<< <i>Did you see the Globe article where they were questioning Ellsbury's toughness and desire to play through injury? I'm starting to wonder about him. >>
that seems to be the modus operandi of the Red Sox front office when they decide they want to move someone (J Bay, Manny, Nomar, but not JD Blew for some reason). So I think the Sox want him healed enough so they can trade him late in the season or during the off-season while they make a run for Crawford or Werth. It's what the Sox seem to do.
<< <i>Did you see the Globe article where they were questioning Ellsbury's toughness and desire to play through injury? I'm starting to wonder about him. >>
that seems to be the modus operandi of the Red Sox front office when they decide they want to move someone (J Bay, Manny, Nomar, but not JD Blew for some reason). So I think the Sox want him healed enough so they can trade him late in the season or during the off-season while they make a run for Crawford or Werth. It's what the Sox seem to do. >>
Yes, I agree with you. I would love to see either Crawford or Werth in a Sox uniform next season, though - and if it means trading Ellsbury to get one of them I think it's a good idea. I read today that all they think Ellsbury needs now is "rest" to heal his ribs, so I bet he's out of action until mid to late June.
Just back from the Wonderful World of Disney. Most of my wallet is floating somewhere between the Magic Kingdom, Boardwalk and Downtown Disney. A good time had by all...hot and humid!! Lots of Red Sox fans there, either with caps on, or commenting positively about mine.
Saw no baseball, but caught the scores on the ESPN crawler, couldn't believe we dropped the first two to KC. I am now off Big Papi's case, it appears the bulb has come on and he is either seeing the ball better or just swinging better. Let's hope they can handle the A's!!
Sox made hay in May May, 31, 2010 MAY 31 7:36 PM ET Email Print Share By Gordon Edes BOSTON -- Here’s a rundown on the Red Sox performance in May:
The record: The Sox finished the month 18-11. Only Toronto had a better record in the AL, at 19-10 after beating the Rays (17-12) on Monday night.
Run-producing machine: The Sox are second in the league in runs for the month with 166, five behind the Yankees (who scored 11 Monday night) and two ahead of the Blue Jays.
Turn-back-the-clock time: David Ortiz had his best May since 2004, and, as research from ESPN’s Ryan McCrystal shows, one of the best months of May by a Sox hitter in the last 50 years.
Check it out: David Ortiz May 2010 .363-10-27 David Ortiz June 2004 .365-10-31 Mo Vaughn May 1996 .396-12-28 Dwight Evans August 1987 .365-13-31 Jim Rice August 1978 .372-13-33 Jim Rice May 1978 .379-12-33
On Monday, Ortiz was leading the majors in slugging for the month at .788 (Toronto’s Jose Bautista was second at .769) and his OPS of 1.211 also led the majors (Bautista was at 1.189).
Tough to top Youk: As great as Papi was in May, Kevin Youkilis was right there with him. He didn’t bash as many home runs (7) or knock in as many runs (17), but what he accomplished was perhaps as remarkable. Youkilis finished the month with a .521 on-base percentage, the only player in the majors over .500 (Minnesota’s Justin Morneau was second at .487), and a feat he accomplished by having more walks (31) than hits (27). He led the majors with 29 runs scored.
Jonny be Good: Since April 23, which requires throwing out his first three starts, Jon Lester has a 1.43 ERA, lowest of any AL starter throwing at least 30 innings in that span. He is one of five big-league starters averaging 10 or more K’s per nine innings in that span, and he and teammate Clay Buchholz are the only pitchers in the big leagues with at least six wins since that date. (Thank you, David Pinto and BaseballMusings.com.)
Lester is 6-0 in eight starts in that span. With Zack Greinke 1-6 and a victim of horrid run support and Felix Hernandez 2-4 with a plus-3 ERA, Lester is positioning himself for his first Cy Young Award.
Beltre better than advertised: Adrian Beltre finished the first two months of the season leading all major-league third basemen with a .335 batting average. But in May, the production also kicked in, as he was tied with Toronto’s Bautista in RBIs for the month with 25 (Evan Longoria had 24) and was third in slugging at .568.
Start me up: Sox starters were 6-6 with a 4.86 ERA in 23 games in April. They improved to 17-8 with a 4.32 ERA in May, a month they finished in style, going 9-3 with a 2.67 ERA in their last dozen starts, pitching seven or more innings six times.
Dustin draggin’: Dustin Pedroia finished the month batting .213, including a 7-for-49 funk (.143) over the last 14 days. The month was his worst since last June, when he hit .222. He recovered to bat over .300 the next two months, and he’ll bounce back this time, too. There’s no evidence to suggest the knee he twisted in Detroit is a factor -- his defense certainly shows no sign that he is physically impaired in any way. His average of batted balls in play (BAbip) is a ridiculously low .223 -- the team was at .298 for the month -- so the proverbial bad luck has been a factor.
Pitchers are also working Pedroia differently, which in part may be because stolen-base threat Jacoby Ellsbury is on the DL and not hitting in front of Pedroia.
Only 59 percent of the pitches thrown to Pedroia this season have been fastballs, the lowest of his career. He’s seeing twice as many cutters (8.6 percent to 4.3) and there’s been a clear uptick in curveballs as well (11.1 from 7.6 percent). He’s hitting a higher percentage of line drives than ever (21.9 percent), which should result in more base hits, but he also has swung at more pitches out of the strike zone (26.9 percent), one reason his strikeout percentage is a career-high (12.3 percent).
Pedroia had a three-hit game and five hits overall in last week’s three-game set against the Rays, and while he hit the skids again against the Royals, the two days off are likely to prove beneficial. Tags:Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Jon Lester, Dustin Peroia
<< <i>When you put it that way, May actually sounded pretty good. Can you believe Youk getting on base at a .521 clip? Pretty amazing. >>
can you imagine that Ted Williams had a lifetime .482 on base rate? That's amazing! >>
Purely from a baseball standpoint Teddy Ballgame missed 4-5 of his best years serving our country. Imagine what his stats would look like if he had played.
<< <i>Purely from a baseball standpoint Teddy Ballgame missed 4-5 of his best years serving our country. Imagine what his stats would look like if he had played. >>
Would be considered #1 all time best player in history -- Ruth would be a distant second.
Not only did he serve, he was a war hero. His contirbutions to the war effort were probably mulitple times more important than his baseball career.
Well, tonight marks the 1/3 way through the season. April was rough, May was very good, and so far June is perfect. At 31-23 the team is on pace for 93 wins. That's a good season, but I'm still not convinced it'll be anywhere close to good enough to make the playoffs (for teams in the AL East). But at least the games played this summer will still feel meaningful.
What the heck is wrong with Dice-K now? He's finally pitching well, and they put him immediately on the DL when he injured himself in pregame warmups. That doesn't sound good.
<< <i>What the heck is wrong with Dice-K now? He's finally pitching well, and they put him immediately on the DL when he injured himself in pregame warmups. That doesn't sound good. >>
<< <i>If Beltre keeps hitting like this, I might have to retract my verbal smashing of his signing. >>
I was just checking out the box score from last nights game and noticed the stats on Beltre before I saw this thread...Quite surprising. Its good to see him come back from his bad years in Seattle. I saw him play many times during his last 2 years in LA and he was awesome...he hit for power & ave and did it with his glove on. I always liked him and hopefully he's able to maintain what he's doing....just would prefer he didn't do it against the Dodgers.
I am at least 750 miles from Philly and well over 1k miles from Twinkie town...of course they're broadcasting the Phillies - Twinkies game and not the Red Sox. It seems the Atlanta market gets hosed on Red Sox games on Saturdays. There oughta be a button you can hit to chose which game you wanna see, kinda like the SAP thing. I can watch a bunch of other games with my Directv extra innings package right now, but nooooooooo, not the Red Sox. Major bummer!!!!
I have whole new respect for Cameron - whether he's playing well this year or not.
Got this story from my cousin (Sox employee) at the game last weekend.
When the Celtics were playing Cleveland in the playoffs, he was on the DL and rehabbing in Pawtucket. The Sox were on the road and when he finished one of his workouts, he rented a suite at the Garden, brought a bunch of the Pawtuckett players with him, called over to Fenway and picked up all the clubhouse guys on the way that wanted to go (my cousin included). Mike Cameron paid for everything. I believe those suites go for around 50k - maybe even more in the playoffs.
A week or so later Josh Beckett also rented a suite at the Garden for a playoff game. The difference, he wanted to charge those guys $1100 each to go.
<< <i>I have whole new respect for Cameron - whether he's playing well this year or not.
Got this story from my cousin (Sox employee) at the game last weekend.
When the Celtics were playing Cleveland in the playoffs, he was on the DL and rehabbing in Pawtucket. The Sox were on the road and when he finished one of his workouts, he rented a suite at the Garden, brought a bunch of the Pawtuckett players with him, called over to Fenway and picked up all the clubhouse guys on the way that wanted to go (my cousin included). Mike Cameron paid for everything. I believe those suites go for around 50k - maybe even more in the playoffs.
A week or so later Josh Beckett also rented a suite at the Garden for a playoff game. The difference, he wanted to charge those guys $1100 each to go. >>
That's a cool story, Cameron deserves kudos for doing that.
We can't keep an outfield healthy, be it Ellsbury (I'd be surprised to see him again in 2010), Cameron, Hermida, and now Drew. And we lost the alleged ace of the staff, Beckett. Yet, the Sox are right there with the third best record in baseball. Of course, the other two teams are right there in the same division with us.
I was happy to see that the Sox are in a virtual tie with the Rays for 2nd place but when I looked closer I was disappointed to see that the Sox have played a lot more games at home than both the Yankees and the Rays have and the 17-14 road record for the good guys isn't all that good.
With that said, let's try to score some freakin' runs against Ubaldo tonight!
Comments
<< <i>Did you see the Globe article where they were questioning Ellsbury's toughness and desire to play through injury? I'm starting to wonder about him. >>
that seems to be the modus operandi of the Red Sox front office when they decide they want to move someone (J Bay, Manny, Nomar, but not JD Blew for some reason). So I think the Sox want him healed enough so they can trade him late in the season or during the off-season while they make a run for Crawford or Werth. It's what the Sox seem to do.
<< <i>
<< <i>Did you see the Globe article where they were questioning Ellsbury's toughness and desire to play through injury? I'm starting to wonder about him. >>
that seems to be the modus operandi of the Red Sox front office when they decide they want to move someone (J Bay, Manny, Nomar, but not JD Blew for some reason). So I think the Sox want him healed enough so they can trade him late in the season or during the off-season while they make a run for Crawford or Werth. It's what the Sox seem to do. >>
Yes, I agree with you. I would love to see either Crawford or Werth in a Sox uniform next season, though - and if it means trading Ellsbury to get one of them I think it's a good idea. I read today that all they think Ellsbury needs now is "rest" to heal his ribs, so I bet he's out of action until mid to late June.
Saw no baseball, but caught the scores on the ESPN crawler, couldn't believe we dropped the first two to KC. I am now off Big Papi's case, it appears the bulb has come on and he is either seeing the ball better or just swinging better. Let's hope they can handle the A's!!
Sox made hay in May
May, 31, 2010
MAY 31
7:36
PM ET
Email Print Share
By Gordon Edes
BOSTON -- Here’s a rundown on the Red Sox performance in May:
The record: The Sox finished the month 18-11. Only Toronto had a better record in the AL, at 19-10 after beating the Rays (17-12) on Monday night.
Run-producing machine: The Sox are second in the league in runs for the month with 166, five behind the Yankees (who scored 11 Monday night) and two ahead of the Blue Jays.
Turn-back-the-clock time: David Ortiz had his best May since 2004, and, as research from ESPN’s Ryan McCrystal shows, one of the best months of May by a Sox hitter in the last 50 years.
Check it out:
David Ortiz May 2010 .363-10-27
David Ortiz June 2004 .365-10-31
Mo Vaughn May 1996 .396-12-28
Dwight Evans August 1987 .365-13-31
Jim Rice August 1978 .372-13-33
Jim Rice May 1978 .379-12-33
On Monday, Ortiz was leading the majors in slugging for the month at .788 (Toronto’s Jose Bautista was second at .769) and his OPS of 1.211 also led the majors (Bautista was at 1.189).
Tough to top Youk: As great as Papi was in May, Kevin Youkilis was right there with him. He didn’t bash as many home runs (7) or knock in as many runs (17), but what he accomplished was perhaps as remarkable. Youkilis finished the month with a .521 on-base percentage, the only player in the majors over .500 (Minnesota’s Justin Morneau was second at .487), and a feat he accomplished by having more walks (31) than hits (27). He led the majors with 29 runs scored.
Jonny be Good: Since April 23, which requires throwing out his first three starts, Jon Lester has a 1.43 ERA, lowest of any AL starter throwing at least 30 innings in that span. He is one of five big-league starters averaging 10 or more K’s per nine innings in that span, and he and teammate Clay Buchholz are the only pitchers in the big leagues with at least six wins since that date. (Thank you, David Pinto and BaseballMusings.com.)
Lester is 6-0 in eight starts in that span. With Zack Greinke 1-6 and a victim of horrid run support and Felix Hernandez 2-4 with a plus-3 ERA, Lester is positioning himself for his first Cy Young Award.
Beltre better than advertised: Adrian Beltre finished the first two months of the season leading all major-league third basemen with a .335 batting average. But in May, the production also kicked in, as he was tied with Toronto’s Bautista in RBIs for the month with 25 (Evan Longoria had 24) and was third in slugging at .568.
Start me up: Sox starters were 6-6 with a 4.86 ERA in 23 games in April. They improved to 17-8 with a 4.32 ERA in May, a month they finished in style, going 9-3 with a 2.67 ERA in their last dozen starts, pitching seven or more innings six times.
Dustin draggin’: Dustin Pedroia finished the month batting .213, including a 7-for-49 funk (.143) over the last 14 days. The month was his worst since last June, when he hit .222. He recovered to bat over .300 the next two months, and he’ll bounce back this time, too. There’s no evidence to suggest the knee he twisted in Detroit is a factor -- his defense certainly shows no sign that he is physically impaired in any way. His average of batted balls in play (BAbip) is a ridiculously low .223 -- the team was at .298 for the month -- so the proverbial bad luck has been a factor.
Pitchers are also working Pedroia differently, which in part may be because stolen-base threat Jacoby Ellsbury is on the DL and not hitting in front of Pedroia.
Only 59 percent of the pitches thrown to Pedroia this season have been fastballs, the lowest of his career. He’s seeing twice as many cutters (8.6 percent to 4.3) and there’s been a clear uptick in curveballs as well (11.1 from 7.6 percent). He’s hitting a higher percentage of line drives than ever (21.9 percent), which should result in more base hits, but he also has swung at more pitches out of the strike zone (26.9 percent), one reason his strikeout percentage is a career-high (12.3 percent).
Pedroia had a three-hit game and five hits overall in last week’s three-game set against the Rays, and while he hit the skids again against the Royals, the two days off are likely to prove beneficial.
Tags:Boston Red Sox, David Ortiz, Jon Lester, Dustin Peroia
Bosox1976
<< <i>When you put it that way, May actually sounded pretty good. Can you believe Youk getting on base at a .521 clip? Pretty amazing. >>
can you imagine that Ted Williams had a lifetime .482 on base rate? That's amazing!
<< <i>
<< <i>When you put it that way, May actually sounded pretty good. Can you believe Youk getting on base at a .521 clip? Pretty amazing. >>
can you imagine that Ted Williams had a lifetime .482 on base rate? That's amazing! >>
Purely from a baseball standpoint Teddy Ballgame missed 4-5 of his best years serving our country. Imagine what his stats would look like if he had played.
<< <i>Purely from a baseball standpoint Teddy Ballgame missed 4-5 of his best years serving our country. Imagine what his stats would look like if he had played. >>
Would be considered #1 all time best player in history -- Ruth would be a distant second.
Not only did he serve, he was a war hero. His contirbutions to the war effort were probably mulitple times more important than his baseball career.
<< <i>Papelbon sharp as a marble once again >>
Thanks goodness for Bard. Did you see Bard's 93 mph "change up"? It sinks better than Papelblown's rarely seen splitter.
Link
<< <i>Dice-K!!! >>
Would the GOOD Dice-K please continue to pitch -- and send his crappy twin brother back to Japan? Thanks.
<< <i>So much for Bard being lights-out. He couldn't find the plate with a map and both hands last night. >>
another one like that and he'll be "PapelBard"
Hopefully Beltre won't take him out on a fly ball this week.
<< <i>Dice-K today and I'll be sitting about 20 rows behind the Sox dugout
Whoa, you must have wondered what the hell was going on!
<< <i>What the heck is wrong with Dice-K now? He's finally pitching well, and they put him immediately on the DL when he injured himself in pregame warmups. That doesn't sound good. >>
I believe he has a pulled vagina.
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Much appreciated.
So, how is LTS doing?
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
I'd have to kill him if he answered you.
Steve
Of course!
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
Anyway, Ortiz is en fuego and the Sox win again. Cool stuff. Nice to see Manny end it looking at strike three.
<< <i>If Beltre keeps hitting like this, I might have to retract my verbal smashing of his signing. >>
I was just checking out the box score from last nights game and noticed the stats on Beltre before I saw this thread...Quite surprising. Its good to see him come back from his bad years in Seattle. I saw him play many times during his last 2 years in LA and he was awesome...he hit for power & ave and did it with his glove on. I always liked him and hopefully he's able to maintain what he's doing....just would prefer he didn't do it against the Dodgers.
<< <i>in what alternate reality did Cameron get a Gold Glove award?
Anyway, Ortiz is en fuego and the Sox win again. Cool stuff. Nice to see Manny end it looking at strike three. >>
Cameron has been bad at the plate and in the field.
Well, at least it's ESPN tomorrow night.
Got this story from my cousin (Sox employee) at the game last weekend.
When the Celtics were playing Cleveland in the playoffs, he was on the DL and rehabbing in Pawtucket. The Sox were on the road and when he finished one of his workouts, he rented a suite at the Garden, brought a bunch of the Pawtuckett players with him, called over to Fenway and picked up all the clubhouse guys on the way that wanted to go (my cousin included). Mike Cameron paid for everything. I believe those suites go for around 50k - maybe even more in the playoffs.
A week or so later Josh Beckett also rented a suite at the Garden for a playoff game. The difference, he wanted to charge those guys $1100 each to go.
<< <i>I have whole new respect for Cameron - whether he's playing well this year or not.
Got this story from my cousin (Sox employee) at the game last weekend.
When the Celtics were playing Cleveland in the playoffs, he was on the DL and rehabbing in Pawtucket. The Sox were on the road and when he finished one of his workouts, he rented a suite at the Garden, brought a bunch of the Pawtuckett players with him, called over to Fenway and picked up all the clubhouse guys on the way that wanted to go (my cousin included). Mike Cameron paid for everything. I believe those suites go for around 50k - maybe even more in the playoffs.
A week or so later Josh Beckett also rented a suite at the Garden for a playoff game. The difference, he wanted to charge those guys $1100 each to go. >>
That's a cool story, Cameron deserves kudos for doing that.
We can't keep an outfield healthy, be it Ellsbury (I'd be surprised to see him again in 2010), Cameron, Hermida, and now Drew. And we lost the alleged ace of the staff, Beckett. Yet, the Sox are right there with the third best record in baseball. Of course, the other two teams are right there in the same division with us.
With that said, let's try to score some freakin' runs against Ubaldo tonight!
The run support has to dry up for this guy. No way he should have the record he does.
<< <i>the name has been earned: Lacking.
The run support has to dry up for this guy. No way he should have the record he does. >>
Maybe he should pinch hit or DH -- he's hitting .500 now.