Looch Ness Monster

I'd like to say a slight increase in velocity on the 4 seam FB has been a small part of it but he also has added a nice cutter and turned his changeup and curveball into plus pitches and wipeout pitches.

And NESN cut to a commercial as Orsillo was telling us whether Youkilis was safe or not.

I was 100% sure. My whole family yelled "THAT'S AWFUL"

I'm more upset that Edwin Jackson is listed 8th. He has the lowest WHIP in the American League. That means nothing? Beckett's has been great in the last month and a half or so but his stats as a whole aren't that incredible. Jackson's better all across the board than every player from 4-7.

No offer sheets yet. The market will start to close up and Kessel will sign for either a one year deal, so that he can get to arbitration in the summer of 2010 or he'll sign a Krejci-like deal. He really doesn't have much flexibility right now. The Bruins are in control of the situation in my opinion.

Because being "tough, big bad Bruins" has won us a lot of titles since 1972.

Kind of shocking. Why call Bates up? He's hitting around .180 at Pawtucket in 88 AB. He was tearing it up for a stretch but came down to earth in his last 30 AB or so. Maybe the Sox figure if he can't hit MLB pitching now he'll never be able to at age 25.

Saito Saito Saito. I'm not sure how he's walked some of these poor hitters. Just throw strikes, they'll hit it to your fielders and get out. Bring in Bard to save the day.

RR. I figure he can go an inning or two.

Story of the year in baseball. New story. 2008: Josh Hamilton 2009: Nick Green

I don't think they'll actually spend $8 million. I think it's just the bluff of the agent.

I don't think we should be looking at any other UFA's. At this point, we're almost too deep. We need to retain Kessel. This is how our lines are looking assuming Axelsson is gone. Lucic-Savard-Kessel Wheeler-Krejci-Ryder Recchi-Bergeron-Kobasew Bitz-Begin-Thornton Chara-Ward Wideman-Ference Stuart-Hunwick Thomas Rask Bold = unsigned If Hunwick doesn't return I'm looking for McQuaid or Boychuk from the Providence Bruins to step up and fill in as extra defensemen. If Kessel doesn't return I'm looking for Recchi on the top line, with Sobotka on the 3rd line with Bergeron and Kobasew. That just doesn't strike me as the type of team that can win a championship if that's what your lines are going to be like.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/hockey/news/newsid=12421.html?cid=rsstsn Interesting that Lucic made it over Savard or Wideman but I think the team was looking a little deeper than Center since Savard would probably be their 13th best forward..which is what's so scary about Team Canada. But I think Looch will be cut either way. It definitely won't hurt though because he'll gain valuable experience skating with the top players in the NHL first off and second off if/when he gets inevitably cut it could be just another boost of motivation to work harder on his game to prove people wrong. A motivated Lucic is scary. Thoughts on this?

I think Phil Kessel's worth $5 million definitely. It's just a matter of being able to bring back Hunwick as well. I say Phil signs for $4.25 million.

Anyone have the details on the Bitz extension?

Sox prospect Kelly's switch to shortstop delayed Good to hear. I want him to continue pitching. His next scheduled start is Thursday. I'd like to see him continue to dominate and get one final look with AA Portland before he heads off to the Futures Game and faces hitters at that level and beyond.

They'll definitely be making a decision after this season. Kelly's future would probably be more important to the team as a pitcher though. He's probably 4-5 years away as a position player, while he's probably 2 1/2 years away as a pitcher. That's what I think is going to make the decision easier no matter how he does next year as a shortstop. But the thing about Kelly that makes him great as a pitcher is his ability to field his position. He's made some incredible diving plays that most pitchers wouldn't be able to make. His athletic ability as a former Tennessee-committed Quarterback and a Shortstop definitely help that

Totals: 84.0 IP, 7-3, 1.50 ERA, 0.774 WHIP, 67 strikeouts, 12 BB, 2 HR A - 48.1 IP, 6-1, 1.12 ERA, 0.852 WHIP, 39 strikeouts, 9 BB, 0 HR A+ - 35.2 IP, 1-2, 2.04 ERA, 0.681 WHIP, 28 strikeouts, 3 BB, 2 HR I'm not sure if we've seen the last of Kelly's pitching this year. I say they give him one more start at Portland. What could it hurt? They can't touch him at A and A+.

Lowrie got hit with a line drive off the knee and got a few extra day offs. And he's been playing 4 or 5 innings/game even before the linedrive.

Casey Kelly yesterday with a one hitter in 6 IP but he gets the no decision because the Salem Red Sox are pathetic offensively and could only get one hit themselves. The bullpen blew it and walked 4 straight batters in extra innings. But I really think Kelly is a top 25 prospect in baseball at this point. His final start of the year could come at AA Portland at 19 years old. (He's at a 100 IP threshold and is at about 90 something now including his spring training IP) He hasn't been challenged whatsoever yet. And he has three plus pitches. His fastball which (like I said at 19 years old) is around 92 MPH..his changeup which is about 84 MPH with a lot of sink and a deadly curveball at about 77 MPH. And he has gold glove abilities on the mound as he is an absolute athletic freak. He was signed on for a full scholarship to play Quarterback Tennessee but opted to play for the Red Sox instead. He also plays Shortstop at a Major League level. So that's where the athletic ability comes from. Updated stats after yesterday's start...(almost a joke they're so amazing).. A (Greenville) and A+ (Salem) totals: 77.0 IP, 7-3, 1.64 ERA, 0.831 WHIP, 63 K:12 BB, .187 opponents BA Gotta love the High School kid outperforming the college kids.

I'm curious as to why it was Dusty Brown that got called up. Is it really necessary to have 3 catchers on the roster?

Definitely need to move him to the bullpen and assign him to mop up duty. There's really no other way for him to figure himself out