Yup absolutely. When he has all his pitches working it's a beautiful thing to watch. And nothing is better than watching Napoli and Ortiz murder fastballs.
No that would probably would have been Mike Trout last year (yes I realize he didn't win). That's actually a good question though of who is the lowest paid MVP ever. When Pedroia won the MVP award in 2008 he made, according to BR, $457k as a 2nd year player. EDIT: Wow I think Fred Lynn "might" be the winner in 1975 he made $38k as the MVP. I'm sure another player, probably before the 1950s, made less.
Great stat: Josh Beckett has allowed 20 ER in 34.1 innings this year. Clay Buchholz, Jon Lester and John Lackey have allowed a total of 21 ER in 90.2 innings.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-b...uchholz-accused-doctoring-ball-220110543.html this accusation is crap but I thought pitchers couldn't put rosin on their arms?
It is crap, NESN showed Buchholz wiping his arm then wiping his hand on his pants numerous times. If he was loading up the ball he wouldn't put the substance on his hand then wipe it off. Makes no sense. As far as rosin on their arms no idea what the rule is but none of the Blue Jay players or coaches complained about it last night nor did any other team this year. Seems like a lot of hot air coming out of Toronto. Maybe they should worry about Jose Reyes tweeting pictures of his tattoos while his team is down 8 runs in the 8th instead....
Both Jack Morris and Buck Martinez (Toronto Blue Jay TV announcers) both accused Junichi Tazawa of cheating last night, claiming they saw a shiny substance on his forearm. Pretty funny stuff from what I read they said. I'd imagine if it was as obvious as those guys think it was one of the Jays players or coaches would go to the umps about it. I guess think need to use some kind of excuse as to why they're in last place playing bad baseball. Remy and Eck lays the smack down on Hayshurt and Morris: http://nesn.com/2013/05/dennis-ecke...x-cheat-tells-former-pitcher-to-zip-it-video/ Good stuff.
More fun with numbers if Boston goes 70 and 64 the rest of the way they will win 90 games. Remember kids, games in April and May count as much as games in September. Just ask the 2011 Red Sox.
Probably but not much higher. I'd say 92 or 93 maybe as I still feel the teams are all pretty evenly matched regardless of records right now. Still though the stat posted just goes to show you how the Sox could play .522 ball the rest of the way and reach 90 wins. On the flip side to reach 90 wins the Jays have to go 80 and 53 (.600 baseball) and the Rays need to go 78 and 57 (.577). Neither of those are impossible but obviously the odds right now are stacked against them.
Sox never play well in Texas for whatever reason, I'm just glad they got out of there. Time to hopefully beat up on the Twins and Jays this week at Fenway. Hopefully the rotation can give the bullpen a rest, especially with Bailey now hurting.
By the way good article on Adrian Gonzalez and his loss of power: http://www.latimes.com/sports/baseball/mlb/dodgers/la-sp-0506-dodgers-notes-20130506,0,4890907.story I'm just thankful he waited until AFTER the "Punto Trade" to speak up about how he doesn't think he'll be able to hit for the same kind of power he did before the shoulder surgery in 2010. He's still a very good hitter and defender but if he's not going to be hitting 30 plus HRs a year he's definitely overpaid.
Kind of get the feeling Hanrahan might be done for the year (I think he'll need TJ surgery) and while it sucks for him not sure if it's good or bad for the team. Either way I think tonight we're going to see the return of Aceves. The pen is on empty right now and will need someone with a rubber arm that can throw multiple innings for a few days. Good team win, coming back down 3-0 though.
No kidding about the pen, couple of weeks ago I felt great, now I have no clue who is coming in. That was nice while it lasted.
It isnt that good though IF it is true Fink.....the guy was pretty lockdown last year, and now that spot will be by committee....but seeing the way that position has been played recently it wouldnt shock me that they do by committee and it works.... Farrell is smart enough to figure it out...
Assuming Bailey comes back healthy I still think the pen will be fine, they just got Breslow back which will help and hopefully Morales comes back sooner than later to help as well. I think either Koji or Tazawa will be fine in the closer's role. The Sox just need someone to step up and step into the 7th inning role for the time being. But again it all comes back to the starting pitching. They need these guys to give them 7 innings each time out. They just need to attack the zone more. Of course it would help if the offense would go out and give them an early big lead at times too so Farrell won't have to keep using the A team. Well losing an arm is never a good thing but Hanrahan has been so bad this year. I think his hamstring injury was legit earlier this year and to help ease the pain probably hurt his arm trying to over throw, but it's just a guess on my part. Hanrahan or the team never mentioned his forearm hurting at any time before last night. I would think Koji would get the first crack at the closer's role simply because he's done it before and Tazawa can pitch 3 days in a row if needed. The Sox don't really like Koji pitching back to back days. Bailey can come off the DL next Tuesday (assuming he's fine like they so) so I think those two guys can handle things for a week. Again my main worry is having someone step in to pitch the 6th or 7th and that's where the SPers really need to start stepping up.
Looks like it will be Tazawa which is good for my fantasy team. Fink, I wish I had as much confidence in the back end of the pen now. Breslow and Morales are nice, but those 7,8,9 save nights are gonna be interesting I am sure. Should I know who Scott Diamond is?
Nope, just an off night for the offense, he's nothing special by any means. I just hope Middlebrooks and Ross are ok. As far as the pen, I still think there are quality arms there it's just not as deep with Bailey and/or Hanrahan out. The good news is Alex Wilson has looked good so far and Farrell mentioned he might start giving him the ball in big spots. I also found it interesting the Sox called up Allen Webster and put Doubront in the pen at least for this start. I think its to send a message to Doubront that he needs to get his act together especially in terms of throwing strikes or else he'll end up in the pen. think it was also telling they passed over Aceves too. Hopefully Webster pitches a good game tonight and the Sox take 3 out of 4 with the Twins as they have started to hit a rough patch right now and need to right the ship with the Jays coming in this weekend.
By the way it's great to see almost all of the Sox top prospects are already having pretty good starts to the year in the minors, especially the SPers. Looks like Ranuado especially is finally healthy and throwing the ball like he was in college. Also the Sox officially have JBJ under control for the 2019 season. Yay.
No clue, it's pretty hush hush. He must have done something to piss off the manager or coaching staff. Maybe showed up late to a game, dogged it on a play, something like that.
I don't know. Not sure how a 2 good weeks at the plate in the big boy leagues erases his lack luster production at the plate the past 2 to 3 years in the minors. That's nice he's pissed he's demoted but take it out on the baseball instead, that's the quickest way back to the big leagues. He needs to prove he can do it for more than a month or so at a time.
Probably after today....but it is kinda cool the lengths pitchers go to to get a better grip on the ball....they are always trying to experiment..... I bet some kid years ago in the minors found out that mixing the 2 created this....
Remember kids its ok to cork a bat, steal signs, use a foreign substance to get a better grip or drop on a pitch but if you dare use a PED you're going to baseball hell!
I wonder if Boras has called Jacoby Ellsbury to remind him it's his walk year. Not that's he's playing poorly it's just nothing special by any means.
No worries....he has this all ready for Lucchino..... okay seriously though....you think the Sox want to retain him?? Not saying JBJ busts out, because the kid is way to talented, but do you think they say "ehh he may need a few more years" Lets sign Elsbury for 3/4 years.....