SoxFanForsyth

This team is complete garbage right now. Can't even score a run. Beckett looks like dogshit. Unreal.

Hit the DL, Beckett. Please be out for the season, while you're at it.

Have to take advantage here. Have to.

Youk is just horrible. 4 k's in 6 ab's this year. Pathetic.

Scoring 4 here

Hit. The. Ball. On. The. Right. Side. Of. The. Damn. Field!!!! That's absolutely ridiculous.

Reactionary Post #1: Youk freaking blows. His swing looks pathetic. Middlebrooks needs to get up here ASAP

Beckett vs Fister?-I-Hardly-Know'er! Bats are coming alive today. Win.

Aaron Cook has been hurt the past 2 years, which is why he's only thrown 224 innings in the past two seasons combined. This is the equivalent of saying that Beckett had a higher WHIP and ERA than Wakefield in 2010, so why should he have been good in 2011? Health is a huge factor. He's come back, he's healthy now, and he's throwing the ball well. How long that lasts, who knows, but that's why he has been so successful during the spring and getting a lot of weak ground ball contact.

Rivera's Pitch F/X from Brooks: http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/cache/numlocation.php-pitchSel=121250&game=gid_2012_04_06_nyamlb_tbamlb_1&batterX=&innings=yyyyyyyyy&sp_type=1&s_type=.gif He actually didn't get squeezed at all. He just wasn't getting the 4-5 inches off the plate that umpires usually give him. In fact, you could easily argue that he got a few calls his way.

IT'S THE CURSE OF BOBBY V!!!! He goes onto ESPN New York's show with Michael Kay yesterday, then today, we get beat because Former Yankee Mark Melancon allowed two hits, then Former Yankee Alfredo Aceves came in and gave up the game winning hit to, guess who? Former Yankee Austin Jackson!

Bard was talking about starting during an interview on D&C I believe last ST (meaning, ST of 2011)

He threw 3 pitches, one was outside, the other two were right on the corner first off, and second off, I'm not basing my decision on the 3 pitches he threw from the stretch before he got hurt. I'm basing it off of the 3 or 4 games before that when he was throwing from the stretch and was looking filthy.

For anyone who is questioning this move - Just remember, Aceves had the lowest ERA out of the bullpen of any pitcher on the Sox last year. His 2.03 ERA as a reliever was 1.30 points lower than Bard, and 0.90 points lower than Pap. On top of that, he was lights out against the AL East. Aceves / Bard / Pap's ERA Vs TB 1.59 / 1.13 / 1.29 Vs NYY 3.55 / 3.00 / 1.93 Vs TOR 0.77 / 7.71 / 3.86 Vs BAL 2.21 / 4.70 / 5.68 The fact that Ace's worst numbers against a team in the AL East is a 3.55 ERA is pretty amazing. I think he's going to be a very good closer for this team. Also, for what it's worth, Aceves had a 1.50 ERA vs DET last year.

No need for Mike Gonzalez when you've got Rich Hill coming off the DL in a month and a half, and you've got Franklin Morales as your other LHP in the pen. Not to mention when Andrew Miller gets healthy, he could be absolutely filthy with 97 in the pen. Throwing from the stretch, he's finally able to repeat his delivery and I'm going to call it now - He's going to be a huge piece to this bullpen.

Good move here. If you're using a RP for 2-3 IP more than you're using a closer, your team is in bad shape, especially the SP. I like the move a lot.

The most logical decision would be to let Bard start for 1-2 months until DiceK and Cook are both ready, then you throw him in the closer role and let DiceK take reigns of the 5 slot. Melancon and Aceves can handle the role for the first 1-2 months. Then Bard can come in and take over. If Bard is throwing lights out by the time DiceK comes back, then you make a move. But for now, it's a waiting game, and the team will be fine during that. Wait to see who is going to step up for you. Melancon could develop into a very very good closer.

AL East: Red Sox AL Central: Tigers AL West: Angels WC: Yankees WC: Rangers Yankees beat Rangers, CC over Yu. NL East: Phillies NL Central: Cardinals NL West: DBacks WC: Giants WC: Braves Couple things about the Rays. First off, their offense is horrid. Last year, they OPS'd .724 as a team. They lose Kotchman and pick up Pena, more power, way less average, way more strikeouts. Increase of OPS by .019. They pick up Luke Scott, and lose Damon. Again, I see very little or no improvement there. Think about everything that had to go right for them to make the WC last year. Hellickson threw to a .223 BABIP and an 82% strand rate. His xFIP last year was worse than Lackey's. His FIP (4.44) will probably be more indicative of his ERA this year. Not saying he'll be a mid 4's ERA guy, but a 3.9-4.1 ERA is about right. They had Kyle Farnsworth cut his ERA in half last year and post a 2.18 ERA (and he now has a barking elbow and is going to start on the DL). They had Joel Peralta come in and somehow throw to a sub 3 ERA as well. The entire bullpen overperformed (ERA of 3.73, FIP of 4.14). The SP staff well overperformed as well (3.53 ERA, 3.99 FIP) whereas the Red Sox SP underperformed (4.49 ERA, 4.36 FIP). I think the Rays have a very good SP staff, one of the best in the game, but I don't think they are as good as they were last year in the SP department, especially not the bullpen, and I don't think their offense will be able to pick up the slack when Hellickson's ERA starts to trend toward his FIP, or when Matt Moore starts to have some rookie hiccups, and especially not when the bullpen implodes.

Yeah, of course he can. He would essentially be doing that as a starter, no? He can throw 4-6 innings a week if needed. It wouldn't be every single week that he's throwing 3 games for 2 innings each. I think he'd do fine in that role.

May, from everything I hear. He's already thrown in a couple games, and is with Greenville right now.