Spudboy

What's the deal with Napoli? I don't like that Ortiz is out, either. I think that he has cashed it in now that he has his 30 and almost 100. Sox fans deserve to see him play.

Boston Red Sox Player AB R H RBI TB BB K AVG OBP SLG B. Holt, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294 .344 .400 D. Pedroia, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .283 .343 .376 D. Nava, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .264 .342 .340 Y. Cespedes, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .252 .294 .457 A. Craig, DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .250 .500 K. Johnson, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .214 .293 .355 X. Bogaerts, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .225 .294 .336 M. Betts, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .291 .365 C. Vazquez, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .313 .310 Los Angeles Angels Player AB R H RBI TB BB K AVG OBP SLG K. Calhoun, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .293 .350 .486 M. Trout, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .288 .374 .556 A. Pujols, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .276 .335 .480 J. Hamilton, DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .268 .339 .415 H. Kendrick, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .279 .337 .372 D. Freese, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .259 .326 .365 E. Aybar, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .266 .307 .372 C. Iannetta, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .267 .367 .417 C. Cowgill, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .278 .353 .399

Lol. To me it just seems improbable that the Mets could be so bad for so long in that market. I hope that does not happen to the Sox.

I call bull!!!!

De La Rosa (4-4, 3.79 ERA) vs. Shoemaker (11-4, 3.84 ERA) Oh joy. "Roobie Doobie" on the mound in a game that should have meaning for him. I wonder how he feels? If good Doobie shows up the Sox have a decent chance at winning this game and breaking the latest ( 4 game ) loosing streak. Of course batting only 2 for 23 with RISP so far in this series does not bode well for the Sox chances. I just want to see MY TEAM TRY to be competitive. Is this too much to ask of a bunch of grown men who all make more that $500,000. a year???? Maybe I expect too much? Maybe I should go back to drinking vodka? I'll try to post the lineups when they are available.

Well I for one do not recognize players who are trying to make the team or playing for a contract as an excuse for poor and sloppy play. These guys are all pros. If they are good at what they do then they should come to the park each day willing and able to perform their best. If I went to work and had a bad day my boss would say something to me. If I had a series of bad days he would become concerned and some form of corrective action would be taken. Or I would be assigned to lesser duties. Sometimes I wish that baseball did not have no-cut contracts and that Bill Bellichick or some like minded coach could manage the Sox. Wake up Billy Martin.

Napoli.

The 2003 test aside, this is his biggest challenge. He was a DH in an average of 136 games a season. Many people don't recognize this as actually playing.

I said about the same thing when he went down. There is nothing to be gained by putting him back out there this season. The Yankess aren't going anywhere this year. They should protect that massive investment by getting TJS and getting him back as soon as he is fully recovered. I doubt that there are enough platelets in the world to fix that elbow.

I agree.

Well I may be the only person on this board to think this and say this but I really think that the Sox outfield is a complete mess. I realize that there are "auditions" going on as we speak and that the roster is fluid. However, there is a very good chance that all three of the starting outfielders in 2015 are already on the roster. "Can you believe it?" Well, yes. Yes I can. And it worries me. I make no bones about being a Danial Nava fan and I hope that he is still with the Sox in 2015. I know that he is what people call a platoon player and this limits his value to the Sox. Big deal! Who among the other candidates contributes more offensively than Nava? Go ahead and laugh but look at what he has done this year. Off to a miserable start out of ST he went down to AAA and found his bat. He is not a power hitter but can be relied upon to work the count and to get on base ( where he admittedly has some issues! ) at a very good clip. He has worked at becoming a decent and even above average defensive left fielder ( at least at Fenway ) and is now becoming less of an anxiety producing right fielder. And he is a good citizen with a low dollar contract. I say keep him! Victorino - He says he will be ready for ST after having an operation on his back! I think they should have given him new hamstring muscles too but that did not happen. His return to everyday playing is not guaranteed and even if he does make it "back" ( pun intended ) next season, what will he be able to contribute? He's not exactly a young man and his health always seems to be an issue now. Too bad. I say that he is done being a contributing member of this team. Bradley - another improbable contributor in 2015. Great, great glove and arm. But he has actually become worse of a hitter this year and unlike an injured player where it can be reasonably predicted when he will return to form no one knows IF Bradley will ever hit well enough to play regularly in the bigs. Another question mark. Betts - way to early to be able to slot him in as the starting CF in 2015. He was raking this year in Portland and Pawtucket. Wooptie freakin doo. That means nothing unless he can hit in the majors. And of course he still has to lean most of what it takes to be a skilled CF and not be a defensive liability. He's young, athletic, and apparently gifted. Unless he rakes between now and the end of the season, I say he starts 2015 in Pawtucket. Another question mark! Craig - I'm not convinced that his now chronically injured foot will heal and that he will regain his great offensive form of the past 2.5 of 3.0 years. I hope so! And what if his loss of offensive production is not entirely attributable to his lame foot? Can he even field? Can he run well enough to play left? Do we need another part time 1st baseman? Oye. Another question mark! Cespedes - This guy is not very skilled defensively. Yes he has speed and a cannon of an arm. But he does clumsy things in the field and screws up as much as he makes sensational plays. His offensive numbers have declined each year since he came to the bigs three years ago. He's 29 and is still not a finished product. He does not show much patience at the plate and has only hit a little better than Bradley in the two weeks that he has been with the Sox. His promise of power is intoxicating so he will most likely be in the starting lineup next season. Of course there is talk that he may be part of a big trade for another big need. Who knows? I doubt that the Sox sign him long term before he hits free agency. He is just not what the Sox look for ( except for the power ). Castillo - this guy may be the Sox consolation prize for underbidding on Abreu. He seems to have the skills of a AA player. The bidding for his services are reported to be 50-60 mil for 5 years. I say pass. At best another question mark. Holt - I have no idea what position he will be playing in 2015 but I do hope that it is with the Sox. He hits and has decent speed. He has positional versatility. He's cheap. I hope that the Sox keep him. Finding another good lead-off hitter will just be another nightmare. The Sox outfield is a mess. Way too many question marks to be confident that a good outfield will be run out everyday next season. Combined with the disaster that the left side infield continues to be and the absence of top of the rotation proven starting pitching, the Sox FO has a lot to do to get back into the post season hunt in 2015.

I think that Bradley is easily the best defensive outfielder currently on the 40 man. Back when Victorino was reasonably healthy an argument could be made on his behalf. Of course he probably has never had Bradley's arm. Bradley is very good but he is not even the best CF I've seen play for the Sox. That would be Fred Lynn.

I fully agree with this statement. Relying on two rookies who had seen only about a full season out of A ball was not a good idea. I hope that they are not doing this with Mookie Betts too. Come to think of it, The Sox seem to have moved some positional players along too rapidly. Bradley, XB, Middlebrooks. None of them is close to being Major League ready.

Remy said that Bradley needs a personal hitting coach. Will this be provided in Pawtucket? Who would such a coach be? Also, the center field camera man was hit on top of his gourd. They showed a clip of him with a bag of ice on his head. Not that it matters.

Although his SL is about the same, Trout's BA, OBP, and ST are down. Must be decline. He sure Ks a lot too.

Boston Red Sox Player AB R H RBI TB BB K AVG OBP SLG B. Holt, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .298 .348 .408 D. Pedroia, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .284 .345 .379 D. Ortiz, DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 .341 .500 Y. Cespedes, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .253 .297 .461 M. Napoli, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .270 .390 .455 W. Middlebrooks, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .188 .272 .286 X. Bogaerts, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .228 .296 .342 M. Betts, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .244 .279 .366 C. Vazquez, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .231 .292 .295 Los Angeles Angels Player AB R H RBI TB BB K AVG OBP SLG K. Calhoun, RF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .291 .344 .484 M. Trout, CF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .289 .378 .559 A. Pujols, DH 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .272 .328 .479 H. Kendrick, 2B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .283 .342 .378 E. Aybar, SS 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .266 .308 .376 B. Boesch, LF 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 .154 .167 D. Freese, 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .258 .327 .362 E. Navarro, 1B 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .270 .342 .390 C. Iannetta, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .268 .365 .416

Workman (1-6, 4.45 ERA) vs. Wilson (9-8, 4.71 ERA) Time for more fun against the now 1st place Angels!!! Mookie will be in the lineup at Center. This should make everyone very happy!! At least until he hits a streak of 1-15 or so then it's off to the next can't miss prospect!!!! Workman has had a rough going of it recently. Farrell seems to think that it is caused by fatigue. But what the hell does hew know? Managers are idiots!! Wilson has been a bust for the Angels in my book. I hope that Steven Wright is available to go another 2-4 innings tonight as Workman is not a starter and belongs in the pen!!!!! Lineups will be posted soon. GO SOX!

Fred you continue to make assumptions about the fragility of these two young player's Confidence. That's fine as your opinion but it's something that can not be verified now. I think that both of these guys should have started the season in Pawtucket to continue their development. That is my opinion. Both players have been given almost the entire season to demonstrate the ability to play consistently good baseball at the highest level. I don't see how that decision could possibly be seen as damaging their confidence. Just the opposite. I do agree with your last sentence, though.

I think that the Sox have given Bradley enough time and opportunity to fix his hitting woes. Hopefully he can straighten things out in AAA because he is a valuable defensive weapon and fun to watch. At the same time I hope that Betts can demonstrate what Bradley could not offensively while not being a defensive liability in center field ( if that is where he plays the majority of his time ). Maybe Betts will see some time at 2nd especially with Pedroia having the flu?

Maybe needing to prematurely promote young players is not ideal? I have no idea why I continue to read that XB has "all the tools". I certainly have not seen them on the field and I've seen most of the games that he has played since he came up last season. I am not a professional talent evaluator by any means. But a blind person could see that XB has not yet mastered some of the games fundamental skills. For someone who has been labeled the Sox top positional prospect, he sure has fallen short of expectations. But, it's the nature of the beast, I guess. Young players are called prospects because of their potential to become everyday Major League players. Until they do, they are just another player. Sometimes they succeed, sometimes they fail. Sometime they make an immediate positive impact and sometimes they take a while to become good players at the games highest level. I still say XB should have remained in the minors this season and the same could be said for Bradley. The Sox designed their roster with these guys as key components this year. It just has not worked out that well. So far.

BUMP! I wanted to post this video somewhere and this seemed to be the best place. Watch this guy. He makes Dick Williams, Earl Weaver, and Billy Martin look like angels! http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2014/08/myrtle_beach_manager_has_epic_meltdown_vs_salem_re.html

I guess whoever does the official scoring took what Ortiz bitched about to heart. All seven runs are earned!!! I saw two errors last inning.

He really belongs in the minors somewhere. I believe that he has less than one full season above long season A ball. He may be a terrific prospect but he has yet to show why he has been given this tittle.

He sucks today! He has looked promising up until today.

Nice. 7-0 Houston!