jung

The Tribe has an also ran pitching tonight. This is just the kind of guy that should be meat especially for the Sox LH hitters. If they have trouble with this guy the top of my head is going to come off.

This team has gotten a tremendous spark from the Pawtucket guys which is both a pleasure and a worry. They have both taken better at bats and smarter at bats than a good number of the so called veterans. Nava has thrown better outfield leather in a couple of nights than the rest of the outfielders have for a couple of weeks. That said most all of them played decent baseball last night...showed some smarts at the plate for a change and even threw some leather at catcher (heaven help us). Pedey does not fall into the problem category as he almost always makes smart plate appearances as does Ortiz for the most part and Pedey is always great in the field. In both cases the only time they don't make smart plate appearances is when they try to take too much of the offensive responsibility on their own shoulders. In Pedey's case when that happens it is usually cause pitchers are unwilling to pitch him on the inner half. Pedey gets desperate to get a pitch on the inner half and will sometimes swing at something that is not a very good pitch if he does get desperate. When Ortiz takes to much burden on he starts swinging at pitches high and inside which is not his pitch. Hopefully we will see at least the effort we have gotten out of Doubront the last few starts and at least as much smarts at the plate and decent baseball in the field as we saw last night.

Pods has been brought into Pawtucket to bolster their outfield and make sure there is another warm body that they can bring up to Boston if there are more injuries to the outfield core.

Last night the Sox combined barely passible pitching with MOST of them playing good baseball for a change to get a win. If they can get the same Doubront effort that he has given them his last few outings and combine that with MOST of them again playing good baseball again, they may just be able to squeeze out another win and some momentum as well. If last night is any indication, Nava better be in today's line up, sad to say.

No question that the horrific performance of 1, 2, 3 in the rotation is the real problem with this team. Why it was expected that they would perform as a solid group before the season started is beyond me. I did not see it and said so. Now, they are pitching so poorly that they are not even meeting my rather low expectations. This is why I don't much consider Ells and CC coming back to be all that significant. It adds to the talent pool but does not fix the problem. dice is a more direct response to the problem but dice is what at this point, maybe a 3 in a rotation.....more likely a 4. How does that help. So the #1 problem is the pitching by the 1,2 and 3 in the rotation for which there is no quick fix and while the next issue to fix is down the road from 1,2 3 in the rotation it is also obvious that they play s***** baseball. They make rotten plate appearances as a group. They make stupid mistakes on the base paths and they suck in the field. The Guardians game that was a win on Friday night was the best baseball this team has played in weeks....it is the best baseball packed into one game that this team has played in weeks. However I would be remise if I did not point out that much of that difference was provided by Nava, a journeyman just up from Pawtucket. That by itself makes a hell of a statement. As for CC coming back, rotten plate appearances and poor performance in the field described his entire 2011. The only thing that he did not do that poorly is make that many bad decisions on the base paths....cause he was never on the base paths. However he would fit into this group perfectly and until he proves otherwise to me, his return does not resolve any of the issues his team has got.

Like I said earlier just like everything Sox nothing has a simple explanation....Ross has been worst when it comes to the physical task of getting to and catching the ball in the outfield....no question. Byrd can't get started in the right direction in the first place. So you take your pick as to which is worse. On TV Ross might look worse cause you can see most of his struggles. Byrd, you would have to watch from the crack of the bat to see what he is doing out there. For my money, it is a bit scarier cause, with Byrd's issue he is going to miss balls that should be easy catches. Ross will more likely miss plays that a little harder. Ross will miss plays that a better athlete would make.

One thing I should add just for clarity...While I don't see much difference in the way Sox upper management handles players, I think the way they handle their field managers is disgraceful. In this case we all know V is LL's hire, does LL come out and support V when he comments about Youk....no, not a peep out of him...the only guy we hear from is BC who while representing Baseball Operations is still in the chain of command between LL and V. Was BC acting with LL's acquiescence, was he acting on his own...as usual with the Sox, who the f*** knows?

Told you guys Buch was going to go out there and dazzle them with the haircut. Seriously though, Ells coming back, CC coming back, none of that matters much when the top three in the rotation are pitching as they have been pitching and if they only pitch marginally better than this as a group, the Sox are still going nowhere. They must pitch much better. If that happens, the next piece will be a discontinuation of the generally s***** baseball that the everyday players have played. Playing s***** baseball has way less to do with talent and much more to do with coming to the park everyday ready to play, ready to make the most out of every at bat FROM A TEAM perspective, ready to make the most of every opportunity in the field and on the base paths FROM A TEAM perspective. Friday night the Sox played generally better baseball taking better at bats and making better plays in the field in one night than they have made in weeks. It should however not be lost on any of us that much of that difference was contributed by Nava, a journeyman just up from Pawtucket!

Steinbrenner was in a time warp...one of the last of the non-corporate owner types that are into baseball in spades now. While he might have been over the top sometimes, I would take that over the mild toast nimrods that have infiltrated baseball since then.

However one of the distributor representatives shot the idea that much of the streak is tied to the distributor unsold seats down saying that they would go broke very quickly holding onto enough tickets to matter. I think the thing that does fudge the sell out is the number of seats Management holds aside as "comp" tickets for unspecified use as that number is upwards of 800 seats per game.

Not sure you can take Abraham's article that far. That is almost like saying the players can or have adopted a less than best attitude toward winning because management keeps contracting them. I don't know how you could discern what the Sox ownership does in relation to its players from what other clubs do. The hole Sox Management has dug for itself is having created a huge imbalance in the number of cost controlled players they have playing for them that are cost controlled because they are working their ways up the ranks, putting in their time vs the number of high dollar long term contract players that don't give a s*** playing for them or in some cases on the DL. The Sox have very very few players on high dollar, long term contracts that actually care enough about winning for my taste and that is the genesis for the hole they have dug over at Fenway in my view. Combine the heavy contract players with players that don't make much money cause they are simply not that good (another piece to the Sox personnel puzzle) and you get what the Sox get, many games where the team just plays s***** baseball. It starts with those big money contracts because they have the team in a strangle hold. We talk about the inability of the Sox to move this player or that player because of his contract. Well that is the same thing as saying that the Sox overpaid for said players by so much that nobody will pick that contract up.

That might have been the start of it but he is not even swinging to hit HR's at this point or I should say the swing he has now is not going to generate many home runs. Even his wall balls now are more gentle looping liners than they are lasers. He is going to pile up tons of doubles, especially in Fenway but I really don't think he will be hitting many dingers. Of course landing on second is no guarantee with Agons that something good is gonna' happen. See that slip out on the base paths tonight that was more of a slip up than a slip. Agons turned around right away after being called out and looked at the spot where his foot came out from under him as if the ground caused the mistake. I think Agons is a fine ballplayer but I also think that at the end of the day this is going to turn out to be another pretty big overpay. By that I mean beyond the scale of most overpays. Ya' don't have to pay $22M per year for a lumbering 1st baseman that is going to bang out a bunch of doubles and singles which I think 700 has already pointed out.

Hey what do we have to complain about...not one of us will ever have to: - ride a roller coaster - watch a mission impossible movie - bungie jump - go over Niagara Falls in a barrel AGAIN........ cause....... all we have to do is watch our Sox!!!!

Dont come inside Ace

Wow Ace is kinda' outta gas here..not sure what V is going to do

Damn that is the one thing I hate about the straight change...if it is not well thrown the guy just sticks his bat out and DOINK..into center field

Geez where are these foul balls going...they look like they must be moon shots foul

Oh my God I thought that foul ball was It..never mind what It is!

C'mon Ace get me these two outs...been waitin' what...a week for a win?

WHAT...less than total appreciation!!! I duth protest!

Talk about two guys lookin like they are on work release...Pedey and Cody on the bench together:D:D Very nice at bat Salty...you rock!!!

oh well..cody gave it good ride

C'mon cody ya' got a LH pitcher...put this game away

I think you are right..I think Nava is shorter than Pedey

Nicely done AGons.....no secret this guy is not my favorite Red Sox by a long shot.