jung

I know Bradford does not think so but I still say Lackey is throwing harder post surgery. OK so he likely did throw 94 previous but multiple 95 mph FBs'???

I think the Sox know they need some way to shore up the pen and you could knock me over with a feather if they do not come up with an arm or two there. As we have often suggested here, filling pen spots other than closer ain't exactly rocket science. Even closer at least to me is a matter of not overpaying for one assuming there is somebody available. I actually think when the jury is in, we will find that Bailey is all done or headed for surgery or some damn thing like that. Ueh does not really impress me in the closer role and I will likely be less impressed if he has post season pressure on him. As for starters, while we could have an injury elsewhere, the most concerning is Buch by far. Unfortunately though, a big name experienced front line starter will automatically be an older guy and he could fall apart as easily as anybody already in the rotation. As for what is there now: I actually think there is good reason to believe Lackey will be solid from here on in. His pitch sequences are very strong and I do not think that is going to change over the course of what remains of 2013. I always assume a bad game here or there. Verlander has a bad game here or there. I think we have seen the worst of Lester for this year. So IMO, he can only improve from here. Dempster is what he is. He has not disappointed me cause I did not expect more than we are getting from him. He is a solid rotation guy IMO if a bit overpriced mainly because he is on a short term deal. Felix won't be an issue in the post season if he remains a 5. If he has to pitch post season, then he might be something to worry about. But nobody has somebody great sitting down there in the 5 hole. If Buch makes it back and goes down later, that qualifies as stuff happens. What are you gonna' do, pay an arm and a leg for a guy that is just much if not more of an injury risk based on the possibility that Buch comes back and goes down again? If there is one thing we should have learned by now it is that there is no such thing as buying your way into the WS or buying your way to winning a WS. GM's even with money to spend are left taking calculated risks. That is really all they can do IMO. What we forget is that if it were not for the LA Dodgers we would still be totally f***ed based on the buy your way to success formula. There is no one player out there that will escort this Sox team to a WS. There just isn't. There are guys they can spend a fortune on just like they have in the past. I would prefer they avoid that route as that is a slippery slope. I would only go there for a starter if: a. Buch is still a question mark for returning b. The Sox really believe they can get by the best the AL has to offer...meaning Detroit, the Rangers and possibly the O's now that they have gotten another good starter. To me, that was a worthwhile move for the O's. But save one more starter, I have thought the O's a more solid and balanced team than the Sox regardless of the current positioning. Notice I did not say stronger, but more solid and balanced. It is a little bit like looking at the dif between Davis and Ortiz. Taking either out of their team's lineups would be telling. But if it were you, would you put your money on Davis or Ortiz for making it through the entire season?

To me the problem the Sox have with getting a starter is that somebody really top shelf will be prohibitively costly either just in money or money and prospects if a trade. Yet if the Sox get Buch back and pitching as he has so far this year given the way Lackey is pitching, the Sox really have a good rotation. So if they get Buch back, giving up much for a top shelf pitcher really does not make much sense. So to me that makes the decision point. Can they get Buch back or not?

Decline of some sort is almost inevitable. There are a few truly great physical specimens that start out their careers with so much athletic talent that they are able to stave off father time. Fewer and fewer of those are choosing baseball as a sports career though. Roberto Clemente was one. I really struggle to think of another. Pitchers can be different if they can learn to pitch as their ability to throw changes over time. But closers really don't have a lotta' different ways to get guys out. So I think it is as rough for closers to remain competitive over long periods of time as it is for everyday ballplayers. Rivera is different I think because he has that one pitch that you just can't hit but can't lay off of with 2 strikes and has ridden that to a long career closing. I really don't think we will see his equal. I don't believe in the Rivera Highway cause all it would take to hit the exit ramp for some other closer is some sort of major injury or a year or two of decline and that would be that. I have almost got myself convinced that the way salary and performance relative to age are inverted in MLB, it is the name recognition that develops for the player that has as much to do with the salary as anything. If he is a gate draw, he gets paid like one.

I would not want to give up on WMB either. I don't think trying to develop him as a ML version of the hitter he was in the minors will work. It will take too long and is likely futile anyway. Besides he has enough power to make the hip turn he has now work for him as long as he is also as selective as Bats is at the plate. Bats generally only swings at that s*** that WMB can't hit to save his skin unless he has two strikes and has to protect the plate. Even then, Bats really does not change his swing that much, choosing not to mess with a swing that when hot simply does not let mistake pitches go unpunished. How Bats punishes you depends on the kind of mistake the pitcher makes. Pitches up and out over the plate generally become base hits to CF. Pitches inside end up in that parking lot behind the Monster if the Jays are playing in Fenway.

We just had a hitter in town that provides an example of what WMB could be. WMB could be Joey Bats with some work. Take the middle-in pitch and the hard hip turn toward LF away from Joey Bats and he is what he was before he started hitting all these HR's....nobody...more or less what WMB is at present.

Tearing the cover off the ball in Pawtucket is meaningless in WMB's case. He is either learning what he has to learn to be an ML hitter or he is not. That includes not swinging at pitches he can't hit with a boat oar. Hit a HR to left and one to center on Sunday. Might at least have learned what he can hit well. But I would be surprised if he has learned that quickly how to lay off what he can't hit.

WMB will likely take some time to get fixed. As it turned out Ells was easy. All he had to do was stop swinging for the fences in an effort to enhance his FA value. Trying to muscle up to something that was at least a facsimile of his big HR year is what f***ed him up. As soon as he stopped he was was right on track. WMB truly needs to find a way to fix his addition to pitches he can't hit with a boat oar. I don't think there is any other fix for him, at least not one that he could employ some time this season.

Way ta' go Ueh.

Seems to me that Ueh slings the ball up there. I am guessing that is why he gets so much action on the ball without much velocity. Must tax his arm though.

Rasmus a joke again in Fenway's CF

I don't think much of Gomes as an everyday option in the lineup but what a situational hitter he has been. He invariably gets the pitcher into a situation where he has to come to him late in games as he has a great eye either taking or fouling off pitches. Relief pitchers do not have many options in those cases and he has produced in most situations when given the opportunity.

The "Glasses" gets beat. Just too bad

I don't think Bailey will pitch better in low pressure situations but at least he won't be costing us ballgames. Farrell is tossing Bailey in there with very little time left in the game to make up for his f*** ups.

Farrell, you are a dick head. It is like he brings Bailey in for the thrill of it all.

Reyes bailed Farrell and Bailey out of that AB A slider sighting from Bailey. That at least gives him a chance

Why does Farrell or anybody for that matter think Bailey will beat anybody with the crap he throws up there.

Iggy's speed does it again. Guy has got to be insanely quick outta' the right side. Guys know before they throw it that they do not have a shot and that is unusual for a RH batter.

Well now it is a one run game....Farrell's perfect Bailey spot.

Maybe going to get Webby out to bring Bailey in....Oh Brother!

Jays have clearly pitched their way to the win streak they had going as they do not appear to be doing anything else any better than they were at the start of the year.

Jays still laughably aggressive at the plate. Way too aggressive for their own good. I will take it though.

That was terrific hitting by both of them. Iggy getting good enough at the plate to actually think about what he is doing....incredible!! That was a very hard pitch for Ells to get his bat on with anything.

I don't think I have ever seen Rasmus play a good CF in Fenway. Just does not seem to be able to get it figured out. He may not have been able to get to the Drew Double but your LFer is going to back you up on that play. He has got to go to the wall on that. Standing there watching the ball bounce off the bottom of the wall does not get much done.

Oh well what Bats does have out there in RF is an absolute cannon and his accuracy is kinda' ridiculous. Ortiz only chance was if the catcher just plan missed him...which he almost did.