Leaving Derek Alone
Normally, my main purpose in life is to shoot down all the opinions of one Derek Dent, my fellow blogger. Now while it's true that the Yankees have a couple of pretty significant injuries, (A-Rod, Posada) I find it particularly gratifying that the team with the highest payroll in the majors has no adequate back-up for either of them. I guess 200 million can't buy you a back-up catcher or third baseman.
But instead of mocking Derek, I'm leaving him to wallow in his own ignorance. I have more important things on my mind. Right now, our Sox are struggling.
Is there reason to jump of the Tobin? No. But there is reason for concern. Our starting pitching can be best described as inconsistent. Lester has been hit or miss...Buchholz is on the DL, and Wakefield is Wakefield. Even our top two guys have room for improvement. Dice-K is 6-0, but those walks will come back to bite him at some point. As for Beckett? He's been good, but not spectacular, and the loss to the Orioles earlier this week was particularly painful. It's only May, and we're already hoping Bartolo can be our savior. That's not good.
The bullpen, on the other hand, has been particularly putrid. I'm not going to harp on Papelbon's two blown saves. The first was a fluke (thanks Julio!), and the second included some well-placed ground balls and bloops. Other than that, he's been a rock.
But what's going on with Okajima? 11 out of 14 inherited runners have scored on him?!?!? That's awful. Maybe it will dawn on the coaching staff that he should come it at the start of an inning, not with the bases loaded. His ERA is under one, but it seems like he's giving up runs by the bunches.
As for the rest of the bullpen? Blaaaahhhh! Francona doesn't trust Delcarmen or Timlin. Hansen looked promising for a while, but he didn't get an out against the Orioles on Wednesday. Bye Julien, thanks for your three years of memorable service. Frankly, the most consistent guy out of the pen this year has been Javier Lopez. If the Sox starter can't make it through seven, the team is in trouble. Those three outs in that inning have become the most stressful moments in any Red Sox game this year.
The offense has generally been good, but timely hits are dwindling while double plays are growing. Lugo's act has now become maddening, and J-D's recent power outage is troubling.
All of these woes plus those of the Yanks translates into the Tampa Bay Rays being in first place. This leads to my final point. The AL EAST is vastly improved this year. Tampa's young pitching is unhittable at times and the Jays rotation is also loaded with young talent and a workhorse of an ace in Doc Holliday. The one team I can't account for is the Orioles. How that team is over .500 is beyond me.
So while we spend our time worrying about the Empire and vice-versa...maybe Sox and Yanks fans should spend more time figuring out how to hit Scott Kazmir and AJ Burnett. As for the Yanks, I'm not too worried about Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and Kai Igawa. After all, maybe that's why they're in last place, right Derek?
But instead of mocking Derek, I'm leaving him to wallow in his own ignorance. I have more important things on my mind. Right now, our Sox are struggling.
Is there reason to jump of the Tobin? No. But there is reason for concern. Our starting pitching can be best described as inconsistent. Lester has been hit or miss...Buchholz is on the DL, and Wakefield is Wakefield. Even our top two guys have room for improvement. Dice-K is 6-0, but those walks will come back to bite him at some point. As for Beckett? He's been good, but not spectacular, and the loss to the Orioles earlier this week was particularly painful. It's only May, and we're already hoping Bartolo can be our savior. That's not good.
The bullpen, on the other hand, has been particularly putrid. I'm not going to harp on Papelbon's two blown saves. The first was a fluke (thanks Julio!), and the second included some well-placed ground balls and bloops. Other than that, he's been a rock.
But what's going on with Okajima? 11 out of 14 inherited runners have scored on him?!?!? That's awful. Maybe it will dawn on the coaching staff that he should come it at the start of an inning, not with the bases loaded. His ERA is under one, but it seems like he's giving up runs by the bunches.
As for the rest of the bullpen? Blaaaahhhh! Francona doesn't trust Delcarmen or Timlin. Hansen looked promising for a while, but he didn't get an out against the Orioles on Wednesday. Bye Julien, thanks for your three years of memorable service. Frankly, the most consistent guy out of the pen this year has been Javier Lopez. If the Sox starter can't make it through seven, the team is in trouble. Those three outs in that inning have become the most stressful moments in any Red Sox game this year.
The offense has generally been good, but timely hits are dwindling while double plays are growing. Lugo's act has now become maddening, and J-D's recent power outage is troubling.
All of these woes plus those of the Yanks translates into the Tampa Bay Rays being in first place. This leads to my final point. The AL EAST is vastly improved this year. Tampa's young pitching is unhittable at times and the Jays rotation is also loaded with young talent and a workhorse of an ace in Doc Holliday. The one team I can't account for is the Orioles. How that team is over .500 is beyond me.
So while we spend our time worrying about the Empire and vice-versa...maybe Sox and Yanks fans should spend more time figuring out how to hit Scott Kazmir and AJ Burnett. As for the Yanks, I'm not too worried about Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and Kai Igawa. After all, maybe that's why they're in last place, right Derek?
posted by teddy ballgame at
12:55 PM
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