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Post by Jonathan Singer on Apr 29, 2013 20:50:22 GMT -5
4/30 Red Sox (LHP Jon Lester 4-0 2.27) @ Blue Jays (RHP Brandon Morrow 0-2 5.27) 7:07 pm ET, NESN/WEEI5/1 Red Sox (RHP Clay Buchholz 5-0 1.19) @ Blue Jays (LHP Mark Buehrle 1-1 6.35) 7:07 pm ET, NESN/WEEI5/2 Red Sox (RHP Ryan Dempster 1-2 3.30) @ Blue Jays (TBA) 7:07 pm ET, NESN/WEEIMLB StandingsRed Sox Hitting StatsRed Sox Pitching StatsMLB ScoreboardMLB TransactionsWeatherSeries Thread Disclaimer: The SoxProspects Moderators will be somewhat liberal in policing the Red Sox "Series" Threads. Some of the Ground Rules are applied loosely in here, as we understand that there is a tendency to want to react (or overreact) to every play of a Sox game with one line reactionary posts. Those posts are okay in the Red Sox Series threads to a point - we certainly appreciate the passion. Just try not to overdo it, and try to maintain some semblance of reason. In addition, please don't let those type of posts spill over to other more substantive threads, where they may be deleted. -The Management
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Post by soxfan06 on Apr 30, 2013 0:15:19 GMT -5
The Red Sox have the most 3rd runs scored, 3rd fewest runs against and the best run differential so far this year.
Good stuff.
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Post by brianthetaoist on Apr 30, 2013 11:10:02 GMT -5
Pitching lines up pretty well for this series.
I didn't really realize that the Sox have control of Clay Buchholz on a pretty friendly contract through 2017. That's a tremendously valuable thing for the team ... outside of that they really don't have that much on the books after 2014. Victorino is under contract for 2015, Pedroia, Lackey, and Breslow(!) have team options for 2015, Buchholz has team options for 2016 & 2017, then you've got the guys under team control for longer than that, which really only translates to Middlebrooks on the 25-man.
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Post by jrffam05 on Apr 30, 2013 14:38:23 GMT -5
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Post by ancientsoxfogey on Apr 30, 2013 14:55:57 GMT -5
And to think that the Sox did this, and have a chance to set a club record for wins in April, having lost a doubleheader to KC!! I have to believe that the Sox will come back to Earth, quite possibly with a thud, and it's said that a team can't win the pennant in April, though they can lose it. But it isn't as if the road has been a total bed of roses thus far. JBJ bombed out in his first exposure. WMB isn't setting the World on fire. Some injuries have hit. Ellsbury and Pedroia have been OK, not spectacular. Ortiz didn't enter the picture until last week, as did Drew. Hanrahan was decidedly a mixed bag, then got hurt. Victorino may be going down for a bit. Aceves has been ..... Aceves. We're getting exactly what one might expect from the catching core. |
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Post by Oregon Norm on Apr 30, 2013 15:38:52 GMT -5
And to think that the Sox did this, and have a chance to set a club record for wins in April, having lost a doubleheader to KC!! I have to believe that the Sox will come back to Earth, quite possibly with a thud, and it's said that a team can't win the pennant in April, though they can lose it. But it isn't as if the road has been a total bed of roses thus far. JBJ bombed out in his first exposure. WMB isn't setting the World on fire. Some injuries have hit. Ellsbury and Pedroia have been OK, not spectacular. Ortiz didn't enter the picture until last week, as did Drew. Hanrahan was decidedly a mixed bag, then got hurt. Victorino may be going down for a bit. Aceves has been ..... Aceves. We're getting exactly what one might expect from the catching core. The key is depth, and options. You neglected to point out the pluses. Iglesias sparkled in his time with the team. Bradley was very useful for the first week or so till the holes were revealed. Napoli and Carp have been stellar pickups, and Victorino was, at the very least, holding his own till he got hurt. The starting pitching has been very good, the relief pitching some of the best in the majors. The team was designed with a bit of flexibility. Counting Napoli there are 3 catchers. Counting Carp and Nava there are three first baseman. There are decent infield reserves. Nava moves to right field and the hitting gets better even as his defense proves quite adequte. There are players in waiting and options for the trading season, quite a few of them. That's not a bad position to be in. You're right, it won't last. They won't win 116+ games which is the current projection. But every game they win now is one less they have to win in the future. If they're merely 50-50 from here on out, they're already an 87 win team. Go back and read the posts from the off-season. It's easy to see that a lot of pessimism had crept in. That's easy to understand given the horrid 2012 season. So right now, the sun is shining. I'll still settle for 85+ wins from the Sox and, who knows, a shot at the playoffs, maybe? |
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Post by amfox1 on Apr 30, 2013 15:52:51 GMT -5
Hanrahan was told he would be the set-up man for Bailey. He seemingly took it well.
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Post by gatortough on Apr 30, 2013 16:00:51 GMT -5
The next couple of games seem big to me. If Lester and Bucholz show any regression the next two nights this road trip could bring us all back to earth in a hurry after sending the bottom of the rotation to Texas. The one thing that has impressed so far for me has been that this team has won the games it has needed to win. Beyond the team winning all of Lester and Bucholz's starts so far, they've capitalized playing the bad teams. Sweeping Houston was what should have happened, yes, but winning the games that you're supposed to win is many times easier said than done, and is really what separates the playoff teams from the rest. Maybe an obvious point, here's hoping they keep it up this series.
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Post by brianthetaoist on Apr 30, 2013 17:41:16 GMT -5
Can someone give me a rational reason for pessimism? I'm not seeing many. The only thing that's really outlandishly good so far is the starting pitching. I really don't think they can maintain this pace of excellence ... Buchholz is not going to challenge Bob Gibson's ERA from the 60s, Dempster's not going to K more than 12 per 9 innings, etc. But the pitching staff IS very, very good and only a bad string of injuries seems likely to change that. So, with the pitching staff regressing to the mean a little bit, I really think this team is going to end with north of 90 wins, barring catastrophe with injuries.
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Post by bluechip on Apr 30, 2013 18:15:26 GMT -5
The whole most wins in April is not the biggest deal to me, since many, if not most years, there were fewer games in April. I am much more interested in the fact that if they win tonight, they clinch a better April winning percentage than the 2004 Red Sox, which was the last time they won 70% of their April games.
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Post by threeifbaerga on Apr 30, 2013 18:31:31 GMT -5
Lester is going to have to find the zone if they want to do that.
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Post by mredsox89 on Apr 30, 2013 18:41:35 GMT -5
Morrow will strike out 15+ unless he's haunted by his pitch count from the 1st inning
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Post by threeifbaerga on Apr 30, 2013 18:48:30 GMT -5
It's got to be tough to convince Middlebrooks to take more pitches when that pitch Morrow led him off with is called a strike.
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Post by bluechip on Apr 30, 2013 18:57:04 GMT -5
It is just funny contrasting Middlebrooks with our old hitting coach Dave Magadan. Despite both being tall third basemen, they are polar opposites: Magadan never hit more than six homers, but he walked in 14.5% of his PAs, and only struck out in 11.0%.
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wcp3
Veteran
Posts: 3,838
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Post by wcp3 on Apr 30, 2013 19:02:42 GMT -5
Why are the Red Sox still losing to this bum?
edit: It doesn't help that Lester sucks right now.
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Post by fenwaythehardway on Apr 30, 2013 19:05:22 GMT -5
Can someone give me a rational reason for pessimism? This guy can: The only thing that's really outlandishly good so far is the starting pitching. |
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Post by threeifbaerga on Apr 30, 2013 19:08:35 GMT -5
I\m not blaming Lester's struggles on him, but this umpire has been horrid on both sides.
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wcp3
Veteran
Posts: 3,838
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Post by wcp3 on Apr 30, 2013 19:09:33 GMT -5
Saltalamacchia is a moron of epic proportions.
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Post by wskeleton76 on Apr 30, 2013 19:11:40 GMT -5
Saltalamacchia is the biggest problem in this team.
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Post by soxfan06 on Apr 30, 2013 19:11:59 GMT -5
Saltalamacchia needs to go. Period.
He is just plain bad at all aspects of the game except hitting home runs.
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Post by bluechip on Apr 30, 2013 19:30:43 GMT -5
Saltalamacchia needs to go. Period. He is just plain bad at all aspects of the game except hitting home runs. I realize you hate Salty and we've had this conversation before, but he has been good at framing pitches. |
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Post by charliezink16 on Apr 30, 2013 19:33:07 GMT -5
Saltalamacchia needs to go. Period. He is just plain bad at all aspects of the game except hitting home runs. I realize you hate Salty and we've had this conversation before, but he has been good at framing pitches. Are you sure you guys are discussing the same Jarrod Saltalamacchia? |
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Post by bluechip on Apr 30, 2013 19:35:21 GMT -5
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Post by threeifbaerga on Apr 30, 2013 19:41:33 GMT -5
Saw a tweet the other day (can't remember from who, sorry) stating that among catchers Salty was 8th in having balls called strikes.
I suppose that doesn't cover having strikes called balls, but still.
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wcp3
Veteran
Posts: 3,838
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Post by wcp3 on Apr 30, 2013 19:42:11 GMT -5
Phenomenal slide by Drew.
His brother never woulda gotten his jersey dirty like that (joking).
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