Biggest hit of the season?

I heard it said on both the radio and tv that Pedroia's 9th inning, 2 out 3 run HR was the biggest hit of the season so far.  Definitely have to agree.  You drop 3/4 to the Angels this weekend and you're feeling pretty shitty going into Seattle. Instead, you've got a new lease on life and a renewed belief in your team's ability to come from behind.  Huge hit indeed.

I have been staying up late for these games.  Saw Hanley's throwing error.  That was tough because that could've been a win that they didn't necessarily deserve, and you need those through the course of the season.  Porcello came up huge and showed who the real stopper is on this team Friday night.  I missed most of last night's game but did see a few innings, including the end.  Still holding out hope for Pomeranz (I guess I'm just an optimist).

Don't forget Buchholz chipping in with 3 scoreless innings in relief to get the win today.  Huge pick up and an actual contribution from that guy for the first time in a while.

That was needlessly difficult

Was at a wedding over the weekend, so I missed Friday and Saturday's games.  Was checking up on the disappointing results, but couldn't actually watch.  Saw Hanley's 3 HR performance and yesterday's game.


I know any team can win any game at any time, but you shouldn't have to scrape, scratch, claw and bite to split a series with the 2016 Minnesota Twins.  It should've been a sweep, or at least 3/4.  I know it might seem like we're splitting hairs over literally one game here, but every game matters in this playoff system and you can't afford to lose games you should win. 


Pomeranz has to have a better showing tonight than in his first start, right?  I mean, could it be much worse?

Porcell 000 000 0

I know Porcello didn't go 7 but I'll take 6 1/3 blanks against a top team like the Giants.  Great performance.

Being at the game last night, I was very glad to see the Sox welcome back Jake Peavy and Javier Lopez in their first appearances at Fenway after the '13 and '07 series championships.  Call me a sentimental old softy but I love that shit.  I eat it up.  Easy to remember Peavy, but '07 and Lopez were a while ago.  Goes to show if you win in this town you're remembered forever.  I love it.

Let's see my boy Pomeranz tonight!

Second half starting out nice

Okay, I know there was no game to blog about last night and I know my second half resolution was to be more consistent with these, so apologies all around.


Glad the Sox represented well in the ASG, very glad to take 2 out of 3 from the Yanks in NY to start the second half.  Very concerned about Price's showing against the Yankees.  It's starting to feel like he's not going to reach his normal performance levels at all this season.  He needs to stop being a weak link in the rotation.


Speaking of the rotation, I love the Pomeranz trade.  Sure it's a gamble on a guy in Drew Pomeranz who is really just now having his first good season, and he's doing it in a pitcher's park against NL lineups.  I get that.  But the pitching market is thin.  What other names are you hearing?  Sonny Gray has been shaky at best this year and would probably cost more than Espinoza.  I love Rich Hill, but he has serious injury questions.  I would love Jeremy Hellickson, but he's not pitching anywhere near as well as Pomeranz.  The Sox desperately need starting pitching, and by giving up such a top tier prospect they forced the Padres to make the move now as opposed to waiting two more weeks.  They're ahead of the curve.  Look at the rotation now.  If David Price can EVER start pitching well on a consistent basis like he should for the second half (he was brutal last night) then we got Price, Wright, Pomeranz, Porcello and Rodriguez (who looked phenomenal on Saturday.  I get that it's just one start against a weak Yankees lineup but he looked like a different pitcher).  I get that you have to figure Wright and Porcello will come back to earth a little bit, but that's still a rotation you can work with when this lineup is scoring runs the way they usually are.  This lineup doing what it can do + that rotation = October baseball, which = something we haven't even come close to here for these last two last place finish seasons and counting. 

 

And, while I grant that it hurts to give up a guy who's listed as one of the top 15 prospects in baseball or whatever it is, keep this in mind.  Kid is 18 years old.  When will he be able to really contribute to a big league team?  4 years?  5 years?  We could and probably will all be dead by then.  Pomeranz is getting the job done now and is under contract for two more years.  And like my dad pointed out, if Espinoza winds up being really good the Sox can always just go and get him back.  Wait until he's a free agent, we have the money. 

Dombrowski's approach has definitely been to treat the farm as a means to acquire established, proven talent, as opposed to Cherington who seemed to view the farm as a system for developing young players to contribute to the big league team and was very reluctant to deal any prospects.  We should be very glad about Cherington's patience, having just watched Bogaerts, Betts and Bradley all start the All Star game. 


This particular trade depends on how you view the sustainability of our offensive production, I suppose.  It HAS to come back to earth a little bit, there's just no way they can do in the second half what they did in the first half.  So what does that mean?  Are they going to go so cold that they won't score enough runs to keep them in games?  Last night notwithstanding I don't think so.  Getting Brad Ziegler will really help the bullpen, especially once Kimbrel and Tazawa come back and if Heath "Don't Call Me Alan" Hembree and Matt Barnes continue their emergence.  is it the Yankees bullpen?  No, but I don't think Dombrowski is done in that area yet, either.


How's all that opinion?  Feel like you got your money's worth?  Does it make up for me being a deadbeat lately?  I hope so!  I'll be at the game tonight, so look for me on TV (if anyone knows who I am!)

Second half mon GO!

Ok, I know I'm supposed to do this every day, but it's been busy.  Spent the weekend painting the living room while listening to the game, so I can't comment so much on what I saw as what I heard. And I'm typing this on the T while standing next to a weird lady humming some non descript song and ignoring the looks I keep giving her.  So don't question my dedication.

I have high hopes for the second half.  And you f you're questioning my dedication in light of my lack of blogs lately let me assure you I'm dedicated, as evidenced by my fight with the gf over my refusal to see "Secret Lives of Pets" tomorrow night.  I'm DYING for that Sox-Yanks game, so I'll deal with a miserable life in the meantime.

So I'm PUMPED about the Drew Poneranz acquisition.  I think he is exactly what we need.  Sure we paid a steep price, since Espinoza is so highly touted.  But he's also 18.  Long way to go there.  Signing Groome kinda softens that blow, gotta give up something to get something, etc. etc.

Ok, weird lady is still humming and I'm at my stop, so bring on the second half!

I haven't forgotten you all....

I haven't forgotten about you all, my many, many, many loyal readers who have been no doubt clamoring for the next blog entry.


Seriously though, sorry.  My bad.  I have been busy, but not THAT busy.  I'm trying to finish up the bar I'm building in my house.  Once that's done, I'll have MUCH more time to blog.


So, what have we missed?  The Sox have taken the last two series, and had 6 (possibly 7) players named to the All Star team.  We should be feeling good.  So why aren't we?  Why are we feeling like this is headed in a concerning direction?  Aaron Hill is not going to be enough, but Shaw is obviously tired and can't hit lefties so Hill should help with that.  Farrell has done a lot of very puzzling things lately, and one has to wonder if that's going to catch up to him at the All Star break.  No reason to lose a game this weekend with the Devil Rays (they'll always be the Devil Rays to me) in here.


Side note:  I'll always try to limit this blog to last night's game, but last night's atrocity in Dallas should remind us all that police perform an excruciatingly difficult job under circumstances that the rest of us just don't have to face in our jobs.  We're thinking of you Dallas PD.


 

21-2

What can you really say about a 21-2 loss?  If someone told you the Sox would give up 21 runs in a game who would you guess would be prominently involved?  Yeah, I'd say Clay Buchholz too.  And today we hear he wasn't too happy about being lifted after 62 pitches.  The balls on this guy!  How much rope does he want?! He had already given up 4 and had 2 more on base who eventually scored. And I guess he stormed off the field too.  Geeze, when is enough gonna be enough with this clown?

Thankfully they bounced back today.  But ultimately I'm not sure if winning on this homestand is a good thing, since all it might serve to achieve is enable John Farrell to keep his job.  Not sure that's the best thing for the team right now.

I listened to the game at the beach today (almost didn't have anywhere to park to get on the beach, waited in line for over an hour to try to get a shuttle to Crane Beach, wound up ditching that plan and going BACK to Singing Beach and by sheer luck getting a spot on the street.  What a day) and was encouraged by Sean O'Sullivan's performance.  If he can pitch like that then please, for the love of God, let it be Bye Bye Buchholz.