jung

Who the hell is this TROLL

Clay got lucky with strike 2. Way too many balls down the middle

Clay is really getting too much plate or is getting the ball up enough that even balls away can be hit effectively.

Interesting that Vic was trying to jack that the whole at bat. I actually hope that is not a trend. One of our posters made what I thought was a pretty good observation the other day. We seem to have gotten a little away from the speed game we had employed earlier in the season and have reverted to more of the old Fenway power game. I think they are a better team when the place setters get on and become distractions and the big guys in the lineup drive them home. If Vic is going to try to jack something I would prefer it with somebody on.

He is not pitching that badly and he was bound to come off of the levels he has been at. Nobody could keep that up. I think there are as many media types and ex players saying this is ******** as there are idiots picking up the "cheating" banner. If he was being universally criticized I think that would be pretty tough to take.

Well it is too early to give up on the offense completely and just because this won't qualify as a great start there is no reason to think Buch won't battle here. Three innings of no offense is a little disconcerting on top of three days of no offense in Texas. He is already at 85 pitches though so Buch will likely be gone by the 5th or 6th.

OK so not it is officially not a great start for Buch. Vic is so good in RF.

Starting pitchers often have rough first innings. it happens. In fact it happens a good deal. If Buch falters again then maybe this is a rough outing for him. I would not take much from a SP having a rough first inning. as for Felix, I think all of us that are not really thrilled about him are reading from the same notebook. He is not the kind of guy that can lose that much off his FB and get away with it for very long. He came into camp out of shape and has been pitching on a wing and a prayer since the season started. Well I guess he is not praying hard enough because it has started catching up to him. What do we want to do, wait till he really struggles costing us some games before doing something when he clearly has lost so much off his FB? Send him down for all I care. My view of it is that eventually he will be gone cause zebra's don't change their stripes. Get me once and it is on you, get me twice and it is on me. This is the second time Felix has come in out of shape in his career and this time it happened when the organization was depending on him to step up now he is not able to perform as expected. So I am fine with sending him down. However I think he will eventually just be gone cause now this is a track record going the wrong way.

And remember as Remy has pointed out, Buch wipes off every single time before he grips the baseball. The whole thing is the most ridiculous story I have seen in a long time and really unfair to Buch. The guy is trying to get into his head. This bum is no longer even directly in the employ of a ML team.

Yes I realize that is what he was saying. What I am saying is that while I think Webster to the rotation and Felix GONE might be the right move, I don't think you do it to save innings out of the pen. I don't think this year's edition of Webster will save you innings out of the pen.

Have been watching Lavs numbers in Pawtucket all season for obvious reasons. If Olney is right it is encouraging as a sign of due diligence anyway. I think the logic "could" be that while Lavs "may" outhit Salty, and clearly has more upside defensively, he still has a ways to go to turn "upside defensively" into reality. The Sox are actually costing themselves runs when Salty is behind the plate and I am not sure Lavs solves that problem just yet. So I like the idea that they are looking outside first if that is what they are doing. They need to stop this defensive bleeding now. So much of what Salty does wrong does not show up on a stat sheet. As for Webster, the only issue I have there is that I am not convinced that a kid like that saves you innings out of the pen. He may well be a better pitcher than Felix is at this point in terms of stuff especially. So the real balancing act is the chance the kid gets shelled a few times and loses confidence up here against better results in the games that he does pitch well. I don't think he saves innings for the pen. Sunday provided a good example of the problem. Darvish made two mistakes during his stint and both were taken deep and accounted for the 3-0 advantage the Sox had early. Lester only made about two mistakes the whole game and both of those were taken out of the park. Pitchers coming out of AA or AAA are simply not used to seeing almost every one of their mistake pitches going for hits if not extra bases and HR's. So then they have to adapt to the pressure of making no mistake pitches....almost an impossibility. But they end up going through all kinds of s*** about that one. I would chance it with Webster cause I am hoping the kid can handle what he is about to go through. I have no illusions abut Webster avoiding the usual issues for young starting pitchers. As for the catching situation, I am glad they are looking if that is what they are doing and if they find a definitive way to stop the bleeding behind the plate I would prefer that to Lavs at this point. If they can't then bite the bullet, move on from the Salty experiment. Give Lavs the job, something the Sox rarely do with young talent. As for the guys being replaced...sometimes you just have to give up. Felix is regressing! Salty is just not improving and they have given him tons of time.

If we are looking for relief for the pen I am not convinced a kid like Webster can do that. He still has much to learn. That said I am as frustrated with Felix as I can be.

One piece of good news this morning amongst the continuing Buch crap and the sorta crappy results for the local teams this weekend, Olney is reporting that the Sox are actively looking for an upgrade to Salty and looking possibly to do something before the trade deadline. Comment from the peanut gallery: Its about time! Thank God and any other phrase of that sort you would like to toss in there.

Well for me, "loading the baseball" sits at the extreme end of doctoring the baseball. I also think that is why Remy reacted so angrily at the accusation. He takes the same position. Loading the baseball at least as I have always seen the term used means the Gaylord Perry spitter. "Doctoring" up to loading the baseball can mean anything that helps the pitcher get a better grip. Much of it accepted and not challenged by umps....some of it maybe more questionable but still not really challenged by umps. Clay's stuff is pretty good but the distinguishing characteristics of the well thrown spitter are so far away from what Clay gets on his pitches that the two things are not even on the same planet.

If you guys remember the discussions about Felix, he can't go to the pen cause he cannot warm up on the spot like a relief pitcher. He must "prepare" for his appearances. So appears to be start or nothing for Felix.

Well lets see. He has been a major leaguer for 5 years and injured the last 4 of them. I think that is right.

If Lester and Buch continue to pitch as they have this team should win a lotta ballgames. If they fall off to just plane great instead of other-worldly, they should win a good many ball games. Dempster has been as advertised which has been better than his real detractors had suggested at the start of the season. More importantly Lackey is looking like a second 3 more than a 4 or a 5. I don't trust Felix at all at this point. He is simply screwing himself out of a job. Hey some guys are happy to have donned a ML uni at all .....others are Pedro or Schill. Main concerns, Felix as an absolute hole in the rotation even for a 5 which may be where he is headed. The way we are using the pen...by the time Frankie and Bres get back, Taz and Ueh will be toast. The number of K's....this team K's at a pretty incredible rate and Pedey is in a tough spot. He needs to heal but seemingly can't, not playing every day and he is right in the 3 hole. The problems shrink compared to the contributions of Lester and Buch. All off season we asked the question...can they do it and if they can will they keep it up for an entire season? You certainly can't complain about their record to date and you cannot complain about the games themselves...it has been interesting so far. If Lester and Buch were to fall off so far that they are just OK, it is going to impact wins and loses and that bullpen is going to look like a death march the way Farrell uses it. That is my only real complaint about Farrell. He has been solid so far and on balance you would have to say he is a plus compared to the average manager and a big plus compared to what we just went through.

i would not call that a bloop hit though. Beltre is a very professional hitter. That mighty swing at air for strike two woke him up and he realized he has the fastest guy on the team on 2nd and the winning run on his bat. That pitch really had nothing on it and no chance to Beltre once he decided to just dump the ball into the outfield. You want Mortenson in the game before you get to the 9th inning.....almost like clearing Mortenson. Instead you used guys that could at least have a chance in the 9th and got stuck with Mortenson in the 9th. If I was going to be forced to use Taz today...that is where I would have wanted Taz. If he really worked it right he would have had Miller for Berkman and Berkman is swinging like a rusty gate.

Farrell may have been in a box in this game but I really don't like the way he used the pen down the stretch of this game. Miller to one hitter there was a waste. Wasted Taz and Miller at the same time really. Still would have taken my chances with Mortenson there or maybe even Wilson. If Farrell was that uncomfortable with Mortenson to Berkman then he should have had Miller for Berkman who was very likely going to come up in the 9th anyway.

Mortenson is really not a ninth inning pitcher...I still would have taken my chances with Berkman....Beltre was just toying with Mortenson there.

f***....f***....f***......Should have pitched to Berkman....he is not goin' anywhere with that slow bat

Well there is some logic here...set up the play at any base...RH hitters seem to be having more trouble with the shadows than the LH hitters...then again....all that can change with one swing and I fear Beltre way more then Berkman

Thank God Salty held it...likely would have thrown it into center

2 years....man that is a lotta' lit candles

Well this otta' be interesting. One thing you can say...this game has not lacked for interest