SoxFanForsyth

Worst case scenario, the Sox exercise his 3mm option, go through 1.5 years of him as the 4th or 5th man in the rotation, and then make a decision on extending him at that point. Regardless, you've got an extremely cheap, incredibly talented pitcher holding down the 4th or 5th spot for the remainder of this year, plus next year. This is a guy who, if he can return to form, would be a top of the rotation starter on just about any baseball team not named the Phillies. Lets not forget he was the starter ahead of Bard in the UNC rotation, and was selected out of college 20 picks higher than Bard. Just to put a bit of a measuring stick on his potential.

Priority 1: RF, Switch hitter or RH. The only name that makes sense for the Sox is Beltran right now. It's incredibly evident how weak our lineup becomes when we play an NL team @ an NL park due in large part to the lack of production in RF. In a league where the average RF is hitting .265/.340/.425/.765, the Red Sox are getting .220/.304/.336/.640 from that position. Reddick could prove to be the answer, my only fear is that Reddick hits well until around the trade deadline, and then starts to decline in August, and by the time he begins his decline in production, Theo didn't pull the trigger on a trade. Priority 2: SS. Scutaro is serviceable, and for this to be the 2nd priority, that's saying a lot for this club. I'm sure the Mets will want a pretty good haul for Reyes, and I don't see Theo depleting his farm system anymore than it already is due to the Gonzo trade. The good news is that we all know how good of a hitter Lowrie can be when he gets his rest and is healthy. Hopefully this DL stint will get him back on track. Priority 3: Pitching. Can't have enough, and with Lackey throwing like a gushing vagina right now, we only have 4 quality starters, and yes I'm counting Miller in this because he's done nothing to indicate to me that he will be anything but a quality 4th or 5th man. He could return to form and lose control, but I think he's taken a giant step forward and, lets be honest, he's a huge improvement over DiceK. This all comes down to John Lackey. I don't give a s*** what his final numbers look like this year. Give me 3.90-4.10 ERA baseball from June 28th through the end of the season and I'll be happy.

He's not a good hitter? He had a horrible weekend. That's all I'm saying.

JD Drew + Marco Scutaro + Darnell McDonald = 4/26 (.154), 27 LOB. WTF.

Holy s***. The #5 hitter for us during our series @PIT went 1/13, 18 men LOB, and ended the inning 9 times. Thanks Darnell. Damn that's bad.

I would chalk up the game vs SD to a bit of nerves. Regardless, he's making huge strides relative to where he was even in Spring Training. As he gets more comfortable with his pitches, and starts trusting his stuff more, I think he could easily become an ace-type pitcher. I know it's been a small sample, but I would be more surprised if he gets blown up than I would if he throws 7 innings of shut out baseball.

First off, if you read, I was responding to Dojji's question regarding whether or not Miller could be another Lester. So you weren't talking to me in the first place, so the "Once again" comment doesn't apply. So 0 for 2 on the day. You're the one who said to wait until he faces a team who doesn't swing at junk out of the zone. I'm just showing you that these teams have plate discipline. And his First Pitch Strike % is not, by any means, a product of the line up you face. I never said that we can judge him based on his outings so far. I did say, however, that based on the performance of the other pitchers in this rotation, he did really well.

Oh my gosh you're right. Unbelievable. Absolutely ridiculous.

Yeah. Retarded. 5 innings of AA ball and then the Tigers called him up. 5 innings. Ridiculous. Let your prospects develop.

Um. You do realize that the Pirates (29.0%) and the Padres (29.4%) rank in the bottom half of the MLB in swinging at pitches outside of the zone, right? Not to mention the fact that getting ahead in the count has a lot to do with hitters getting fooled and swinging at bad pitches. Apparently when you throw 69.8% first pitch strikes, it helps out a little. But I guess that's just another product of facing s***** offenses. He's getting a 31.3% swing rate on pitches out of the zone. I guess CC Sabathia, Roy Halladay, Felix Hernandez, Justin Verlander, Dan Haren, David Price, and Chris Carpenter are all just facing s***** offenses because they all have higher swing rates on pitches out of the zone than Miller does. Nice argument. Too bad it holds zero water.

I'd love it if Miller would develop a cutter, as long as he doesn't become overly dependent. He works well off his fastball right now. I don't know if he'll ever be a Lester, but he's much, much, much better than DiceK. DiceK hitting the DL and Miller replacing him is the best thing that could have happened to this rotation. If we slot Miller in the 4 slot, and have a core 4 of Beckett - Lester - Buchholz - Miller, that's a huge rotation. Lackey, as a 5th man, won't ever live up to his contract, but if he can settle down and throw to a 3.90-4.10 ERA the rest of the season (not overall ERA, just ERA from today to the end), then this rotation just became stellar. As far as keeping Miller on the roster, you gotta think that he is craving some stability. The Sox took a chance on him, if they extend him for, say, 3 years, it will probably be 3 years/12mm or 15mm. Something really cheap considering all he's been through, and he will take that in an instant. Comfort, a slot in the rotation, amd $5mm is more than he could have dreamed of just 2-3 months ago.

You know what? I think he's done better than anyone could have expected. You look at his performance, and then you look at the performance against the exact same offense of the other pitchers who threw. Miller vs SD: 5.2 IP, 3 ER Aceves vs SD: 5 IP, 4 ER Lackey vs SD: 3.1 IP, 5 ER Miller vs PIT: 6 IP, 1 ER Lester vs PIT: 6 IP, 2 ER Wake vs PIT: 6 IP, 5ER I know it's hard to judge Miller based on his performance against SD and PIT, but when you look at how he did vs how our other SP did, I'd say Miller has done really well.

I'm really hoping that this little DL stint is going to be good for his head. Maybe when he comes back, he will be the Tampa Bay version of Carl Crawford. Driving the gaps, hitting tons of XBH, etc. With Crawford and Ortiz out of the line up, and guys like Drew, Cam, and D-Mac in the line up, our offense stinks

It's pathetic how bad Darnell is. I mean it is really pathetic.

Cam ready to get to Philly apparently.

Been to a couple Preds games, I just can't get into hockey.

Dear Pirates You're welcome. From Red Sox Nation

I don't watch hockey, and I'm from Nashville.

Side note: Andrew Miller now sporting a 3.09 ERA. Given, it's miniscule sample, but he's performed as well as we could have asked.

Wow. Listening to other announcers really makes me appreciate Don and Jerry even more. On that lazy fly ball, the Pirates were saying "Come on, carry, get up". Wow. Be professional for one time in your life.

Darnell McDonald makes me want to throw up.

f*** YEAH ORTIZ!!!!