RedSoxNC84

You mean "rosin" right?

That and bats being thrown 200 feet into the stands.

LOL of course it was the Jays broadcaster.

A little too wordy, but I'll take it.

Very elaborate.

The pitching has paid off, but do we owe thanks to the teams pitching coach Juan Nieves? A few things I've noticed since the start of the season. All the starting staff has made minor and even some significant changes to their approach or even mechanics. Dempster has shifted on the mound towards first base, away from third base, and changed his release point. Somehow his contact rate has dropped significantly, his strikeout rate has risen accordingly. I know his career K% in his first 5 starts is higher than it is the rest of the season, but it's significantly higher than it ever has been in the past. Part of that is also due to the fact that he is throwing the splitter way more than he did before, and is using more four seams than sinkers as well. Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, Allen Webster, and Felix Doubront have all changed their release points, and with the exception of Doubront still being kind of meh, it's seemed to have worked out very well. Buch has been using his fastball more and cutters less, his changeup has always been great, but now it is completely unhittable. The team's strikeout rate is through the roof, as I said in another thread, an article on fangraphs says that they have the highest team pitching strikeout rate in history, with 26.7% A lot of the staff is still the same, so is it really the work of John Farrell and Juan Nieves? Thoughts?

Still better than Ryan Sweeney or Cody Ross. The only thing that scares me is Gomes in LF.

Thankfully too, now they don't have to rush Victorino to get back on the field, potentially making his back worse.

I think Dempster shouldn't have a problem tonight. He has struck out a massive 35% of batters he has faced, and the Blue Jays as a team are striking out in 21.4% of their at bats. I say he goes 6.2 IP 5H 3ER 2BB 9K Sox win 7-4.

I would have noticed that if I had paid more attention to the lineup... :dunno:

Another fun fact: I just read on fangraphs that the Sox have the highest team pitching strikeout rate in baseball history at 26.7%

Just have Dickey pitch to him, he'll hit another 3 bombs again.

Carp in the lineup? I guess he'll be hitting bomb #3 tonight. Kind of surprised they would sit Napoli after last night's performance though.

I'm hoping the plate approach changes, but there's no question he's better defensively.. Everyone cringed at the thought of WMB throwing across the diamond to Napoli, and from what I've seen so far every play has been right on with those two.

Lots of solo shots. Funny thing though, ESPN's homerun tracker is projecting him to hit 72 bombs this season.... Yeah right.

Mike Napoli is actually a Roman gladiator sent to the future to crush baseballs.

I know I was. I took a chance on him in two of my three teams. It's paid huge dividends so far.

But back on topic: :ortiz:

Now we can't forget Melancon, Padilla, James Loney, Nick Punto, Brent Lillibridge, Aaron Cook, Marlon Byrd, etc.

I haven't laughed so hard in years. Hilarious.

I guess that odd year even year thing with Beckett wore off.

Now for some offensive facts: David Ortiz and Mike Carp have struck out the exact same amount of times (7) Carp is currently Slugging 1.080. He has hit as many triples as he has HRs (2) His OPS is an absurd 1.599 Mike Napoli owns the most strikeouts (40) He is tied for 3rd most in the MLB with Colby Rasmus. In 118 AB Jacoby Ellsbury has only struck out 16 times. Dustin Pedroia and Daniel Nava have struck out 16 times as well in 103 AB (Pedroia) and 81 AB (Nava) To their credit they both own two of the highest walk counts, with 19 (Pedroia) and 10 (Nava) They are among the top 3 in BB on the team along with Jonny Gomes (12) Pedroia and Nava also have the exact same amount of runs scored (17) Mike Napoli has 31 RBI. The next closest batter is Nava with 18. Napoli and Middlebrooks have hit the same amount of HR (6) Mike Napoli leads the majors in doubles (14) His 31 RBI also lead the majors. So far in the season, the Red Sox have scored 145 runs. The Sox lead the AL in total bases (426) Triples (9) OBP (.351) and OPS (.814) The only players to have played every game so far are Ellsbury, Pedroia, and Napoli.

Some fun facts about the pitching staff. With the exception of Alfredo Aceves, the starting staff has only given up 43 runs so far. The only pitcher in the rotation with a K/9 less than 9 is Jon Lester. Ryan Dempster has only 4 less strikeouts (43) than Clay Buchholz (47) in 14.2 less innings. Dempster and Buchholz OPP AVG are the same three numbers .178 for Buch, .187 for Dempster. Dempster and Doubront have given up the same amount of ER (11) despite Dempster having pitched 6.2 innings more. They have also given up the exact same amount of hits (20) In two starts, John Lackey has a K:BB almost as good as Uehara. 12:3 - 12:1 Clay Buchholz, John Lackey, and Felix Doubront have only given up 1 HR each. Lester has given up 2, Dempster 4. in 44.2 IP Buchholz has only allowed 27 hits. Buchholz is tied with Felix Hernandez in WHIP (.96) Only Jake Westbrook has an ERA lower than Buchholz, which isn't necessarily true since Westbrook gave up something like 5 runs in a game that was canceled so it didn't count against him. The starting staff's record is 15-3 (excluding Aceves, 16-4 with his starts included.) All losses are shared between Dempster and Lackey (and Aceves) Buchholz, Lester, and Doubront combine for a 13-0 record. The only relievers to have not given up a HR yet are Miller, Wilson, Bard, and surprisingly Wright. Koji Uehara has a WHIP of 0.75

I know I posted this in the game thread already but still. 6-0 http://i40.tinypic.com/2466uc7.jpg

This is the face of 6-0 http://i40.tinypic.com/2466uc7.jpg