Dojji

That was a dumb decision, but it was a dumb decision that bit us in the ass as hard as it is physically possible. We got unlucky. We should never have put ourselves in the position to get that unlucky, but an injury that took one of our best starters out for weeks is kind of the fringe worst case scenario outcome here.

Isn't that exactly what he did? Do you mean "say so further in advance" perhaps? I really think that he probably went into that day thinking he'd be all right, and then the hammy tightened up on him. It can happen that way.

Hammies are funny things. I think before we start the character assassination of E-Rod we need to know a lot more about how the conversation went. It's one thing if he flat out said he didn't want to pitch, it's another if the conversation went more like this. Farrell: Hey Eddie, how's the leg? E-Rod: Bit tight. I can go, but it's a bit tight (pitcher speak for "this leg is killing me") Farrell: Alright, we'll hold off then. We've got Buchholz available, and we need you in the postseason, let's get you all the way right before we send you out there again. E-Rod: .... Fine.

i doubt the layoff had any real effect on his stuff. We'll see

We need to be assuming Sandoval can't play third. He's refused to play first base and pouted when forced to. He is not a good enough hitter to DH. How the hell is he "a big part of our future?" I'd rather turn the DH position over to Blake Swihart than Pablo Sandoval right now. Or hell, turn it over to Leon and let Swihart and Vazquez battle for the catcher's job again. Or turn it over to Ramirez if Sam Travis looks ready to rock next Spring. There is just no actual spot for Sandoval anymore, thanks largely to the positive news from the development of our rookies. As it is we have Moncada, Swihart and possibly Travis to figure out how to shoehorn into an already crowded lineup, our bench looks superb with Holt, Young, Hernandez (once Holt moves on), Shaw and Vazquez forming the core of a bench that should last us awhile with no need to make changes, and other talents like Mauricio Dubon who will also need chances to show their stuff. There are much better investments of roster space on this team, right now, than Sandoval, and more good candidates than we have spots even without him. I hope DD has the stones to stick to his guns like he did this year and say screw the money, let's build the best roster we can. That roster is absurdly unlikely to include Pablo "Goodyear" Sandoval.

with Shaw around as a backup option I see no reason not to risk calling up Moncada. Shaw is super cold right now but makes a fine bench option that can start if needed, but if Moncada can make the same rapid adjustments that Beni did it's a no brainer one thing sure, Hill is not getting it done

no more coddlingClay. NO MORE

Let's worry about Pedroia's hall of fame career when he's done playing. Personally, I wonder if he'll stay in the game. My gut says he has something to teach young players as a hitting coach.

If Vazquez becomes a capable backup he'll have beaten the curve for prospects. It's not the outcome we want, but far fewer prospects successfully become big leaguers than people like to think when looking at peoples' potential in the minors. If our tandem is Leon as starter, Vazquez as the backup and Swihart playing another position (first perhaps?), we'll have done very very well for ourselves.

Pedey was the leadoff hitter in 2007... when we won the world series... nuff said. With as much power as we have behind the leadoff guy I do not want them making outs on the basepaths.

I'm wondering where Leon is on that list. If he's anything near "fo-real" he's one of the most valuable players in major league baseball right now.

But there are days when one terrible call can completely change the complexion of the game. One example that stands out is Armando Galarraga's lost perfect game. Another, is when an entire World Series turned around in 1985 based on a blown call at first base. I'm not sure if there's any situation where one blown strike-or-ball call has turned a season on its head, but mathematically speaking it could certainly happen.

A confidence thing will look like a command thing. Exhibit A is Daisuke Matsuzaka.

That's true, but it doesn't really describe Mr. Shaw. The fact of the matter is Shaw was the casualty of needing to put Young in the lineup. He doesn't even have a significant sample of PA's against LHP this year, he's still only at 100 total PA's vs left, and those have been scattered so broadly that I'd be surprised if he DIDN'T have issues getting his timing down against lefties, he hasn't had the live-fire time to really see them. Last year Mr. Shaw had a REVERSE SPLIT. He actually hit lefthanded pitching better than right. Platoon issues are not the problem. Farrell using Holt's versatility to make sure that Young's playing time came at the expense of the rookie is the problem.

You have to find the black consistently when you're throwing 87. You don't have to just have decent command, you have to have better command than nearly anyone else, if you want to live on a velocity that low. I don't think Owens' command is consistently bad, but he knows that if he pipes one, it will appear on NORAD's air-defense radar, so he nibbles, but he doesn't quite have the command to nibble effectively. That's a sign of a guy who doesn't trust his stuff, and to be fair, in terms of raw stuff it is pretty marginal.

“My swing feels great in the cage,” Shaw said. “I need some in-game reps. That’s the only way I can fix it. It’s hard to do that when you’re playing two or three days a week.” “I don’t want to sound arrogant or cocky but I can add a lot to the lineup down the stretch if I were able to get hot like I was the first couple of month,” Shaw said, via Abraham. “At the time of the trade, I felt like I was hitting pretty well. They felt like they needed an improvement. I won’t say I was content, but I was pleased where I was at, then my playing time went down.” Young player wants to play, and feels like he needs more playing time to get his feel at the plate down. Not exactly unreasonable. He's not throwing dirt on anyone, he just wants to play and thinks that if he played more he'd be able to hit better. Sounds like the media got a genuine comment or two out of the guy rather than PR fluff, and ran 20 miles with it like usual.

We need to end this sick infatuation with Buchholz' "potential." Seriously, I'm so sick of hearing about how well Buchholz might theoretically pitch and then watching him get shelled 2 out of every 3 starts -- and miss the other one.

hes got AAAA stuff, that's all. The big leagues is too much for him. Happens that way sometimes even to guys with better pure stuff Anyone remember Kyle Weiland? Rubby de la Rosa? Alan Webster? The bust factor for young pitchers can be very large at times.

Hot shots down the line are usually a result of bad pitching, not bad defense.

I agree too. I was getting more and more frustrated with the constant benching of Shaw while he was running hot. You don't sit a hot hand, especially not one that needs to learn.

I'd feel worse about Shaw's statement if he wasn't absolutely right. Shaw is losing playing time to an inferior player. Anyone would complain.

Even if we did have a hole in the rotation next year (say Pom needs TJ or something) I'd still rather fill that hole with someone other than Buchholz. It's not even just that he's bad, it's that you can't even count on him to be reliably bad. He is the most quixotic, unpredictable pitcher in baseball, exactly what you DON'T want in your rotation.

Bledsoe was at the time still a very very good QB. Only a generational talent like Brady could have managed to sideline him. If Brady had gotten hurt in those early Superbowl runs, you could have taken your chances with Bledsoe and been pretty comfortable that you were in with a chance.

Can I just ask why Mauricio Dubon is not getting more attention on the prospect sites? He's currently hitting like a champ in Portland at only age 21, and apparently he's a good fielding SS too. Where's the love? http://www.soxprospects.com/stats/batter.php?player=643289 I know the power isn't necessarily there, but this is a shortstop. Power is a luxury at short, not a necessity, and power is the only thing this guy seems to be lacking. And he's shown strides in his gap to gap power. This kid has a real potential at his position. And nobody is even talking about him. Perhaps because he's blocked by Bogaerts? Either way that should change.

Not that concerned with Pomeranz going short innings for awhile -- we knew going in that he was not going to be Mr. Durable, at least not this year. Besides, at the moment he's our 3, in our ideal rotation he's our 4. He's not necessarily the guy we need great innings out of.