jung

Nice hitting Mike.

It will be worth seeing how Gio goes after the LH hitters tomorrow. I suspect we won't see him try some of the s*** Matusz tried.

Interesting that he just decided to challenge youk

Might be a tough at bat for youk

Salty is still sort of herky jerky behind the plate in most things he does. Ball clanged off his right side and sort of rolled up his right shoulder. If he had just turned in the direction the ball had to go, he should have found it pretty easy. He does not appear to be as panic stricken back there as he was at one time but still has that tendency. At least it did not result in a run.

Playing once every three days is not likely doing WMB any good either.

I think the reason why there has not been much mention of Ortiz is because for one thing he has literally carried this team through the first couple months of the season. Without his production this team might already be so far behind the tough AL East that a comeback of any relevance might be quite a bit harder to envision. So that is the first thing to take into account. His rate of production of the first few months could not continue for much longer and to some extent a decline of some sort had to be expected. The second thing is that he has been doing something of late that he knows he cannot do. He has been taking hacks at high inside heat. He cannot hit that pitch, knows he cannot hit that pitch, understands that trying to cost him almost an entire season and at his age almost a career. So I don't think we expect him to keep swinging at that pitch as it has done him to much damage in the past and it is not something he has to figure out.

As much as I love Nava as a player and love what he has done...maybe he doesn't deserve better. When you are comparing the much diminished physical talents of a Pods to what Nava brings in the way he plays the game and still end up with even something close to a tie, that tells you why Nava has not really been able to make much progress over his baseball career. D-mac clearly has been thought of more highly within the Sox organization as a defensive specialist I guess but even that speaks volumes to the issues for Nava. Clearly the real fly in the ointment is the money the Sox have committed to CC. Oddly enough we were told at the time that Theo was worried about being shut out by Ells and his agent. How was this not the frying pan to the fire? So to protect against being boxed by Ells and his agent he gets boxed and closes the lid by signing CC to a contract that nobody in the right mind will touch with a 10 foot pole, more or less assuring that CC is a part of the Sox outfield plans for the term of that contract and really making any effort at Ells tough to pull off since Ells and his agent can now rub the CC contract right in Boston's face. Much as I regret it, there is the chance that a team might see in Nava a ready made, mature baseball player that they have room for. I reluctantly have to agree with the idea of packaging Nava with somebody and trade in an effort to try to fill a Sox hole. If anything the Sox have an abundance of bodies to play the outfield when these guys come off the DL..

In part the reason AGons should take a pitch early in the count and especially early in the game is to see how a pitcher is going to come after him. Matusz showed him early in the count he was going to try to pound him inside which is no way to try to get him out. I guess Matusz tried it cause he is one of the few LH pitchers this year that Agons has pounded. Once AGons saw that Matusz was going to try to just throw him balls on the inner half, Matusz was toast tonight as well. Agons will see more LH pitchers trying to get him out the way they have gotten him out the last few weeks mainly because it has for the most part worked but also because when he does hit it tends to be a single or at most a double. He no longer seems to drive the ball to left with enough authority to clear the wall. Even with the quality of tonight's LH pitcher I doubt you will see him try to do what Matusz tried. You have to go outside first with Agons even if you intend coming inside to get him out.

In part the reason AGons should take a pitch early in the count and especially early in the game is to see how a pitcher is going to come after him. Matusz showed him early in the count he was going to try to pound him inside which is no way to try to get him out. I guess Matusz tried it cause he is one of the few LH pitchers this year that Agons has pounded. Once AGons saw that Matusz was going to try to just throw him balls on the inner half, Matusz was toast tonight as well. Agons will see more LH pitchers trying to get him out the way they have gotten him out the last few weeks mainly because it has for the most part worked but also because when he does hit it tends to be a single or at most a double. He no longer seems to drive the ball to left with enough authority to clear the wall. Even with the quality of tonight's LH pitcher I doubt you will see him try to do what Matusz tried. You have to go outside first with Agons even if you intend coming inside to get him out.

I was willing to give Bard all the rope in the world but he had not even been making microscopic progress up to that disastrous start. Whether he wants to admit it or not there is just to much s*** for him to work out going out there and starting ML games. I just hope he does not try to sort it all out at once in an effort to get back here faster. As crazy as this is going to sound to some, I do think they intend bringing him back as a starter even with an innings cap for this year, mainly because as I had stated in earlier posts I think they have lost faith in him as a possible closer, yet think the middle relief role, even the set up role is an "if all else fails" option.

Looks to me like the Rays and Yanks might be making a run back to the top of the division right now. This is a big month for the Sox. At least the pitchers are pitching, probably a bit over their heads as a group though. Interesting to see if they can keep this up cause I think they are going to have to.

I am really anxious to see what the average innings per start totals look like across baseball by the end of the season. Funny how baseball has turned into something of a follow the leader deal like football but I really think the rest of the league's managers and FO guys have taken their lead from Nolan Ryan and are stretching out the starters more. If it even results in a 0.25 increase in innings per start over 1 season that would be a big one season jump. A 0.50 increase would be huge.

Hope this works out cause Buch is going to be up to 123 now. Tellin' ya' I think managers are going to try to stretch their starters out more this year than in the recent past.

Don is OK...he makes funny mistakes and those are kinda' worthwhile on their own. He is a good foil for Remy's dry wit and he seems to be willing to accept that role. Remy would probably have a hard time with a guy in the booth that was more "active" lets say. Remy does not like boisterousness....at all.....He is OK looking at it as long as it is wayyyyyyyyyy over there somewhere.

A complete game shut out would do Buch's confidence a world of good and now ya' gotta' take into account the two good starts he has had before this one and credit him for having leapfrogged to the top of the consistency charts for the Sox rotation. Maybe Beckett and Buch are tied for first with Felix close behind and Lester not quite even close enough to suck exhaust fumes yet. Has V given him the "dugout handshake" yet? If this half inning takes any time at all that would likely close out this outing for Buch if that is not already the case.

I think in the case of Aviles he is not doing anything differently so he is going to waver back and forth across his career numbers. He could be a bit of a smarter hitter at the plate as well but this is Mike being Mike. No big changes. This is just the other side of Mike starting the season like a house-a-fire I think. A few of these guys could use a transfusion of Nava blood when it comes to their approach to plate appearances but in Aviles case I will be surprised if he ends the season far from his career averages. Mike does appear to have the where-with-all to have enough bat control to pick pitches in certain spots and drive them to where they would do the most good and I would like to see him do more of that. But that is probably wishful thinking on my part.

Celtics clawing back from a pretty bad start to this game tonight. Shame of it is that you get the feeling that if the C's would just step on their throats once the Heat would just pack their bags and head for the airport.

They are all good game threads...it is in the nature of forums to be contentious.

Nava Ross platoon with Sweeney as a back up would not be a bad way to go once Ross gets back. I am so damned confused by who is going where at this point and the number of seemingly optimistic outlooks from the FO that I am no longer sure who is coming back when. Something today about CC able to hit but still can't throw...not sure why that is even worth their time to report. We have a DH and he is even left handed!!!

If Buch can get to and through the 7th tonight that is going to make 3 pretty good starts in a row. I guess we all have our standards for what we think these guys should be doing but if he puts three this good in a row, considering he is our 3, I would think him pretty solid even if he does not continue at exactly that pace. Guys that are pretty good pitchers come out and sometimes just don't have it. The O's starter tonight could not find the plate to save his skin and he isn't exactly chop liver.

Do the MLB cable packages always pick up the road team announcers? Is that how some of you guys end up with them as the announce team you are stuck with?

Considering the number of times we have been screwed this season by being overly concerned with the base runners the O's announces would do well to shut up and hope for more of the same.

Talkin' about Adam Jones new deal with the O's on NESN. Not real happy with the way the veteran players put it to the guys in the minor leagues in this contract though. Those guys are makin' nothin' at his point. Going to be hard to convince a kid not to go grab a college scholarship at this rate...maybe get addicted to football or some other team sport and never come back to baseball.

Pretty good spot for the Sox to be in to win this one. Would not want to be 5 out in this division regardless of time of season.