redsoxfan3

Machado is trying to give me a heart attack.

Got out of the inning. Good job, Jon.

Looking good so far. Great job to overcome that s***** call.

BS call there. He had a clear view on that. How do you miss that call? If they get a run here, I will be pissed.

Definitely excited about the talent we have in AAA. Bradley is hitting .320 with a .914 OPS in 25 games this year. Brentz has 13 HR's and 48 RBI's in 59 games this year. Obviously watching Bogaerts will be fun. Hazelbaker is hitting .281/.346/.419/.765 with 6 HR's, 30 RBI's, and 16 SB's. Webster has a 2.98 ERA and a 0.99 WHIP in 51.1 innings and 10 starts. De La Rosa has a 3.29 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 38.1 innings and 11 starts.

Lester has a 6.90 ERA in his last three starts. That right there raises a lot of doubt in my mind about him pitching today. The good thing is that he has a career record of 14-1 and a 2.63 ERA against the Orioles in his career. If he is going to get things heading back in the right direction, today would be a great place to start. Good pitchers who have bad stretches eventually turn things around. Lester will need to prove to us that he is a good pitcher, like the way he started the season, not the s***** pitcher that we saw in his last three games. Either Lester is on today and turns things around, or he completely sucks dick and we lose big. Let's hope he gets his s*** together.

Right now seems like a pretty good time. I think he only has five hits in his last 28 at bats. His average has went from .335 to .319 in seven games. I am sure he was giving Farrell a hard time about sitting today. Realistically, he could use a couple days off physically and mentally. He can take some time to get some rest and get back out there on Tuesday.

Iglesias getting the start at 2B over Pedroia. He is batting 2nd today. Nava is hitting 3rd. I think resting Pedroia today is going to be good. His first game he is missing all season. He is in a little slump. He gets the day off today and a day off tomorrow before the doubleheader on Tuesday. I am also excited to see how Iglesias can do at 2nd and to see how he can do at the top of the lineup.

It will be interesting to see what moves we make. It makes sense to call De La Torre up tonight. It is either Webster or Aceves on Wednesday. Instincts tell me that they are going to go with Aceves. Call up De La Torre for tonight. Send down Iglesias (who has to be in the minors for at least 10 days and I highly doubt they send down Middlebrooks). Call up Aceves for tomorrow night. Send down De La Torre. Call up Holt for Thursday? (Until Iglesias' 10 days are up, then call him back up) Send down Aceves. I guess another alternative is put Buchholz on the DL, but if he only misses one start, I don't think that is a realistic option to have him out two more games. We can afford for him to miss one, but if he misses two or three when he is healthy, then I will be pissed.

Carp starting at 1B. Definitely a good idea to give Nap a night off.

I don't know about him as a cheap option for 1B if it comes to him being the full-time starter. I think a realistic option as a backup 1B and backup LF is more realistic, like his current role. His career numbers suggest that he would probably not be able to hit the way he has so far this year over an entire season. He hasn't played in more than 79 games in a season before. He has a 1.048 OPS this year, but his career OPS is .782. We are fortunate to get the kind of production that we have from him so far this year. I think he could be an effective and cheap option as a role player like he has been this year. I don't know if you were thinking about him being an everyday starter at 1B when you are talking about him as a cheap option at 1B or not. I would want someone that has proven to be more consistent as my everyday first baseman. It might be worth a gamble if it is the only option we have, but I think we can do better than Carp being our starting 1B. I love the way he has played for us this year, and it seems like it is working out for him. Not to mention he is only 26. He is the type of player that we need to have around if someone were to get injured. Fortunately, we have been able to rely on him in LF thanks to Nava being able to hold down the fort in RF without Victorino. I think his playing time will start to decrease now, especially with Victorino back and Nava probably going to get the majority of the playing time in LF, with Gomes and Carp filling in when necessary.

Will Middlebrooks is back in the majors. Ciriaco got DFA'd. It is obvious that Iglesias is going to be the utility player. I imagine Iglesias will be in some sort of rotation to start at 3B once every few games and at SS once every few games. He could also be a late inning defensive replacement. I am glad he finally got a spot on this roster.

Nap could use a day off tomorrow. He has the sombrero already. Carp should get some time at 1B.

They brought up a good point on NESN. Daniel Nava should be an All-Star based on numbers. It is a shame it has to be a popularity contest. To understand what I am talking about, Jeter hasn't even played a games this year, but still has over 500,000 votes and is 5th in the American League. That is a joke. Dustin Pedroia is trailing Robinson Cano by 700,000 votes. He did jump Kinsler to be second on the ballot, but it is sad that it has to be a popularity contest. Pedroia has a better OPS, BA, and OBP than Cano. Cano beats him in slugging and, HR's, and RBI's. I think most people just look at HR's and vote. Cano has 15 as compared to Pedroia's 4. Cano only has 5 more RBI's. Pedroia has 9 more doubles than Cano. Point being, Cano is more popular than Pedroia. Even though Pedroia has had a better season offensively (.335 BA, .884 OPS, and 137 OPS+) as compared to Cano (.276 BA, .845 OPS, and 127 OPS+) and a better season defensively, yet Cano still is way ahead in the voting. Not to mention, Kendrick should be in the top five over Kinsler, Infante, and Altuve. I think there should be some sort of alternative to fan voting. I understand MLB wants fan involvement, but a lot of times the fans get the voting wrong.

Ells, Nava, and Big Papi all hitting hard line drives. One hit to show for it. Aside from Pedroia's ground out, Napoli and Salty both struck out. Both had at least one pitch right down the middle. We need to be ready to swing. We should destroy this guy.

At least I am not the only one that thinks that. This guy does look like a "goober."

Good points. In terms of competition, that is a legitimate argument.

Lester needs to get his s*** together and we need to win this series. That is all.

I have to argue that Evans had a better season in '87 than in '84. 157 OPS+ in '87, as opposed to a 147 OPS+ in '84. Also, he had more HR's, RBI's, higher BA, OBP, SLG%, and OPS in '87.

That is a big blow the Yankees if Cano gets suspended.

This was a tough call, but I am going to go with the highest overall OPS+ when it comes to CF. Tris Speaker (1912): 136 R, 222 H, 53 2B, 12 3B, 10 HR, 90 RBI, 52 SB, .383/.464/.567/.1031, 188 OPS+ Tough call over Lynn in '79 and Ellsbury in 2011.

$14.5 million in 2014 and a $15 million player option for 2015 if he 1) has 400 IP in 2013-14, including 190 IP in 2014, and 2) is not on the disabled list at the end of the 2014 season. Just an interesting idea with him only being 32. Just throwing this out there because of all of the Lee talk. 3.37 ERA and a 1.096 WHIP last year. 3.63 ERA this year and a 1.098 WHIP so far this year. Not to mention he pitched 219 innings last year and has a 9.2 strikeout rate this year, which is slightly better than his career average.

Second base is tough between Doerr and Pedroia. Several seasons to compare. It is hard to pick just one.

Ryne Sandberg said that Pedroia is "the Derek Jeter of the Boston Red Sox." That is pretty obvious. A player that will likely play his entire career in Boston. Pedroia is the type of player that you want on your team and can be considered the heart and soul of this team. Great find on the statistics.