen threw and he completely dominated Ellsbury.

Citing Keith Law is like citing Peter Gammons in a yankee article. Law is pretty stupid.

we clinched with nearly 2 and a half weeks left in the yr last season and lots of good that did.

these are young pitchers, they all have equal potential for injury.

the only game we lost to the Royals this season, Kei Igawa threw.

As I said, Buchholz is more polished, but in terms of potential, nobody has Joba. When you have two pitches that are THAT devastating and you can throw 100 mph, there arent going to be many that can be on your level.

Joba has a good changeup too, it just isnt on the level with his slider or heater. He had it to a point to where he could throw it on any count at any time in AA, so he is close with it. If our pen didnt suck beyond belief, the last half of this yr could have been all he needed to get that changeup into his arsenal. As it is, even if the changeup is a showme pitch, so long as he continues with the high 90s heat and the absolutely devastating slider, he should be fine.

um, yeah. Hughes threw very well tonight after some early trouble and his performance opened up the race a bit. Good work kid, hopefully he is turning the corner at the right time.

Well, to be fair, if you want to evaluate all pitchers, you need to evaluate those that will be here for a long time. And if we use CMW as a cutoff, then Beckett and DMats need to be in the equation. For Boston Beckett DiceK Buchholz Lester Masterson Bowden For NYY Wang Hughes Chamberlain Kennedy Horne/Sanchez I have maintained that Beckett vs Wang is a split simply because Wang has now been nasty for 2 and a half yrs now in this league and Beckett had a s*** yr last yr and has been a bit nastier this season. But after that, it is debateable. Matsuzaka has the pedigree and the record behind him of being able to match-up against anyone and right now, our guy behind Wang for the future is Hughes. Right now, that matchup is pretty far in your favor. Hughes has significant room to improve, but so does DMats, so the advantage is well in the sox favor. The future #3 as it stands would be Joba vs Buchholz. Both have been flat out dominant. Buchholz with his no-hitter and Joba without being scored upon yet in his career. In terms of upside, Joba has everyone on this list, but in terms of polish, Buchholz has him. This is a toss-up for now. The future #4 stands as Kennedy against Lester and this is where I think we have the edge. I think Kennedy is a very safe pick to be a good to very good pitcher in the future, while Lester could be anything from very good to Casey Fossum level. Hence, this one goes our way. In terms of future #5, the yankees have the best arm and the most polished pitcher. Sanchez has the best arm by far, but his future looks to be in the pen. Horne is the most polished pitcher at this juncture, but he is also much older than the sox duo here. Masterson, like Sanchez, looks to be a pen arm in the future. This leaves Bowden. He has the most upside as a starter in this category, but he also has the furthest to go. For right now, this one looks like it ends up the yankees way, but this will all depend on how Bowden develops and what the yankees do with Sanchez.

Kennedy is not a future ace by any means, but he is a well polished control pitcher with a very good secondary arsenal. He will be a mid rotation pitcher without the huge ceiling, but also without the big questionmark. I wouldnt be surprised if he holds down his spot in the rotation for yrs to come. He reminds me a lot of a younger Mussina. Sanchez will be a bullpen arm come next yr, but he is a question mark kind of guy. He has the capability to get a sinking fastball into the high 90s and already has a plus out pitch. His issue has been consistency when going deep into starts and the development of his changeup. Since he will essentially lose a yr and a half due to TJ, they may not wait for that change to get consistent. In short stints, he could be devastating. Phil, well, you know how I feel about him. He is down on his velocity since he returned. The guns had him at 93 consistently when he hurt himself, and since he is sitting 90 with worsening control. If the rest of our rotation was healthy and the Moose wasnt sucking donkey dick, I'd prefer Phil to be shut down for the yr and get some innings in Hawaii this fall. There are other pitchers who will be coming through next yr that are worth mentioning. Alan Horne could be a good rotation option or a pen arm that will get a look in the not too distant future. Mid 90s heat with good control and 2 developed secondary pitches. And then there are 2 guys currently on the shelf who could see some MLB time in the pen should everything go well in their rehab in Melancon and Cox. Cox was slated to have a MLB pen slot until he ripped up his elbow. Melancon was considered to be a top 15 talent last yr but everyone knew he needed TJ, so the yankees stole him in the 9th round. He is throwing again and will be outside that 18 month window by the time ST starts (he had TJ on halloween last yr). He is touted similarly to what Huston Street was when he was drafted, he could see the bigs next yr assuming his arm is alright. For the sox, Masterson is considered a Scot Shields type. He has dominant enough stuff to kick around the minor leaguers, but his future will be in the setup role. Buchholz is nasty and is pitching like Hughes should have been if he had not been injured. Lester is a back of the rotation guy, but as a lefty with a pretty good arsenal, he'll be around for a while.

Erstad played football in college.

hey we're winning. No time to watch the game, I have just enough time to sleep so I can do it all over again. ICU tis no fun

man we are struggling. Good thing I cannot watch any of this debachle. BAH!!

The MVP is Papi, but for me, the sox most important player is Mike Lowell. You knew what you were getting out of Papi and he has exceeded expectations with average and has held expectations in power. but Lowell has been better than anyone could have expected, and without his production, the sox would be in real deep s*** right now.

the sox are under .500 against 3 teams in all of the AL. NYY, SEA, and OAK. You guys are 6-4 against LAA.

I would think you guys could handle Anaheim, as you guys own them. We, on the other hand, do not. I like our chances against Cleveland and against you guys, even if we dont have the home field. But going to Anaheim for 3 of 5 would be suboptimal IMO.

Or are they setting up their rotation for the yankees series. It is interesting that with Wakefield going down, the sox have allowed Tavarez, Buchholz and tonight, Jon Lester to start while having DiceK, Schill, and Beckett ready in their typical turns.

I dont think they would have found anything major, but to say this is just spasms may be a bit naive. Spasms usually dont last a week in a professional athlete who has everything at their disposal to stop a muscle from spasming.

congrats kid

I wish there were bigger sizes.

CLAY BUCHHOLZ HAS A NO HITTER THROUGH 7 INNINGS!!!!!