Nick

It's tough to pitch in the majors if you can't throw strikes and every hitter in the league knows it.

I enjoy watching Kendrick pitch because he just goes after the hitters. No nibbling on the corners. He pitches to contact. He looks to be a gamer. I hate whimps.

Glad to see Sale on the mound for four strong innings (1H, 0R, 1BB, 4K, 41-55 strikes). I'd be worried about our rotation at this point if not for him and even with Buch on board. Just a great pickup. Pablo is close to locking down 3B. Made three good plays at third so far.

I'm an old school guy with no analytics.... I was always told you put your best hitter in 3 spot. At the high school level, that was usually your shortstop or a pitcher, your best all around athlete. Probably the quarterback on the football team that's dating the head cheerleader (how am I doing Kimmi?). Hits for high average and has power. Basically .333 guy with 30 home runs. Your best power guy batted clean up. In high school, maybe your catcher or the corner infield guy. Not as athletic as the #3 hitter. Hits .300 with 40 homers. Usually dates a pretty girl with no athletic background. Basically your faithful girl that comes to all the games. A church goer. You put your best speed guy, probably playing center field, leading off. Great contact hitter. In high school, he's probably hitting well over .400 with 30 steals in 30 games. His girl friend is little bit on the wild side. She's an athlete. Your second hitter is patient at the plate, always playing the game the right way. He maybe a lefty but if a righty, he hits to opposite field often. He sacrifices his batting average a little for the good of the team, bunting and moving runners over. He dates a sweet girl that volunteers quite a bit for local charities. Your #5 hitter hits for power but does not make contact as often as the clean up hitter. He maybe a DH or RF on a high school team. Hits .280 and 35 home runs. He dates a smart girl who will make a good wife. That's my top 5 slots and I'm sticking to it no matter what Kimmi says.

I agree on randomness. With advances in medical field, teams ought to be able to monitor stress/strength/weakness level on pitcher's elbow. And if it was that easy to pick out surgery candidates medically, then guys with elbow issues would never be drafted or traded for. It has to be random.

I see that Dustin walked and was pulled (just looking at box score)...did he get hurt or just getting pulled after making an appearance.

I would guess his AVV...say in Castillo's case, I doubt if $72M gets split into 3 years (if he is placed on 40 man roster in couple of years). Charging Sox $24M per year seems illogical. If that's the case no way in hell he'll ever get 'reactivated'.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/red_sox/2017/03/silverman_which_is_best_drafting_or_trading_for_pitching_it_s_a_homegrown Silverman: Which is best, drafting or trading for pitching? It’s a homegrown dilemma Interesting debate.... I'm bored....and I often have stupid ideas. If major league rules allow it, can an organization completely do away with farm system? Say that saves altogether $50M in annual expenses and you use it for major league payroll. Can a team compete strictly with free agent signings having a budget of $250M? (ignore luxury tax)

If Craig comes up over the summer, does the Sox eat the full year's AVV or partial? Is it prorated from the time he's placed on 40 man roster?

We have a winner!!!!!!!!

Exactly, it's not the first time it happened. I'd like to hear what he was thinking. Maybe he thought Granderson was too fast or he was too deep and throwing into wind? Or did he have a Castillo moment thinking there were two outs and it was more important to keep the runner off 2B (1B runner).

1st and 2nd, fly ball to Beni, he throws to 2nd. I didn't think the ball was deep enough NOT to go to 3rd. It ended up costing us a run. He's not perfect. But I'm glad he's on our side.

Yeah....what he just said....

He's someone you just want to keep around forever... a la Wakefield...

I'm a big fan of E Rod. But it's frustrating to see him throw 50+ pitches to get through 3 innings. He was going deep into many batters. I never thought about pitch count twenty years ago. Anyone glued to that stat while watching the game? It's annoying but I do it all the time.

I read somewhere he has put on some added pounds. Probably not as much noticeable at 6-6. There's really not much you can do other than to keep him around and hope something 'clicks'. I guess at some point he'll run out of options.

I agree with you 100%...

I guess my question to OP is at what position does he have the best chance to start?

I was messing with the phrase 'big unit'....u know, bigly hands....not contradicting anything you said.

He's not quite the 'big unit'.

Make that 4 walks for Owens.....can anyone say 'command issues'? Everyone is pulling for him but his mechanics must just be horrible. He can't repeat his delivery and release. Ugh....

Oh geez, don't throw out facts....I was on a roll.

Owens....1 IP 0 Runs 1H 2BB 2K maybe at some point in distant future, he can turn into a Miller.

I forgot about Young....but what becomes of our OF depth?

Sam Travis with a 3 run shot.....he can hit major league pitching. He batted 3rd at IU, Schwarber batted 2nd. He was always a tough out. Sale pitched two innings without getting injured...good news.