<< <i>a sense of humor is needed to appreciate the atrocious performances. Can it get any worse? I say yes, but I hope for no. >>
Im not even bothered by it, like I said a bit ago I actually hope they keep losing so they can be the laughing stock of the majors and these clowns can really feel it!
You do not know my situation here so don't try and tell me to go out and enjoy the country as it is not always possible for me to get out.
It's unfortunate that you have a situation that precludes you from getting out...actually, it was more of a figure of speech. I could have suggested reading a book, or watching some other program, or a host of other things. It was merely a comment in passing, not a directive...so take a chill pill. That you are glued to each and every Red Sox game can be nothing but demoralizing, yet you seem to think magical things will happen and sadly, they will not.
The Red Sox team is woefully incompetent at this point of the season. Too many uber-rich prima donnas and not enough performance between the lines. A real manly player would face the music and talk to reporters...the Red Sox players just rush to their expensive toys that their sickening pay provides and bolt...wimpy looooooozers. I am beyond disgusted with the lot of them, I think they stink and should be fined on a daily basis for breach of contract. YOU, OTOH, think some miraculous call up from some AAA AA or A farm team is gonna save the season...AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN...get over it!!!
So, here's the deal...this will be my last response, or contact with you. You are waaaaaaaaaay too sensitive to a simple generic suggestion. I also suggest that when you see me continuing to post, that you NOT read what I write, as I know that really irritates you.
I will say this in closing...I do sincerely hope your personal situation improves...but not to just get out of the house.
Even Farrell is telling the team his job is in jeopardy. Maybe the Bud Black situation in San Diego gives him some sliver of hope that he'll be fired from the dampish 50 degree weather in Boston to a climate to die for in San Diego. I suspect right now he'd take a job on Venus.
I thought it disgusting that El Hombre Gordo got so excited about his 9th inning double. Cherington must be going through Malox by the handful, like you'd pop salted peanuts.
Odd, I thought, but it made me grin to see the vendor hawking "hot soup"...here in Atlanta, the heat index topped 100...brutal stuff. I seriously feel for the elderly who have no A/C.
Congratulations Brock Holt for hitting for the cycle !! You are a bright spot in a very dark place.
First time for a Red Sox player in almost 20 years. Last done by John Valentin in 1996.
Another interesting thing I heard today...El Hombre Gordo used to be weighed every day in San Francisco. Well, the Red Sox being kinda laid back and all said...nah, we're not gonna do that, it's all good. Really? El Hombre Gordo has gained 33 pounds !!! since Spring Training. No wonder the fat one can't move all that mass as quickly as he might once have done. Must be lovin' all the foodie spots in Beantown.
The Red Sox are waking up to a miserably hot Atlanta day. Heat index is expected to hit 105 today, with actual temps in the upper 90s...not much relief before first pitch at 7PM. The transition from upper 60s to upper 90s could well impact play on both sides.
You really have to have empathy for the elderly who don't have AC...
Boy, this thread has turned harsh for some Sox fans, lol..
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Congratulations Brock Holt for hitting for the cycle !! You are a bright spot in a very dark place.
First time for a Red Sox player in almost 20 years. Last done by John Valentin in 1996.
Another interesting thing I heard today...El Hombre Gordo used to be weighed every day in San Francisco. Well, the Red Sox being kinda laid back and all said...nah, we're not gonna do that, it's all good. Really? El Hombre Gordo has gained 33 pounds !!! since Spring Training. No wonder the fat one can't move all that mass as quickly as he might once have done. Must be lovin' all the foodie spots in Beantown. >>
Farrell is doing his best job to imitate Tito in his last season with the Sox, I think he is a doormat for these guys and coddles them too much. Im not saying he needs to lose the clubhouse by calling these guys out but maybe get a Teeny bit tougher with them, the Sox are a joke right now.
What happened with the Sox last night that has talk radio aflame? All day I'm hearing Farrell should have been fired on the spot for being a terrible manager.
I didn't see the game but apparently he forgot that they were playing a National League team . Something about not walking a hitter that was batting before the other teams pitcher???
Great...and I do mean GREAT seats. Sitting in one of the suites that ring the ballpark, with a view much like Remy and Orsillo, who were just below me. It's one of those views you just kinda "drink in" and enjoy. Wow, AC, food and two rows of seats under cover...the good life. I must say, a really nice ballpark, having been there several times in the past, the elevated view was really nice. If I can figure out how to post a pic from my cell, perhaps I'll do so later. The rain was really beating down, not a little shower, you could see the dark roll cloud coming, lightning and all, just sat in my car and waited it out. Interesting to watch the ground crew do their thing with the tarp.
The game...well, I was wondering why El Hombre Gordo was not at third base. Well, I guess instagram stuff was more on his brain on Wednesday. I guess his salary isn't quite enough to focus on the game (that the Red Sox lost) and for at least 3 hours +/- he could be a teammate. He's worse than the worst IMO, I hope MLB fines him big time! His replacement played a good third base...
Bucky pitched well, but can't toss the ball worth a nickel. Oh, how the Brave's fans loved that moment. Holt's bat remained hot...I actually thought he should have gone for the inside the park homer...he was at 3rd and had a good head of steam, but got the stop sign.
HanRam was just going through the motions to me...I think he'll continue to be an issue. No hussle, just slowly sauntered to his spot in left field and did zippo at the plate.
Was surprised to see and hear the impressive number of Red Sox fans. Of course they got into the "let's go Red Sox" mantra as the locals did their silly chop thing...I think at some point stolen from Florida State.
A quirky but funny as hell moment was when I was looking down and saw a guy in a pink jacket, straw hat, shorts and flip flops, walking and holding up a "FREE TOM BRADY" sign. He got a little hassle from some "authority" figure, but was apparently allowed to continue. Pretty odd, in that he was in Falcon country and Gillette stadium was 1k miles away. It made for a good laugh.
Pablo Sandoval sideshow could cost manager John Farrell dearly
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA -- Pablo Sandoval has made himself a $95 million punchline. Two presses of a "like" button to show appreciation for an online hottie on Instagram while in a clubhouse bathroom here -- during a game -- and the man known as Kung Fu Panda in San Francisco is now the Panda in heat in Boston.
But outside of Thursday's benching, a possible fine from Major League Baseball and a healthy dollop of ridicule heaped upon him, the consequences for the Boston Red Sox third baseman are trivial compared to the potential fallout for his manager, John Farrell.
Never mind that in a "Wasting Time at Work" survey taken last year by Salary.com, 89 percent of the respondents admitted they wasted time every day on the job, most of that lost productivity spent on some variation of what distracted Sandoval from his task at hand -- checking Facebook, email, Twitter, fantasy teams, Googling god knows what and, yes, Instagram. You do it, I do it, and chances are the 11 percent who say they don't do it are probably lying.
Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval spent Thursday night in the dugout after getting benched for in-game phone use. AP Photo/Jon Barash
But this is all about perception, and for Farrell, already staggered by the on-field performance of his underachieving team, the prevailing narrative back home is that this is further evidence he has lost control of the team, one of his most important players seemingly more preoccupied with a certain woman's curves than Alex Wood's curveballs.
Both Farrell and general manager Ben Cherington -- once he overcame his reluctance to address the issue at all -- tried to downplay the blowback Farrell might face.
"For one, I don't think the clubhouse is one that has run amok,'' Farrell said. "This is an incident I believe is isolated, and my focus is to continue to get better on field.''
Cherington, when asked how concerned he was that the incident reflected poorly on Farrell, said, "This happened. Unfortunately, it happened at a time things aren't going well with the team. It's been addressed and we move on.''
It's never that simple, of course, especially in a market like Boston's, where this episode will be seen as a direct descendant of 2011's fried chicken-and-beer fiasco, which was used to topple the House of Francona. Farrell was gone by then, managing in Toronto, but he and Terry Francona remain close, exchanging texts and phone calls.
Farrell understands what he is up against.
"I respect the question,'' he said. "I understand the environment in which we work. I understand there's a lot of passion and currently a lot of frustration by many, and that includes our fans, and I understand that.
"When situations arise, they're addressed head-on, but the same approach is applied every day: What are we doing daily to work at getting better? That's what I expect, and I think that's what we demand from our players.''
The timing, of course, couldn't have been worse, the Sox having lost eight of their previous nine games after Cherington had said the team was still good enough to win the division, and Dustin Pedroia defiantly dissing the team's critics just three days ago for their negativity.
"This becomes a much greater focal point; I recognize that,'' Farrell said. "I think players now in Boston for the first time are feeling that, living in it and living through it, and yet it's important we continue to stick together as a group and know in times of success we share it, in times of struggles we band together equally.''
Pablo Sandoval was benched Thursday after admitting that during Wednesday's loss to Atlanta, he used his cellphone to click "like" on a woman's photographs that appeared in his Instagram feed.
Sandoval was one of the team's earlier arrivals at the ballpark Thursday afternoon, coming on the first of the two buses from the team's hotel. He met with Farrell, and then Farrell and Cherington together. It was determined that, as punishment, Sandoval would be benched Thursday.
"I take the punishment," Sandoval said. "When you grow up, you learn from a lot of things. You grow up every single day in your life. You learn from that.
"It's their decision to make. I broke the team rules. I should be punished."
Given that he came into the day as one of the team's hottest hitters, with two hits in each of his past five games, Sandoval's absence was potentially more punitive to the team than it was to him.
A benching might be unpleasant, but hardly qualifies as disciplinary action for breaking a major league and team rule against the use of cellphones and other electronic devices, from a half-hour before the start of a game until its conclusion. Why no disciplinary action?
"John addressed that, [and] I don't have anything to add,'' Cherington said, making no effort to hide his irritation at being asked. "Something happened yesterday. Pablo's being punished by not playing tonight. Other than that, that's something John handles inside the clubhouse.''
There's still a chance MLB could fine Sandoval; the incident is under review, according to MLB spokesman Michael Teevan. Farrell also made a vague reference to handling "some other things internally," without offering what that might entail. Requiring Sandoval to have a hall pass before using the bathroom during a game? Pulling the plug on his Instagram account? Do tell.
Yes, Farrell said, Sandoval owned up to his conduct, but did that mitigate his, um, stupidity?
"When something comes from your phone,'' he said, "it's easy to trace. No, it doesn't mitigate it. It's a rule and it's understood by all. Game time is to commit and devote yourself to the game and your teammates. Anything beyond that is taking away from what we're trying to do.''
A 5-2 victory Thursday night, with Sandoval's stand-in, Pawtucket call-up Travis Shaw, making a nice defensive play in the fourth inning, eased the pressure on all parties involved, but only temporarily. The Sox are headed to Kansas City for a weekend set with the high-flying Royals; it could get ugly.
Could Farrell be managing for his job? Three weeks have yet to pass since owner John W. Henry pledged his support, but that was back in more innocent times, when an owner could say he still believed his team could contend. Now, with 94 games left to play, the Sox would have to go 61-33, a .638 clip, to win 90 games, the number it typically takes to have a chance to win the AL East -- a division, by the way, in which the Red Sox are 12-21, the only team in the division with a losing record in intramural play.
Farrell knows how quickly that support can evaporate, especially when he oversees the most costly roster in franchise history. It's never the manager's fault until it is. But until that happens, he is determined to do it his way, regardless of how few likes that might earn him on Instagram.
Thank you El Hombre Gordo...you have single-handedly thrown a monkey wrench into an already unbearable situation...not only for your manager, but for your teammates. This act of childish selfishness easily tops the beer and chicken thing. Even at $105k per game...EVERY GAME isn't enough to even have you pay attention when it's game on. This fatso is nothing but a selfish pig...may the wrath of Red Sox Nation come down on you without mercy.
El Hombre Gordo sprains ankle...well, when you try to move all that "mass", something's gotta give. Yo Panda...less food intake might help you.
Ortiz, an 18-year veteran of MLB thinks he can show up the umpire by tossing his bat anywhere he wants. Yo Dave, get off the ego trip...your many years of experience are needed to help right the ship...oh, BTW, it's listing badly at about a 40 degree angle...inspire those you play with, instead of being a jerk.
Well, 10 back, not quite, but almost the worst team in baseball. Thankfully, I couldn't watch a game if I wanted to...BUT, I did enjoy last Thursday's game here in Atlanta.
Sad, sad time for Red Sox Nation...too many egos, too much $$$ thrown around with no, NO incentive to excel. I suspect somebody's balloon is gonna pop pretty soon.
So, earlier today I was thinking who the Red Sox had to face after the Os...well, it ain't good, Rays, Jays. I thought this will be the make or break point...so, how crazy is the header of Gordon Edes? Close to a match for sure with my general thoughts...poker for me tonight (I play every other Tuesday), but will hope the team picks up a win, for surely, this next week or so could really seal the deal IMO.
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
Next 10 games are key to sorting out state of Red Sox
BOSTON -- Well, so far Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry is half right. On June 2, when he came out in support of Red Sox GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell, he said the Sox still had a chance to be a "great" offense.
"They'll prove us right or they'll prove us wrong," Henry said.
Since his State of the Team address, a rare foray for the owner into the public discourse over his team, the Sox have undergone a transformation at the plate. They come into Tuesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles hitting .296 in June, the highest average in the majors. They're first in hits (205), first in doubles (47), tied for first in triples (8), third in slugging (.466), fourth in on-base average (.343), seventh in runs (94) and 11th in home runs (19).
On Sunday, in a 13-2 rout of the Kansas City Royals, the Sox had 13 extra-base hits -- a number they have exceeded only twice in their history, and the most ever allowed by the Royals in a game.
David Ortiz is atop the list of Red Sox sluggers who have picked up their offense since June 11. AP Photo/Colin E. Braley
They've had 10 or more hits in 11 of 20 games this month, including five such games in their past seven. That stretch includes a season-high 18 hits last Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, and 16 hits twice against the Royals in wins Friday and Sunday.
And the evidence is accumulating that, once again, David Ortiz is making all the speculation about his imminent demise foolish. And while it may be too simplistic to attribute Boston's offensive revival to the big man in the middle, the correlation between his performance and the rest of the offense is impossible to overlook.
In the first nine games of the month, the Sox scored only 28 runs, or just over three runs a game. Then, on June 11, Ortiz hit a home run off Orioles reliever Chaz Roe, ending a streak of 17 games without a home run. It was Ortiz's second 17-game homerless streak of the season and longest since 2011 -- the last time Ortiz was said to be in decline, when he had home run droughts of 24 and 19 games.
Since June 11, the Sox have scored 66 runs in 11 games, an average of six runs per game. They've posted a slash line of .305/.358/.517/.876 with 50 extra-base hits, and have recorded 10 or more hits in six of 11 games.
Ortiz has homered four times in that span, including his 10th of the year, making it 16 straight seasons of double-digit home runs for the 39-year-old slugger. His slash line is .324/.444/.649/1.093 in that span -- by far his best stretch of the season -- and he leads the club in home runs and RBIs (10) over that time frame.
Ortiz is not alone in getting hot: Five Sox players since that date are hitting .300 or better, led by Mookie Betts, who is batting .556 in that span and on Monday was named the American League's Player of the Week. The others are Pablo Sandoval (.429), Blake Swihart (.360) and Brock Holt (.356), with Betts and Holt forming a dynamic combination at the top of the order now that Betts has been restored to the leadoff spot.
But then there is the other side of the equation, the team's pitching. The Sox enter the Orioles series with a 4.27 ERA in June, which ranks 26th in the majors and is well above the average for the month (3.74). That is not what Henry had in mind when he said, "I probably feel better than our fans do" about the quality of the arms the Sox are running out to the mound.
Rick Porcello's current slump, arguably the worst of his career, has seen him go 0-6 with a 7.50 ERA. AP Photo/Orlin Wagner
Here again, there are signs that Henry's outlook was not entirely misguided. Boston's rotation this month has a collective 8-6 record and 4.09 ERA, a number that would be even better if right-hander Rick Porcello was not enduring by far the worst slump of his career, one in which he is 0-6 with a 7.50 ERA. Only two starting pitchers in baseball, Shane Greene (0-4, 9.43) and Jerome Williams (0-4, 8.67), have been worse than Porcello over his past half-dozen starts.
But the addition of left-handed Eduardo Rodriguez, who was electrifying in his first three starts, has represented a significant upgrade, and Clay Buchholz (2.81 in June), Wade Miley (3.42) and Joe Kelly (3.71), who is scheduled to face the Orioles on Tuesday, have all pitched much more in line with the team's expectations going into the season.
The rush to judgment on Porcello has been fierce, exacerbated by consternation that the Sox signed him to a four-year, $82 million contract extension before he ever threw a pitch in a Boston uniform. Typically, when a pitcher goes into such a dramatic dive, there is a physical reason attached, but all parties involved insist Porcello is healthy. They point to an eight-inning outing June 3 against the Minnesota Twins -- in which he allowed just two runs but lost -- and his first inning June 10 against the Orioles, in which he struck out the side on 11 pitches, as evidence there is nothing physical involved.
Porcello has been prone to the big inning, however. Four times in that six-game span, the opposition has scored three runs or more in an inning, including a nine-run inning May 22 against the Los Angeles Angels (he was charged with seven of those runs), and a five-run inning against the Royals last Friday.
Manager John Farrell has expressed no inclination to drop Porcello from the rotation; he will be given every opportunity to work his way out of the slump. Porcello already has allowed five or more earned runs five times in 14 starts this season; he allowed five earned runs or more just six times in 32 starts last season. The Red Sox never attached the appellation of "ace" to Porcello when they signed him, but the contract has placed that kind of pressure on him; coming to terms with that pressure may hold the key to his returning to form.
Yet for all the recent positive developments around the club -- taking the series from the Royals deflected attention from Sandoval's Instagram antics -- the Sox still have not won as many as three games in a row since the first week of the season. At 31-40, they remain nine games under .500, and in order to win 90 games -- the typical benchmark used to gauge a division contender -- the Sox would have to go 59-31 the rest of the way, a .656 percentage.
And there is this glaring one-two barometer of their performance to date: They have the worst record in the American League against teams with a record of .500 or better (22-36), and they are the only team in the AL East with a losing record in intramural play (10-21). The Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are all bunched within three games of the division lead; the Sox are nine games back. Their next 10 games come against the Orioles (3-7), Rays (2-4) and Jays (3-6); Boston has been outscored by a cumulative 177-123 margin by its division rivals.
The next 10 games should offer some clue as to whether the Red Sox have any shot to be competitive the rest of the way, or will continue to find creative ways to self-destruct.
Napoli gets booed Kelly walks off the mound with only 2 outs in the 4th 3-11 in the good old RISP department Farrell makes an attempt to spark the team by the "manager gets tossed ploy" Red Sox 9.5 games out, locked in the cellar of the AL East.
With the season close to half over, as predicted some time ago...it's ovah!!
Worse yet, I voice search for the score while playing poker last night...unbeknowns to me, I'm playing with an Orioles fan...GEEZ. So, the little voice says "the Red Sox are losing to the Orioles (add score) and he's cheering!!
Last night...so, I'm playing poker, night is getting late and a guy suggests we play "low hole card wild". I'm sure you know the game. We never play wild cards, but at 10:30 and lots of beer we get a little "loose". So, I make a royal flush and LOSE...the Orioles fan beat me with 5 sixes. Gotta be a bad omen when you lose with a royal flush, especially to a big Orioles fan.
Well, at 31-41, they probably would have to go about 60-30 in their remaining 90 games to have a shot at the playoffs, or about the same pace as the St. Louis Cardinals, the best team in baseball so far.
Two conclusions from this observation:
1. It is very unlikely they will do so; and 2. We are in for a very long, long, long 90 games.
I understand Masterson makes a start this weekend. Many other years, we'd have all kinds of discussion about how great a loss it is to have Pedroia on the DL for fifteen days. This year, oh well.
The Red Sox's defense is partially to blame, at minus-13 Defensive Runs Saved -- including a staggering minus-26 combined from just Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval -- and the team as a whole has the worst LOB percentage in the majors.
It's easy now to criticize general manager Ben Cherington for the moves in retrospect, so this isn't necessarily second-guessing. But Cherington's offseason hasn't panned out and the Red Sox appear headed to a third terrible season in four years.
"The WORST LOB % in the majors"!! One of the key ingredients for total disaster.
The light at the end of the tunnel is definitely that of an oncoming train. If it weren't for Brock Holt, the darkness would be even darker. HanRam still with the wrist thing, Pedroia out (the only other spark) and relief nowhere in sight.
The Red Sox now 5 games under 500 and locked for last place in the AL East, 7 games worse than the O's who hold the coveted 4th position. It is getting more and more apparent that earlier predictions of a losing season are indeed becoming more and more of a reality. A 33-43 record = a paltry 0.434 record...not the worst, but very close. Just 10 more games to half way, which if the team continues on their steady slide downhill, will more than likely find the team at about the same place they are today. With the schedule ahead...you can look it up...it would take a bona fide miracle to even save the season. The stats are just awful...and I do mean awful.
Heads will roll...Napoli for sure...not sure what they'll do with the walrus at 3rd base and the "injured" HanRam, just stuck with them. Terrible decisions by Cherington who must be tippy toeing to see if he's still getting a check...at least the Phillies manager had the stones to resign.
You can bet Fall vacations are in the advanced stages of preparation for most, if not all of the players. Antarctica would be a good choice.
Hopefully Holt gets the AS nod...he deserves it. Having witnessed him playing recently, he's a hustler and solid player who deserves a shot...the others can play video games, drink beer and eat chicken.
General heading is "Seven reasons why the Red Sox are failing this year"
Without dissecting the topic too deeply, the following are the seven "headers"...which, IMO are spot on!
1. Poor starting pitching 2. Big contract flops 3. Overvalued prospects 4. Bad defense 5. Anemic power numbers 6. A failing bullpen 7. A lack of leadership
Schaal elaborates on each of the seven, but I don't care to fill two pages with bummer stuff. Lots of stats in his rationalizations as well...still trying to get my head around that "WAR" thing stat.
So, have a Happy fourth...wish I could be at the bandshell along the Charles in Boston, gonna have to settle for Macy's on the big tube.
The $95 million wonder boy is now (if I'm correct), 0-8 in his last starts, one no decision and 7 losses. I guess $12.5M for 6 months of throwing a baseball for 6 innings (or less), every 5 games doesn't buy what it used to. Overall, the Red Sox "ACE" is now 4-9, with an ungodly ERA of 6.08. More joy for you faithful...he gets $20,120,000 next year, the year after, then he gets a RAISE, to $21,120,000 for the next two years. Ricky says "not to worry", I'm happy with my coin and lovin' life. Hey, I just ordered his and hers ZR1 corvettes...and looking at a nice 1k acre spread in Colorado, you know, that Rocky Mountain High thing...thanks John Henry, and big, BIG thanks to you Ben...you can always visit Ben, I really, really like you.
Along comes the sure footed, laser focused Napoli, who drops a ball that a Pony League bench guy could have contained. Way to go Mikee...oh, BTW, 0-4 in the game and now well under the Mendoza line at a disgusting .198 ain't gonna win you the Fenway Frank award.
So, for the ever faithful, the team is now, well, for a few more hours anyway a mere 6.5 back in the AL East. I'm pretty sure they'll wake up to see they're 7 back.
Don't think they're NOT...N-O-T focused on the game...au contraire...For those of you who want to keep your head buried in the sand, don't read this...facts and stats don't lie!!!
Another Red Sox outfielder loses track of outs
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
TORONTO—For the second time in three games, a Boston Red Sox outfielder lost track of how many outs there were in an inning.
Wednesday afternoon in the sixth inning, center-fielder Mookie Betts caught a fly ball with a runner on third base and threw home, not realizing there were already three outs in the inning.
Sunday afternoon, right-fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. committed the same faux pas, throwing home after making a game-ending catch of Evan Longoria’s fly ball.
“There’s no excuse for that,’’ manager John Farrell said Wednesday. “Losing track of outs in an inning can’t be accepted.’’
Last month, left-fielder Hanley Ramirez lost track of how many outs there were while running the bases in the seventh inning of a tie game against Minnesota.
The whole team is a joke...with two exceptions...Peedy and Holt. Send the rest to the Lowell Spinners...Lowell, BTW is my home town.
I'm happy for Ricky P getting his money, but I was not sad to see him go. In 6 seasons with Detroit, he finally came around and had a decent one, netting him his obligatory baseball porkbarrel.... We are loving Cespedes though!! Not bragging, as my Tigers are not going anywhere anytime soon, plus we have Verlander's embarrassing contract to eat forever.
Good morning to the Red Sox team...YUP, as expected, you bozos are locked for last place in the AL East at 7 back...oh BTW, the 4 teams above you are a mere 1 game apart from each other. Looks like you have no competition to stay where you are...IN THE CELLAR !!
Red Sox should drop Rick Porcello until All-Star break
Rick Porcello had the shortest start of his season -- lasting just two innings while giving up 7 runs. Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
TORONTO -- There's a simple solution, in the short term, for the Rick Porcello problem.
The Boston Red Sox have two off days next week. They can easily skip Porcello's turn once, and again a second time, before the All-Star break, which would serve the purpose of a) dodging more disasters like the one Porcello perpetrated on the Sox Wednesday and b) giving him a respite from the dreariness of answering for a winless streak that has now reached eight starts after Wednesday's 11-2 beating at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Let Porcello start fresh after the All-Star break -- he'd potentially have the equivalent of a full DL-stint to work on the side and reap the benefits of a mental breather -- and the Red Sox would still have their other four starters on regular rest.
It's a win-win situation for all parties involved. Porcello almost surely will resist. Few healthy pitchers want to be shut down, and professional athletes are generally loathe to admit that they may be beaten down psychologically and could use a break. The Red Sox, at least, have shown a greater awareness than many teams. They have employed a battery of mental health specialists, including one mental skills coach, Bob Tewksbury, who has been with the team on this trip.
Besides, the decision should be taken completely out of Porcello's hands. Red Sox manager John Farrell doesn't have to look far to find compelling reasons to take Porcello out of the rotation -- the right-hander has now given up five or more earned runs in six starts this season, and his 6.08 ERA is the highest of any American League qualifier.
"He's got a lot of pride," Farrell said. "He's very conscientious, but it still comes down to results produced."
The absence of those results becomes more glaring for a pitcher whose resume consists of one line for most fans and media types, or so it seems: Signed a four-year, $82.5 million extension before he threw a pitch for the Sox. How much added pressure he feels for that reason, Farrell said, he cannot begin to know.
"I would think it's something he's trying to live up to," the manager said.
General manager Ben Cherington is traveling with the club, and chances are that he and Farrell will reach a quick consensus, along with pitching coach Carl Willis, that going with a four-man rotation until the break makes by far the most sense.
"We haven't even begun to map out next week," Farrell said. "Recognizing we have two off days Monday and Thursday, but we haven't looked at the rotation as we go through to the end of the break."
Porcello threw two changeups. Both were sent hurtling long distances, first by Edwin Encarnacion for a three-run home run, then two batters later by Justin Smoak with a man aboard. Those two pitches had much in common with the two-seamer Jose Bautista also hit a long way with a man aboard in the second inning: They were all over the middle of the plate.
"It goes back to what his signature pitch is, his sinker," Farrell said. "And that's still not in the area of the strike zone we're trying to work on each time he has a mound session, to stay down in the strike zone. And when he elevates, he's not getting away with any mistakes."
Porcello, dressed in funereal black while standing in front of his locker, dismissed the suggestion that he was "lost” on the mound.
"No, I don't feel lost," he said. "I know what's going on. A lot of fat pitches. Bottom line is executing. That's it."
What a bunch of LAME BS excuses from Farrell..."He's got a lot of pride"? Really? Read the other BS stuff...more Farrellisms...Farrell needs to GO !! Oh yeah, Cherington is travelling with the club...wow, how comforting...no doubt Toronto is pretty nice this time of year...how are the restaurants Ben? You are the worst of the worst and have hamstrung the Red Sox with your mindless contracts with OBESE, can't play, can't pay attention LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZERS.
Decided to update my Avatar to coincide with the Red Sox team performance this year. This of course will make it much easier for those who don't like to read what I write, they can instantly see the lemon and move on.
Matters not to me if they win the next 10...they are disgusting as a team and being paid a FORTUNE for paltry performance, that entitles me as a fan to hammer them...they deserve it.
The team is inept, ill prepared, not in the game, know the season is toast and are just going through the motions. So thankful I didn't get the baseball package and have to watch this nonsense.
I predict that things will happen...maybe big things before the trade deadline...stay tuned.
I was actually pulling for them to yank this one out of the fire...nope, another crushing loss.
RISPs Astros an astounding 8-21...did I read that wrong? They had TWENTY ONE in scoring position? RISPs Sox, their routine 4-10.
The Napster picks up another error, #5 I believe. Betts was on Pluto mentally.
And the embarrassment of embarrassments in front of the home crowd...Santana steals home...to me, an amazing feat in pro baseball...pony league stuff. Tells me the team's head is not on the same page.
Oh yeah...seven back and a rock solid lock for da bottom of the AL East. Not wicked good.
Comments
<< <i>a sense of humor is needed to appreciate the atrocious performances. Can it get any worse? I say yes, but I hope for no. >>
Im not even bothered by it, like I said a bit ago I actually hope they keep losing so they can be the laughing stock of the majors and these clowns can really feel it!
You do not know my situation here so don't try and tell me to go out and enjoy the country as it is not always possible for me to get out.
It's unfortunate that you have a situation that precludes you from getting out...actually, it was more of a figure of speech. I could have suggested reading a book, or watching some other program, or a host of other things. It was merely a comment in passing, not a directive...so take a chill pill. That you are glued to each and every Red Sox game can be nothing but demoralizing, yet you seem to think magical things will happen and sadly, they will not.
The Red Sox team is woefully incompetent at this point of the season. Too many uber-rich prima donnas and not enough performance between the lines. A real manly player would face the music and talk to reporters...the Red Sox players just rush to their expensive toys that their sickening pay provides and bolt...wimpy looooooozers. I am beyond disgusted with the lot of them, I think they stink and should be fined on a daily basis for breach of contract. YOU, OTOH, think some miraculous call up from some AAA AA or A farm team is gonna save the season...AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN...get over it!!!
So, here's the deal...this will be my last response, or contact with you. You are waaaaaaaaaay too sensitive to a simple generic suggestion. I also suggest that when you see me continuing to post, that you NOT read what I write, as I know that really irritates you.
I will say this in closing...I do sincerely hope your personal situation improves...but not to just get out of the house.
Even Farrell is telling the team his job is in jeopardy. Maybe the Bud Black situation in San Diego gives him some sliver of hope that he'll be fired from the dampish 50 degree weather in Boston to a climate to die for in San Diego. I suspect right now he'd take a job on Venus.
I thought it disgusting that El Hombre Gordo got so excited about his 9th inning double. Cherington must be going through Malox by the handful, like you'd pop salted peanuts.
Odd, I thought, but it made me grin to see the vendor hawking "hot soup"...here in Atlanta, the heat index topped 100...brutal stuff. I seriously feel for the elderly who have no A/C.
First time for a Red Sox player in almost 20 years. Last done by John Valentin in 1996.
Another interesting thing I heard today...El Hombre Gordo used to be weighed every day in San Francisco. Well, the Red Sox being kinda laid back and all said...nah, we're not gonna do that, it's all good. Really? El Hombre Gordo has gained 33 pounds !!! since Spring Training. No wonder the fat one can't move all that mass as quickly as he might once have done. Must be lovin' all the foodie spots in Beantown.
<< <i>Congratulations Brock Holt for hitting for the cycle !! You are a bright spot in a very dark place.
First time for a Red Sox player in almost 20 years. Last done by John Valentin in 1996.
>>
You really have to have empathy for the elderly who don't have AC...
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
<< <i>Congratulations Brock Holt for hitting for the cycle !! You are a bright spot in a very dark place.
First time for a Red Sox player in almost 20 years. Last done by John Valentin in 1996.
Another interesting thing I heard today...El Hombre Gordo used to be weighed every day in San Francisco. Well, the Red Sox being kinda laid back and all said...nah, we're not gonna do that, it's all good. Really? El Hombre Gordo has gained 33 pounds !!! since Spring Training. No wonder the fat one can't move all that mass as quickly as he might once have done. Must be lovin' all the foodie spots in Beantown. >>
Farrell is doing his best job to imitate Tito in his last season with the Sox, I think he is a doormat for these guys and coddles them too much. Im not saying he needs to lose the clubhouse by calling these guys out but maybe get a Teeny bit tougher with them, the Sox are a joke right now.
I'd pick Brock Holt. Not only is he a worthy selection, but he can play any position on the field. What say you?
<< <i>Sandoval benched for checking out girls online during games >>
What happened with the Sox last night that has talk radio aflame? All day I'm hearing Farrell should have been fired on the spot for being a terrible manager.
I didn't see the game but apparently he forgot that they were playing a National League team . Something about not walking a hitter that was batting before the other teams pitcher???
Great...and I do mean GREAT seats. Sitting in one of the suites that ring the ballpark, with a view much like Remy and Orsillo, who were just below me. It's one of those views you just kinda "drink in" and enjoy. Wow, AC, food and two rows of seats under cover...the good life. I must say, a really nice ballpark, having been there several times in the past, the elevated view was really nice. If I can figure out how to post a pic from my cell, perhaps I'll do so later. The rain was really beating down, not a little shower, you could see the dark roll cloud coming, lightning and all, just sat in my car and waited it out. Interesting to watch the ground crew do their thing with the tarp.
The game...well, I was wondering why El Hombre Gordo was not at third base. Well, I guess instagram stuff was more on his brain on Wednesday. I guess his salary isn't quite enough to focus on the game (that the Red Sox lost) and for at least 3 hours +/- he could be a teammate. He's worse than the worst IMO, I hope MLB fines him big time! His replacement played a good third base...
Bucky pitched well, but can't toss the ball worth a nickel. Oh, how the Brave's fans loved that moment. Holt's bat remained hot...I actually thought he should have gone for the inside the park homer...he was at 3rd and had a good head of steam, but got the stop sign.
HanRam was just going through the motions to me...I think he'll continue to be an issue. No hussle, just slowly sauntered to his spot in left field and did zippo at the plate.
Was surprised to see and hear the impressive number of Red Sox fans. Of course they got into the "let's go Red Sox" mantra as the locals did their silly chop thing...I think at some point stolen from Florida State.
A quirky but funny as hell moment was when I was looking down and saw a guy in a pink jacket, straw hat, shorts and flip flops, walking and holding up a "FREE TOM BRADY" sign. He got a little hassle from some "authority" figure, but was apparently allowed to continue. Pretty odd, in that he was in Falcon country and Gillette stadium was 1k miles away. It made for a good laugh.
Now Kansas City...not good.
Pablo Sandoval sideshow could cost manager John Farrell dearly
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
ATLANTA -- Pablo Sandoval has made himself a $95 million punchline. Two presses of a "like" button to show appreciation for an online hottie on Instagram while in a clubhouse bathroom here -- during a game -- and the man known as Kung Fu Panda in San Francisco is now the Panda in heat in Boston.
But outside of Thursday's benching, a possible fine from Major League Baseball and a healthy dollop of ridicule heaped upon him, the consequences for the Boston Red Sox third baseman are trivial compared to the potential fallout for his manager, John Farrell.
Never mind that in a "Wasting Time at Work" survey taken last year by Salary.com, 89 percent of the respondents admitted they wasted time every day on the job, most of that lost productivity spent on some variation of what distracted Sandoval from his task at hand -- checking Facebook, email, Twitter, fantasy teams, Googling god knows what and, yes, Instagram. You do it, I do it, and chances are the 11 percent who say they don't do it are probably lying.
Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval spent Thursday night in the dugout after getting benched for in-game phone use. AP Photo/Jon Barash
But this is all about perception, and for Farrell, already staggered by the on-field performance of his underachieving team, the prevailing narrative back home is that this is further evidence he has lost control of the team, one of his most important players seemingly more preoccupied with a certain woman's curves than Alex Wood's curveballs.
Both Farrell and general manager Ben Cherington -- once he overcame his reluctance to address the issue at all -- tried to downplay the blowback Farrell might face.
"For one, I don't think the clubhouse is one that has run amok,'' Farrell said. "This is an incident I believe is isolated, and my focus is to continue to get better on field.''
Cherington, when asked how concerned he was that the incident reflected poorly on Farrell, said, "This happened. Unfortunately, it happened at a time things aren't going well with the team. It's been addressed and we move on.''
It's never that simple, of course, especially in a market like Boston's, where this episode will be seen as a direct descendant of 2011's fried chicken-and-beer fiasco, which was used to topple the House of Francona. Farrell was gone by then, managing in Toronto, but he and Terry Francona remain close, exchanging texts and phone calls.
Farrell understands what he is up against.
"I respect the question,'' he said. "I understand the environment in which we work. I understand there's a lot of passion and currently a lot of frustration by many, and that includes our fans, and I understand that.
"When situations arise, they're addressed head-on, but the same approach is applied every day: What are we doing daily to work at getting better? That's what I expect, and I think that's what we demand from our players.''
The timing, of course, couldn't have been worse, the Sox having lost eight of their previous nine games after Cherington had said the team was still good enough to win the division, and Dustin Pedroia defiantly dissing the team's critics just three days ago for their negativity.
"This becomes a much greater focal point; I recognize that,'' Farrell said. "I think players now in Boston for the first time are feeling that, living in it and living through it, and yet it's important we continue to stick together as a group and know in times of success we share it, in times of struggles we band together equally.''
Pablo Sandoval was benched Thursday after admitting that during Wednesday's loss to Atlanta, he used his cellphone to click "like" on a woman's photographs that appeared in his Instagram feed.
Sandoval was one of the team's earlier arrivals at the ballpark Thursday afternoon, coming on the first of the two buses from the team's hotel. He met with Farrell, and then Farrell and Cherington together. It was determined that, as punishment, Sandoval would be benched Thursday.
"I take the punishment," Sandoval said. "When you grow up, you learn from a lot of things. You grow up every single day in your life. You learn from that.
"It's their decision to make. I broke the team rules. I should be punished."
Given that he came into the day as one of the team's hottest hitters, with two hits in each of his past five games, Sandoval's absence was potentially more punitive to the team than it was to him.
A benching might be unpleasant, but hardly qualifies as disciplinary action for breaking a major league and team rule against the use of cellphones and other electronic devices, from a half-hour before the start of a game until its conclusion. Why no disciplinary action?
"John addressed that, [and] I don't have anything to add,'' Cherington said, making no effort to hide his irritation at being asked. "Something happened yesterday. Pablo's being punished by not playing tonight. Other than that, that's something John handles inside the clubhouse.''
There's still a chance MLB could fine Sandoval; the incident is under review, according to MLB spokesman Michael Teevan. Farrell also made a vague reference to handling "some other things internally," without offering what that might entail. Requiring Sandoval to have a hall pass before using the bathroom during a game? Pulling the plug on his Instagram account? Do tell.
Yes, Farrell said, Sandoval owned up to his conduct, but did that mitigate his, um, stupidity?
"When something comes from your phone,'' he said, "it's easy to trace. No, it doesn't mitigate it. It's a rule and it's understood by all. Game time is to commit and devote yourself to the game and your teammates. Anything beyond that is taking away from what we're trying to do.''
A 5-2 victory Thursday night, with Sandoval's stand-in, Pawtucket call-up Travis Shaw, making a nice defensive play in the fourth inning, eased the pressure on all parties involved, but only temporarily. The Sox are headed to Kansas City for a weekend set with the high-flying Royals; it could get ugly.
Could Farrell be managing for his job? Three weeks have yet to pass since owner John W. Henry pledged his support, but that was back in more innocent times, when an owner could say he still believed his team could contend. Now, with 94 games left to play, the Sox would have to go 61-33, a .638 clip, to win 90 games, the number it typically takes to have a chance to win the AL East -- a division, by the way, in which the Red Sox are 12-21, the only team in the division with a losing record in intramural play.
Farrell knows how quickly that support can evaporate, especially when he oversees the most costly roster in franchise history. It's never the manager's fault until it is. But until that happens, he is determined to do it his way, regardless of how few likes that might earn him on Instagram.
Thank you El Hombre Gordo...you have single-handedly thrown a monkey wrench into an already unbearable situation...not only for your manager, but for your teammates. This act of childish selfishness easily tops the beer and chicken thing. Even at $105k per game...EVERY GAME isn't enough to even have you pay attention when it's game on. This fatso is nothing but a selfish pig...may the wrath of Red Sox Nation come down on you without mercy.
Unfortunately still 9 games back.
Ortiz, an 18-year veteran of MLB thinks he can show up the umpire by tossing his bat anywhere he wants. Yo Dave, get off the ego trip...your many years of experience are needed to help right the ship...oh, BTW, it's listing badly at about a 40 degree angle...inspire those you play with, instead of being a jerk.
Well, 10 back, not quite, but almost the worst team in baseball. Thankfully, I couldn't watch a game if I wanted to...BUT, I did enjoy last Thursday's game here in Atlanta.
Sad, sad time for Red Sox Nation...too many egos, too much $$$ thrown around with no, NO incentive to excel. I suspect somebody's balloon is gonna pop pretty soon.
Holt for the All star squad representing the Sox? Eh why not?
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
Next 10 games are key to sorting out state of Red Sox
BOSTON -- Well, so far Boston Red Sox owner John W. Henry is half right. On June 2, when he came out in support of Red Sox GM Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell, he said the Sox still had a chance to be a "great" offense.
"They'll prove us right or they'll prove us wrong," Henry said.
Since his State of the Team address, a rare foray for the owner into the public discourse over his team, the Sox have undergone a transformation at the plate. They come into Tuesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles hitting .296 in June, the highest average in the majors. They're first in hits (205), first in doubles (47), tied for first in triples (8), third in slugging (.466), fourth in on-base average (.343), seventh in runs (94) and 11th in home runs (19).
On Sunday, in a 13-2 rout of the Kansas City Royals, the Sox had 13 extra-base hits -- a number they have exceeded only twice in their history, and the most ever allowed by the Royals in a game.
David Ortiz is atop the list of Red Sox sluggers who have picked up their offense since June 11. AP Photo/Colin E. Braley
They've had 10 or more hits in 11 of 20 games this month, including five such games in their past seven. That stretch includes a season-high 18 hits last Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, and 16 hits twice against the Royals in wins Friday and Sunday.
And the evidence is accumulating that, once again, David Ortiz is making all the speculation about his imminent demise foolish. And while it may be too simplistic to attribute Boston's offensive revival to the big man in the middle, the correlation between his performance and the rest of the offense is impossible to overlook.
In the first nine games of the month, the Sox scored only 28 runs, or just over three runs a game. Then, on June 11, Ortiz hit a home run off Orioles reliever Chaz Roe, ending a streak of 17 games without a home run. It was Ortiz's second 17-game homerless streak of the season and longest since 2011 -- the last time Ortiz was said to be in decline, when he had home run droughts of 24 and 19 games.
Since June 11, the Sox have scored 66 runs in 11 games, an average of six runs per game. They've posted a slash line of .305/.358/.517/.876 with 50 extra-base hits, and have recorded 10 or more hits in six of 11 games.
Ortiz has homered four times in that span, including his 10th of the year, making it 16 straight seasons of double-digit home runs for the 39-year-old slugger. His slash line is .324/.444/.649/1.093 in that span -- by far his best stretch of the season -- and he leads the club in home runs and RBIs (10) over that time frame.
Ortiz is not alone in getting hot: Five Sox players since that date are hitting .300 or better, led by Mookie Betts, who is batting .556 in that span and on Monday was named the American League's Player of the Week. The others are Pablo Sandoval (.429), Blake Swihart (.360) and Brock Holt (.356), with Betts and Holt forming a dynamic combination at the top of the order now that Betts has been restored to the leadoff spot.
But then there is the other side of the equation, the team's pitching. The Sox enter the Orioles series with a 4.27 ERA in June, which ranks 26th in the majors and is well above the average for the month (3.74). That is not what Henry had in mind when he said, "I probably feel better than our fans do" about the quality of the arms the Sox are running out to the mound.
Rick Porcello's current slump, arguably the worst of his career, has seen him go 0-6 with a 7.50 ERA. AP Photo/Orlin Wagner
Here again, there are signs that Henry's outlook was not entirely misguided. Boston's rotation this month has a collective 8-6 record and 4.09 ERA, a number that would be even better if right-hander Rick Porcello was not enduring by far the worst slump of his career, one in which he is 0-6 with a 7.50 ERA. Only two starting pitchers in baseball, Shane Greene (0-4, 9.43) and Jerome Williams (0-4, 8.67), have been worse than Porcello over his past half-dozen starts.
But the addition of left-handed Eduardo Rodriguez, who was electrifying in his first three starts, has represented a significant upgrade, and Clay Buchholz (2.81 in June), Wade Miley (3.42) and Joe Kelly (3.71), who is scheduled to face the Orioles on Tuesday, have all pitched much more in line with the team's expectations going into the season.
The rush to judgment on Porcello has been fierce, exacerbated by consternation that the Sox signed him to a four-year, $82 million contract extension before he ever threw a pitch in a Boston uniform. Typically, when a pitcher goes into such a dramatic dive, there is a physical reason attached, but all parties involved insist Porcello is healthy. They point to an eight-inning outing June 3 against the Minnesota Twins -- in which he allowed just two runs but lost -- and his first inning June 10 against the Orioles, in which he struck out the side on 11 pitches, as evidence there is nothing physical involved.
Porcello has been prone to the big inning, however. Four times in that six-game span, the opposition has scored three runs or more in an inning, including a nine-run inning May 22 against the Los Angeles Angels (he was charged with seven of those runs), and a five-run inning against the Royals last Friday.
Manager John Farrell has expressed no inclination to drop Porcello from the rotation; he will be given every opportunity to work his way out of the slump. Porcello already has allowed five or more earned runs five times in 14 starts this season; he allowed five earned runs or more just six times in 32 starts last season. The Red Sox never attached the appellation of "ace" to Porcello when they signed him, but the contract has placed that kind of pressure on him; coming to terms with that pressure may hold the key to his returning to form.
Yet for all the recent positive developments around the club -- taking the series from the Royals deflected attention from Sandoval's Instagram antics -- the Sox still have not won as many as three games in a row since the first week of the season. At 31-40, they remain nine games under .500, and in order to win 90 games -- the typical benchmark used to gauge a division contender -- the Sox would have to go 59-31 the rest of the way, a .656 percentage.
And there is this glaring one-two barometer of their performance to date: They have the worst record in the American League against teams with a record of .500 or better (22-36), and they are the only team in the AL East with a losing record in intramural play (10-21). The Tampa Bay Rays, New York Yankees, Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays are all bunched within three games of the division lead; the Sox are nine games back. Their next 10 games come against the Orioles (3-7), Rays (2-4) and Jays (3-6); Boston has been outscored by a cumulative 177-123 margin by its division rivals.
The next 10 games should offer some clue as to whether the Red Sox have any shot to be competitive the rest of the way, or will continue to find creative ways to self-destruct.
Napoli gets booed
Kelly walks off the mound with only 2 outs in the 4th
3-11 in the good old RISP department
Farrell makes an attempt to spark the team by the "manager gets tossed ploy"
Red Sox 9.5 games out, locked in the cellar of the AL East.
With the season close to half over, as predicted some time ago...it's ovah!!
Worse yet, I voice search for the score while playing poker last night...unbeknowns to me, I'm playing with an Orioles fan...GEEZ. So, the little voice says "the Red Sox are losing to the Orioles (add score) and he's cheering!!
Two conclusions from this observation:
1. It is very unlikely they will do so; and
2. We are in for a very long, long, long 90 games.
Could Johnson be on the horizon or are they going to give Masterson one more chance.
Holt at 2nd and Bradley at right for todays game.
Marerro is also in the mix
Kelly to AAA. its about time.
The Red Sox's defense is partially to blame, at minus-13 Defensive Runs Saved -- including a staggering minus-26 combined from just Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval -- and the team as a whole has the worst LOB percentage in the majors.
It's easy now to criticize general manager Ben Cherington for the moves in retrospect, so this isn't necessarily second-guessing. But Cherington's offseason hasn't panned out and the Red Sox appear headed to a third terrible season in four years.
"The WORST LOB % in the majors"!! One of the key ingredients for total disaster.
<< <i>
<< <i>their fans
I like it.
The Red Sox now 5 games under 500 and locked for last place in the AL East, 7 games worse than the O's who hold the coveted 4th position. It is getting more and more apparent that earlier predictions of a losing season are indeed becoming more and more of a reality. A 33-43 record = a paltry 0.434 record...not the worst, but very close. Just 10 more games to half way, which if the team continues on their steady slide downhill, will more than likely find the team at about the same place they are today. With the schedule ahead...you can look it up...it would take a bona fide miracle to even save the season. The stats are just awful...and I do mean awful.
Heads will roll...Napoli for sure...not sure what they'll do with the walrus at 3rd base and the "injured" HanRam, just stuck with them. Terrible decisions by Cherington who must be tippy toeing to see if he's still getting a check...at least the Phillies manager had the stones to resign.
You can bet Fall vacations are in the advanced stages of preparation for most, if not all of the players. Antarctica would be a good choice.
Hopefully Holt gets the AS nod...he deserves it. Having witnessed him playing recently, he's a hustler and solid player who deserves a shot...the others can play video games, drink beer and eat chicken.
<< <i>
<< <i>their fans
I like it.
General heading is "Seven reasons why the Red Sox are failing this year"
Without dissecting the topic too deeply, the following are the seven "headers"...which, IMO are spot on!
1. Poor starting pitching
2. Big contract flops
3. Overvalued prospects
4. Bad defense
5. Anemic power numbers
6. A failing bullpen
7. A lack of leadership
Schaal elaborates on each of the seven, but I don't care to fill two pages with bummer stuff. Lots of stats in his rationalizations as well...still trying to get my head around that "WAR" thing stat.
So, have a Happy fourth...wish I could be at the bandshell along the Charles in Boston, gonna have to settle for Macy's on the big tube.
<< <i>Do you mean this thread could turn positive? >>
Rick Porcello says, "No soup for you!"
seven runs, all earned. Two innings.
Along comes the sure footed, laser focused Napoli, who drops a ball that a Pony League bench guy could have contained. Way to go Mikee...oh, BTW, 0-4 in the game and now well under the Mendoza line at a disgusting .198 ain't gonna win you the Fenway Frank award.
So, for the ever faithful, the team is now, well, for a few more hours anyway a mere 6.5 back in the AL East. I'm pretty sure they'll wake up to see they're 7 back.
Sure made the Toronto fans happy today.
"Chance Favors The Prepared Mind" Louis Pasteur
Hanley Ramirez 19 million
Sandoval 17 million
Napoli 16 million
Victorino 13 million
Porcello 12.5 million
Masterson 9.5 million
Excellent work, Cherington - give yourself a raise.
Another Red Sox outfielder loses track of outs
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
TORONTO—For the second time in three games, a Boston Red Sox outfielder lost track of how many outs there were in an inning.
Wednesday afternoon in the sixth inning, center-fielder Mookie Betts caught a fly ball with a runner on third base and threw home, not realizing there were already three outs in the inning.
Sunday afternoon, right-fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. committed the same faux pas, throwing home after making a game-ending catch of Evan Longoria’s fly ball.
“There’s no excuse for that,’’ manager John Farrell said Wednesday. “Losing track of outs in an inning can’t be accepted.’’
Last month, left-fielder Hanley Ramirez lost track of how many outs there were while running the bases in the seventh inning of a tie game against Minnesota.
The whole team is a joke...with two exceptions...Peedy and Holt. Send the rest to the Lowell Spinners...Lowell, BTW is my home town.
Red Sox should drop Rick Porcello until All-Star break
Rick Porcello had the shortest start of his season -- lasting just two innings while giving up 7 runs. Dan Hamilton/USA TODAY Sports
Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer
TORONTO -- There's a simple solution, in the short term, for the Rick Porcello problem.
The Boston Red Sox have two off days next week. They can easily skip Porcello's turn once, and again a second time, before the All-Star break, which would serve the purpose of a) dodging more disasters like the one Porcello perpetrated on the Sox Wednesday and b) giving him a respite from the dreariness of answering for a winless streak that has now reached eight starts after Wednesday's 11-2 beating at the hands of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Let Porcello start fresh after the All-Star break -- he'd potentially have the equivalent of a full DL-stint to work on the side and reap the benefits of a mental breather -- and the Red Sox would still have their other four starters on regular rest.
It's a win-win situation for all parties involved. Porcello almost surely will resist. Few healthy pitchers want to be shut down, and professional athletes are generally loathe to admit that they may be beaten down psychologically and could use a break. The Red Sox, at least, have shown a greater awareness than many teams. They have employed a battery of mental health specialists, including one mental skills coach, Bob Tewksbury, who has been with the team on this trip.
Besides, the decision should be taken completely out of Porcello's hands. Red Sox manager John Farrell doesn't have to look far to find compelling reasons to take Porcello out of the rotation -- the right-hander has now given up five or more earned runs in six starts this season, and his 6.08 ERA is the highest of any American League qualifier.
"He's got a lot of pride," Farrell said. "He's very conscientious, but it still comes down to results produced."
The absence of those results becomes more glaring for a pitcher whose resume consists of one line for most fans and media types, or so it seems: Signed a four-year, $82.5 million extension before he threw a pitch for the Sox. How much added pressure he feels for that reason, Farrell said, he cannot begin to know.
"I would think it's something he's trying to live up to," the manager said.
General manager Ben Cherington is traveling with the club, and chances are that he and Farrell will reach a quick consensus, along with pitching coach Carl Willis, that going with a four-man rotation until the break makes by far the most sense.
"We haven't even begun to map out next week," Farrell said. "Recognizing we have two off days Monday and Thursday, but we haven't looked at the rotation as we go through to the end of the break."
Porcello threw two changeups. Both were sent hurtling long distances, first by Edwin Encarnacion for a three-run home run, then two batters later by Justin Smoak with a man aboard. Those two pitches had much in common with the two-seamer Jose Bautista also hit a long way with a man aboard in the second inning: They were all over the middle of the plate.
"It goes back to what his signature pitch is, his sinker," Farrell said. "And that's still not in the area of the strike zone we're trying to work on each time he has a mound session, to stay down in the strike zone. And when he elevates, he's not getting away with any mistakes."
Porcello, dressed in funereal black while standing in front of his locker, dismissed the suggestion that he was "lost” on the mound.
"No, I don't feel lost," he said. "I know what's going on. A lot of fat pitches. Bottom line is executing. That's it."
What a bunch of LAME BS excuses from Farrell..."He's got a lot of pride"? Really? Read the other BS stuff...more Farrellisms...Farrell needs to GO !! Oh yeah, Cherington is travelling with the club...wow, how comforting...no doubt Toronto is pretty nice this time of year...how are the restaurants Ben? You are the worst of the worst and have hamstrung the Red Sox with your mindless contracts with OBESE, can't play, can't pay attention LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZERS.
Starting to look like a Carl Pavano type of signing
Matters not to me if they win the next 10...they are disgusting as a team and being paid a FORTUNE for paltry performance, that entitles me as a fan to hammer them...they deserve it.
The team is inept, ill prepared, not in the game, know the season is toast and are just going through the motions. So thankful I didn't get the baseball package and have to watch this nonsense.
I predict that things will happen...maybe big things before the trade deadline...stay tuned.
RISPs Astros an astounding 8-21...did I read that wrong? They had TWENTY ONE in scoring position?
RISPs Sox, their routine 4-10.
The Napster picks up another error, #5 I believe. Betts was on Pluto mentally.
And the embarrassment of embarrassments in front of the home crowd...Santana steals home...to me, an amazing feat in pro baseball...pony league stuff. Tells me the team's head is not on the same page.
Oh yeah...seven back and a rock solid lock for da bottom of the AL East. Not wicked good.
Happy Fourth to all !!!
Some telling numbers:
Napoli 0 for 5, 3 Ks, batting avg .195, critical 12th inning error costs the game, salary 16 million
Numbers on 3 of the 5 starters:
Porcello ERA 6.08, salary 12.5 million
Masterson ERA 6.14, salary 9.5 million
Kelly ERA 5.67
Clay and Eduardo doing OK, young hitters look pretty good, but too many pieces missing for a winning team.
Napoli approaching the Marianna Trench, well under Mendoza. Two Astro errors helped of course.
What was the worst deal in modern baseball history that the Red Sox ever made? I'd say Dicek and Carl Crawford...with JD Drew to follow. Thoughts?