jung

Well we have the remainder of ST to work it out. But we have gone from ST has not even started yet. they have time.....to....it is early in ST, "they still have time" while things have not looked much better. I can see it possibly getting better by the end of ST but a whole lot better????????? Pitching looks pretty ragged. Doubront has impressed me but if i am not mistaken he has not put two consistent outings in a row together yet. Aceves has looked very good. So much so, that even I am beginning to wonder if the Sox are going to be forced to toss him in the rotation and push Bard back into the pen or put Bard and Aceves in the rotation together??????? I have no idea what people are seeing in Padilla unless it is relief that the guy has not thrown a fit yet. You simply cannot get that junk past major league hitters and unless he gets back the movement he used to have on his fastball he is going to be meat. I suspect that the lack of movement combined with getting to much plate with his pitches is going to kill him if and when he runs into an actual ML lineup. I still think Doubront is the key. If he can legitimately make his way to the rotation then that gives the Sox the freedom to do some things. In fact Doubront has to make it as they have no options left on him. Which brings us back to exactly where we were last year with maybe some improvement down at the bottom of the rotation but at the expense of the pen. It still boils down to having 1,2 and 3 in the rotation go the entire season without injury. Place your bets sports fans. I am beginning to think that either Bard or Aceves are going to have to stay in the pen else we end up with the kind of pitching staff where in to many instances the starters take the Sox to the middle of the game or later only to have the pen come in and open the flood gates. My upper expectations for Padilla are that he ends up with a role to play there.

That is why I threw in a relative comparison. Buch has shown much better movement and location than Padiila has to this point. Doubront has shown better movement and location than Padilla has to this point. Just not much there to be impressed by but used the right way, could fit into this year's Sox pen. Padilla has had the benefit of pitching some winter ball as well.

What he is doing is what bothers me. I do agree that with the way the Sox pen is setting up he has a spot there. V will just have to be careful where he uses him. He is not throwing balls. That much is true. However he is almost to the point of being wild in the middle of the plate. He is catching to much of the plate with pitches that are not doing very much at all. That last flare hit in the ninth was not some magnificent hitting effort as much as it was another nothing pitch in a pretty bad spot. Likely the kind of pitch that a better hitter would have tagged. When you compare Padilla's outing with Buch's, Buch had much better location and much better movement. He was fooling hitters. Not making the comparison to suggest people should have expectations for Padiilla that they have for Buch but just as an example for how far behind Padilla is. I would not want to see V bring Padilla into situations where he had to get the first out or the opposition was going to score. I think he has a shot at middle to long relief if the starter fails and somebody comes in and gets the starter out of whatever jam he is in. I think there is a chance that Padiila could get through a lower half or maybe even one time through an entire lineup pitching the way he is pitching right now. But his fastball is flat and doing nothing. Velocity is meaningless in the majors unless there is movement as well. Padiila is almost grooving most of these pitches and he is definitely getting to much plate with pitches that are not moving anywhere. The fastballs end right were Padilla has started them. That is why for the most part nothing else he throws is very effective. Major league hitters are not going to be afraid of that fastball. In fact, they are likely going to climb all over it. If he starts catching more black through the rest of ST he would be better off but not sure how much until I see it.

What he is doing is what bothers me. I do agree that with the way the Sox pen is setting up he has a spot there. V will just have to be careful where he uses him. He is not throwing balls. That much is true. However he is almost to the point of being wild in the middle of the plate. He is catching to much of the plate with pitches that are not doing very much at all. That last flare hit in the ninth was not some magnificent hitting effort as much as it was another nothing pitch in a pretty bad spot. Likely the kind of pitch that a better hitter would have tagged. When you compare Padilla's outing with Buch's, Buch had much better location and much better movement. He was fooling hitters. Not making the comparison to suggest people should have expectations for Padiilla that they have for Buch but just as an example for how far behind Padilla is. I would not want to see V bring Padilla into situations where he had to get the first out or the opposition was going to score. I think he has a shot at middle to long relief if the starter fails and somebody comes in and gets the starter out of whatever jam he is in. I think there is a chance that Padiila could get through a lower half or maybe even one time through an entire lineup pitching the way he is pitching right now. But his fastball is flat and doing nothing. Velocity is meaningless in the majors unless there is movement as well. Padiila is almost grooving most of these pitches and he is definitely getting to much plate with pitches that are not moving anywhere. The fastballs end right were Padilla has started them. That is why for the most part nothing else he throws is very effective. Major league hitters are not going to be afraid of that fastball. In fact, they are likely going to climb all over it. If he starts catching more black through the rest of ST he would be better off but not sure how much until I see it.

As much as I like Bill Lee, I think he did in fact overuse the eephus. As I mentioned in an earlier post the thing that concerns me most about Padilla is the fastball. It still seems really flat to me and his location is not that good either. Everything else he throws seems to me to suffer because there is not that much scary about his fastball. To be honest I think if he was facing regular season major league lineups the way he is pitching right now he would get chewed up.

On the one hand I found that Yanks announcer's criticism of V for making tactical moves early in games that you would normally reserve for later in games during the regular season pretty ridiculous. This is Spring Training. This is when it does not matter whether it is early or late in games. You are just trying to see what your players can and cannot do and trying to coach them up at the same time. Stupid criticism of V in my opinion. I thought it was interesting watching guys try to go from 1st to 3rd in situations where you might not recommend it just to see what they had. Frankly I was stunned to see that Ortiz looked way better going from 1st to 3rd than Agons did and that was not a factor of conditioning either. Agons simply looks like an old man running the bases. Heck he looks about like I would look going from 1st to 3rd. There is no fluidity in his running stride at all. Again for me the shocker was how much more fluid Ortiz is at his age when compared to Agons. But I digress. I don't agree with shoving Bard out there in relief either. Granted in ST the starting pitchers have to trot out there during the middle of games. In Bard's case I don't know if it would have been realistic to have him prepare for his stint just like he was starting while having him come into the middle of the game. Timing is probably very hard to manage in that regard. However given his situation I simply would not pitch him unless he is given the opportunity to prepare just like it was a start. The other place I did not like the move was the Iggy running play. While we will likely never know if that was the play Iggy was hurt on, plays at home are inherently dangerous and I would not agree with sending a guy for a meaningless ST run. To much nasty stuff happens around home plate.

On the one hand I found that Yanks announcer's criticism of V for making tactical moves early in games that you would normally reserve for later in games during the regular season pretty ridiculous. This is Spring Training. This is when it does not matter whether it is early or late in games. You are just trying to see what your players can and cannot do and trying to coach them up at the same time. Stupid criticism of V in my opinion. I thought it was interesting watching guys try to go from 1st to 3rd in situations where you might not recommend it just to see what they had. Frankly I was stunned to see that Ortiz looked way better going from 1st to 3rd than Agons did and that was not a factor of conditioning either. Agons simply looks like an old man running the bases. Heck he looks about like I would look going from 1st to 3rd. There is no fluidity in his running stride at all. Again for me the shocker was how much more fluid Ortiz is at his age when compared to Agons. But I digress. I don't agree with shoving Bard out there in relief either. Granted in ST the starting pitchers have to trot out there during the middle of games. In Bard's case I don't know if it would have been realistic to have him prepare for his stint just like he was starting while having him come into the middle of the game. Timing is probably very hard to manage in that regard. However given his situation I simply would not pitch him unless he is given the opportunity to prepare just like it was a start. The other place I did not like the move was the Iggy running play. While we will likely never know if that was the play Iggy was hurt on, plays at home are inherently dangerous and I would not agree with sending a guy for a meaningless ST run. To much nasty stuff happens around home plate.

I am a little surprised that Aceves still holds the lead in the pole given the progress Doubront has shown and the obvious desire to keep Aceves in the pen if it is at all possible. Padilla is still not doing much to impress me and I have nightmares about that big slow eephus pitch of his.

Wow, that new Iggy stuff has caught me a bit off guard. I have thought (based on his speed through the minors against his hitting skills) that the Sox et al have been pushing him along certainly before V got here. So now does it look like the Sox in the form of their FO wants to slow him down a bit and V wants to get him up now? Sort of an odd reversal for the FO maybe.

What is the situation with Anderson? I think the Sox must still have options remaining in his case but then again????

I have been lighting candles for Doubront, that he be the guy that breaks through for the 5 spot mainly because I think he has the talent and because the Sox are out of moves for him. The other guy I have been lighting candles for is Iggy, that he come up because it is the right thing to do, not because the Sox feel like they are forced to bring him up.

Well spring or no spring I think Doubront did himself a world of good tonight. That was a very impressive four inning stint. That wasn't exactly chicken feed the Yanks were sending up to the plate tonight. I did not get to see Padilla pitch tonight but his 3 innings must have been his best performance to date as well. I wish I had seen it to compare it to Doubrant's. Hard to imagine Padilla pitching as well as Doubrant did tonight especially since Doubrant went 4 innings. Really liked how Doubrant settled in and got better inning after inning. By the third inning he had the right handed hitters off balance and out in front of his breaking stuff and late on his fastball. His location got better as each inning passed and after all said and done, I think he had given up two hits and one fly ball. I think those three were the only balls that got out of the infield. If he can put a similar performance back to back we might finally be able to look to a possible alternative to Aceves for that final spot in the rotation without feeling like we are just grasping at straws. I am obviously lurching in the direction of hope as much as realism at this point but hey......until Doubrant proves me wrong I am feeling like he might really have a shot after all.

Wow what a nice 3 inning stretch for Doubront. Little shaky in the 1st but not unusual for a pitcher as we all know. Really has the right handers off balance at this point. Might we see more of this from him? Feverishly knocking on wood at the moment.

Very good second inning. Got the right handed hitters off balance and out ahead. Two ground ball outs bookend a K. Got ahead of the last batter of the inning. Had been getting behind before that but seems to have settled in. Very nice inning.

He pitched decently in the first.Pretty good breaking ball. Got to much of the plate with one to a right handed hitter and that was the hit. Was tough on the guys hitting from the left side. Gave up another walk though, this one to Alex. I hope this does not turn into a walk per inning game for him.

I actually love to watch good pitching and good defense so there is a selfish side to me that would love to see an outfield that teams just could not hit the ball through and a great defensive SS. It sounds like Iggy has built up so much momentum that he will be here this year....seems to me to be more a matter of when this year and no longer a matter of if for this year. The only fly in the ointment to a team that features defense over offense is a pretty big one I think. Fenway is still a place where regardless of how good your outfield defense is, there are balls you just cannot get to. I guess Spiderman can't hit the curve or else he would be our left fielder. While the Sox play 81 in Fenway and the other 81 elsewhere, a goodly number of the newer parks that have been built feature shorter fences than the parks they replaced. There are few "pitchers" ballparks in this league any longer. Detroit is the exception as the I think the old Tigers Stadium featured shorter fences than the new. Oakland is still a big ballpark. The point is I am not sure that a team that emphasizes defense over offense makes the sense that it might have made at one point. If your team is a really good offensive team that also has solid defenders, then that is OK I think. However that is not the same thing as giving up offense for defense. Iggy's spot may be the one place where it still makes sense. There is so much that a very good defensive SS can do for a team. As long as Iggy does not regress because he needs more time in the minors that he does not get then I can see Iggy coming up.

I guess I am still holding out some hope for Doubront as ill placed as that might be. I have not liked what I have seen from Padilla at all. This guy's MO was "great stuff" and he has not had great stuff at all. Fast ball is flat and straight. Moon ball curve is interesting but even spring hitters don't seem to be having much difficulty with laying off of it or getting a bat on it if they have to swing at it. I am guessing that his fastball is so unimpressive that the real problem lies there. None of the rest of the potential starters have done anything worth talking about. So far have not seen anything that keeps them from bringing Aceves north as the 5. It is still early however. That said I have gotten down to crossing my fingers on Doubront much sooner than I thought I would.

Who knows why Shaughnessy has been taking shots at AGons. These guys simply pick sides cause that is what works in the media these days. Don't think so....just listen to sports radio where most if the personalities are also columnists for one of the local papers. Whatever it takes to get somebody to read a column or listen to them is what you are going to get. One guy writes about one thing the other guy writes it from a different perspective. Sports reporting is fine but sports journalism is just space filler....stuff to clog your free time with but not much more than that.

I think Oswalt's agent is just using these non-announcement announcements in an effort to keep Oswalt in the news and relevant, at least to the degree he can. This has turned into something of a string of these things now. Oswalt has talked his way into at least temporary retirement and I think someone will bring him on now when and if somebody does not pan out or breaks.

Wow Paps.......has finally found a city where he fits right in. What kills me about this is that I really cannot remember seeing Sox fans beat up on Paps for following the money. Everybody acknowledged that he was/is a great closer.....no question about it. That had nothing to do with the decision not to pay a closer a zillion dollars. Worse than that, the Sox fans certainly did not have anything to do with the decision one way or the other. What did he expect. In the first place, nobody thought the Sox were going to accommodate his pretty well known desire to set a mark for closer contracts. In the second place, what did Paps expect from the fan base....a raid on Fenway demanding he be signed for what he wanted? That would surely have done it. No wonder he does not think much of us.

I would be tickled to death if it is Iggy's job to lose. My most optimistic expectation for him was a call up after 2-3 months. I hope if it is truly his job to lose that it is representative of the degree of progress that we would not have expected going into this ST. My only concern is that I believe the Sox have been pushing him along faster than he should have been going. Maybe this is the year it pays off. Maybe this is the year that the time he should have been putting in at lower minor league levels comes back to haunt him. I want to say that it will be fun to see how the Sox handle Iggy in any event. However if they have moved him along to quickly and he really stumbles in his first real shot at the bigs I am not going to be happy.

I would actually be willing to give up having the opportunity to see ball played "the old fashioned way" to get consistency across the leagues. In fact I think that the NL giving up its position is the second most likely outcome, second to abandoning inter-league play. I would give up either inter-league play or seeing baseball the old way to have consistency. My desire to see ball played the old way every once and awhile is really a selfish desire. I just want to be able to. But with more inter-league play in the works, my selfish desire needs to go by the boards.

I have been wondering about additional inter-league play bringing the whole DH issue to a head. I do tend to think the NL eliminating it across MLB successfully would be a tall order. I would not bet on it. I would actually think there is a better chance that inter-league play would go down for the count before the AL drops the DH or the NL adopts it. One of the AL arguments is that you pay pitchers to pitch. Do you really want them up at the plate or on the base paths? I don't think they are at the same risk out there as everyday players. They really don't have much incentive to crowd the plate for example. Not only is there more strategy and in game personnel decisions in the NL but I always think that when a pitcher does help himself at the plate. It is a real event and I am glad we still have the opportunity to see it on occasion. On the other hand AL pitchers are under duress up and down the batting order with no pitcher to look forward to as an easy out. So we don't see rallies die in the pitchers spot and we see pitchers really having to work their butts off on the mound under a good deal of stress.

Kinda' funny how Salty found his way to "average". When he was hot he was hot and when he was not he was waayyyyyyyy not. In fact, if we was actually average for longer stretches of time we would probably be happier with him. It seemed to me that his fielding and his hitting sort went up and down in sympathy with each other. Not the most unusual thing in the world for a baseball player but seemed most evident in his case. In all likelihood we are not going to be to supportive when he is going well but will be hell on wheels when is going poorly if he repeats that kind of performance this year.

Well don't we think that Ross will only play full time until CC comes back and then platoon in RF after that? Maybe it was just me thinking he would be platooning after CC's return.