Elktonnick

If we have to score more than 7 runs per game we aren't going to win many games.

Scoring runs isn't the problem. It all comes down to three things: pitching, pitching and pitching.

They'll hit, with the possible exception of Youk who I have no confidence that he'll be an everyday player the second half of the year. The problem is pitching. Although it is a moot point now, I think a competent GM could have gotten adequate compensation for Beckett, but then again Cherrington is hardly a competent GM.

He may be all of that and this team has a lot to prove. In any case many of us do not believe the FO put together a contending team. Many of us also believe the FO have constrained their manager from putting players in the proper roles. Time will tell. Two games do not a season make.

Do not get me wrong. I am not defending or excusing Beckett but rather trying to understand and explain him. For the record, remember I think Beckett is a punk and should have been traded. I think he is an overall negative influence. If were up to me he would hve been pitching elsewhere.

One should be concerned about Youk which is why I believe it was a mistake not to trade him during the winter. I said Youk won't play 100 games this year. That may be an over estimate on my part.

It may be physical or it could be psychological but there is a connection between Beckett's performance today and his magical mystery tour in search of peace of mind. One does not need to be s PHD psychologist to see that. I don't think he was mentally prepared to pitch today judging by his performance. Whether he will recover depends on his peace of mind and attitude. In any case one can't take comfort from today's outing. I'd be more likely to shrug it off as early season jitters, except for his odyssey drama the days before. That is what makes this more worrisome.

If you are saying what a number of us have been saying for months then I couldn't agree more. Look Beckett was particularly awful today. There was an obvious connection with his sojourn to consult with several wrist dodtors. Even Beckett's staunchest supporters say he can't pitch if he isn't comfortable or he is out of his routine. He clearly wasn't comfortable today.

Again with meanless stats and the needless insults. I expected Youk to look old he did. I and others expected Beckett not to start well especially after his odyssey in search of "peace of mind" and he didn't. Several predicted earlier that Beckett wouldn't have a good year. After his outing today he did nothing to change my or others who agree with that view minds. It is delusional to think otherwise. To call that a lie means you just haven't been paying attention.

Youk looks the way I expected Youk to look. Beckett is pitching like a number of us expected. None of this is a surprise. I know it is only the second game of the year but when the team performs as one expects there isn't much else to say.

Based on openning day only, most fans agree, Red Sox best acquisition during the offseason was Jenny Dell!

That's not what virtually every analyst on MLB radio had to say. But the biggest mistake this hot stove wasn't made by Cherrington but by Lucchino and Henry for giving Cherries the job of GM. He is clearly over his head and out of his depth. The only move anyone gave him any credit for was Bailey and we see how that has turned out.

Look I know all of Scuturo's faults but he was an asset who was dumped without getting sufficient compensation. It isn't just me virtually every analyst I 've heard both on the Boston media and MLB radio says the same thing. And they are all laughing at Cherries. Just like the Epstein comp deal Cherries got his pockets picked. He is acting like this is his first rodeo and everyone sees him coming.

That may all be true. But a competent GM would have gotten more for Scuturo than a bucket of balls.

Bard will be in the rotation unless he bombs out in his first few starts during the regular season. We'll know if he will remain a starter by mid May. That being said he is very unlikely to finish the year as a sttarter even if he is successful. They'll shut him down at about 130-140 innings and he'll end up in the pen, at least that's what most analysts are saying now. I am among those who are skeptical that he'll succeed as a starter. Bard is still a thrower not a pitcher. Tempermentally he may not be suitable as a closer but I don't think he has the temperment to start either. In sum though I believe he is more likely to succeed as a closer than starter because that's where his talent is. Time will tell

As was I

The guy hurt himself jumping up in the air! Now he hurts his thumb doing lord knows what and we haven't even started the season. I'd be surprised if he goes 40 innings this year assuming he is only out for a couple of weeks with this latest injury.

I am not saying its a conspiracy, It is a very strange coincendence, though. Bailey is injury prone who hurts himself jumping up in the air. Beckett is a punk. Who was largely resposnsibile for the team's rotten attitude last year. He certainly hasn't earned anyone's trust after last year. Who knows how or if he hurt his thumb. It is just highly unusual for two ML pitchers to hurt their thumbs at the same time on the same team without a plausible explanation as to how it happened. I may have been born at night but I wasn't born last night!

Tony Massarotti made exactly the same point. What I find particularly curious is, apparently no knows exactly how either Beckett and Bailey hurt their thumbs. It is especially odd that both happened about the same time about ten days ago. Somehow I think there is something very strange about this whole business. When was the last time two ML pitchers hurt their thumbs at the same time on the same team? I don't believe in coincedences especially when it come to a character like Beckett.

This just proves that old rule of thumb you can never have too much pitching!

I may be a blow hard but at least I know what I am talking about. Just to humor you and to prove the point that you have no idea what you are talking about, as usual. Here is a brief explanation of the Hawthorne Effect which of course you will disparage. The Hawthorne effect is a form of reactivity whereby subjects improve or modify an aspect of their behavior being experimentally measured simply in response to the fact that they know they are being studied,[1][2] not in response to any particular experimental manipulation. The term was coined in 1950 by Henry A. Landsberger[3] when analysing older experiments from 1924-1932 at the Hawthorne Works (a Western Electric factory outside Chicago). Hawthorne Works had commissioned a study to see if its workers would become more productive in higher or lower levels of light. The workers' productivity seemed to improve when changes were made and slumped when the study was concluded. It was suggested that the productivity gain occurred due to the impact of the motivational effect on the workers as a result of the interest being shown in them. Although illumination research of workplace lighting formed the basis of the Hawthorne effect, other changes such as maintaining clean work stations, clearing floors of obstacles, and even relocating workstations resulted in increased productivity for short periods. Thus the term is used to identify any type of short-lived increase in productivity.[3][4][5] •^ a b Henry A. Landsberger, Hawthorne Revisited, Ithaca, 1958. •^ Elton Mayo, Hawthorne and the Western Electric Company, The Social Problems of an Industrial Civilisation, Routledge, 1949. •^ Bowey, Dr. Angela M.. "MOTIVATION AT WORK: a key issue in remuneration". http://www.remuneration.net/motivation_at_work.htm. Retrieved 22 November 2011. QED:D Have a nice day!!

I thik they believe that Cooke won't be stretched out enough until the end of April.