The Official Thread of the 2006 Boston Red Sox

[Blackout]

The sox IMHO are in trouble this year. I don't like the depth with the starters. The offence is not as good as it once was. Will Manny ever hit again? They don't make the playoffs this year.

What did Manny hit in April last year? What did he finish with? thanks.

I'm not worried, about anything.

[TerrierByAssociation#2]

What did Manny hit in April last year?

.274, with a .993 OPS.

What did he finish with? thanks.

.292, with a .982 OPS.

[JohnB]

The sky is falling!!! 2 bad outtings in a row for their pitchers!!! They'll never win again!!!


Jesus people, don't be so melodramatic.

hardly melodramatic to have concerns that I quite clearly expressed in preseason and thus far show that they could very well become reality. Just because you have been and continue to be overly optimistic that every risk of the pitching staffs fragility will go the Sox way doesn't mean it's melodramatic for those of us who have a more realistic view.

[ihw30]

What did Manny hit in April last year? What did he finish with? thanks.

I'm not worried, about anything.
TBA2 beat me to it, but thanks for playing... He looks awful right now....

[Haunted]

hardly melodramatic to have concerns that I quite clearly expressed in preseason and thus far show that they could very well become reality. Just because you have been and continue to be overly optimistic that every risk of the pitching staffs fragility will go the Sox way doesn't mean it's melodramatic for those of us who have a more realistic view.
And your overly negative outlook is different?

Wells has pitched once this year (for the big club). This is his spring training. I'd expect an ERA in the mid - 4's from him, which would be perfectly fine. Wakefield is, and always has been, streaky. Frustrating to be sure, but nothing to worry about. Clement ... eh, who the hell knows.

Foulke has been looking better and better. If Wells sucks, or Clement can't bring his ERA down, Foulke will be able to go back to closing and Papelbon can go to the rotation. Also, There's MDC, Alvarez, and Hansen ready to come up for spot bullpen duty.

The defense has been outstanding so far (other than Wily Mo's gaffe). Youks has transitioned to first way better than I expected. Lowell and Gonzo are as advertised, and Lowell's bat has been ... excellent (who saw that coming?). Bard's learning to catch the wiffle balls.

Are there concerns on this team? Yes. Like every other team. I still peg them at around 97 wins.

[BC ZamboniGuy Cult]

Wells has pitched once this year (for the big club). This is his spring training.

I was talking to someone about Wells earlier and I meant to say this, but I had a little Freudian slip and said "This is his Spring Break" by accident. Quite fitting.

[Blackout]

FWIW, Foulke's WHIP is (and was before last night) pretty good. He needs to just not give up the long ball, which happens when you're a changeup pitcher.

Manny will be fine. No one should be concerned with hitting. We scored 6 runs last night and lost. Hitting isnt the problem.

[Pal]

Manny had 0 HRs and 4 RBI in his first 10 games of last season. It was after that that he really started picking it up. It's way too early to panic now.

[Haunted]

It's way too early to panic now.
.

[BC ZamboniGuy Cult]

It's freakin Manny, he'll be fine. I'm not worried about his hitting at all.

[shrader]

This all part of the team's plan to remove a certain poster in here from the bandwagon. I fully support this move.

[NUJerseyJohn]

The sky is falling!!! 2 bad outtings in a row for their pitchers!!! They'll never win again!!!


Jesus people, don't be so melodramatic.
But Haunted, they've dropped 2 games to the Yankees in as many days - at this rate, they'll finish 152 games back and be eliminated from the division race before the end of June - you guys are definitely hurting. :p :D

[JohnB]

And your overly negative outlook is different?

Wells has pitched once this year (for the big club). This is his spring training. I'd expect an ERA in the mid - 4's from him, which would be perfectly fine. Wakefield is, and always has been, streaky. Frustrating to be sure, but nothing to worry about. Clement ... eh, who the hell knows.


Wells has pitched once.. yes, it was terrible.. it's his spring training... he's out of shape as always, he's not getting younger... who can honestly say they aren't concerned Wells could be a catastrophe this year and is more likely to have problems then have as good a season as last?

I wasn't worried about Wake - he is what he is and he'll have 10-13 wins as usual by season end.


Foulke has been looking better and better. If Wells sucks, or Clement can't bring his ERA down, Foulke will be able to go back to closing and Papelbon can go to the rotation. Also, There's MDC, Alvarez, and Hansen ready to come up for spot bullpen duty.


You do realize that you don't take a closer and have him start overnight right? You do realize there's a transition period of "stretching" the pitcher out? You do realize that although Foulke has been looking better there's also a helluva lot less pressure on him because Papelbon is in the role he's in right?
You do realize Foulke is destined to have a complete collapse as soon as Papelbon becomes a starter?


What about Beckett being prone to injury? You admit Clement is an "eh" which is frightening considering his second half woes he's ALWAYS had if he's struggling in 1st half.

So you're response to who will start if any problems w/ Wells, Beckett, and a troubled Clement or any combination of those 3 is......the current closer Papelbon? Hmmm interesting, any other ideas who will fill in if needed or all doesn't go with the overly optimistic plan?



Are there concerns on this team? Yes. Like every other team.


I don't root for every other team. IMO these are major concerns.

[Haunted]

Wells has pitched once.. yes, it was terrible.. it's his spring training... he's out of shape as always, he's not getting younger... who can honestly say they aren't concerned Wells could be a catastrophe this year and is more likely to have problems then have as good a season as last?
Like I said, they have backup plans. Also, trades are always possible. And, if lightning strikes and they sign Clemens, they screw Wells anyway.


You do realize that you don't take a closer and have him start overnight right? You do realize there's a transition period of "stretching" the pitcher out? You do realize that although Foulke has been looking better there's also a helluva lot less pressure on him because Papelbon is in the role he's in right?
You do realize Foulke is destined to have a complete collapse as soon as Papelbon becomes a starter?
I realize there's a transition period. But what, a week? 2? Also, why is Foulke destined to collapse? If memory serves me right, he did pretty well without Papelbon in 2004. How'd they do that year?


What about Beckett being prone to injury?
What about it? He's been on the DL only once for something not related to blisters, and he said he could have pitched, but the fish were so far out, didn't bother. I don't think the blisters are as bad as the sob sisters in the media portray them as. Lowe had blister issues from time to time, why didn't we **** and moan about him?


You admit Clement is an "eh" which is frightening considering his second half woes he's ALWAYS had if he's struggling in 1st half.
He's the only real concern I have.


So you're response to who will start if any problems w/ Wells, Beckett, and a troubled Clement or any combination of those 3 is......the current closer Papelbon? Hmmm interesting, any other ideas who will fill in if needed or all doesn't go with the overly optimistic plan?
Yes. Alvarez. Lester could come up in an extreme emergency. DiNardo could spot start. Any mix of these guys until a trade could be made. We're talking #5 starter here. Take a look at other teams. Bronson Arroyo is arguably the Reds #1 guy. The Yankees are struggling to find a #3 starter. You can't look at the team in a bubble.

[kennedy]

Good to see Schill's back on the 'roids. :eek:

Ellsbury is tearing the ball in the Carolina League. 14-34 (.412), 7 runs, 5 RBI, a double, a triple, a homer, and three steals through eight games.

[Haunted]

Another brilliant outting by Schil. Another excellent inning by Pap. Where are the doom-and-gloomers today?

This was the 2nd 2 - 1 victory of the short year. That's a very positive sign that they can win low scoring games, something they could never have done last year.

Nervousness:
Pena needs to start hitting, soon
Is Lowell's crappiness coming back?

Happiness:
When did Youks get real good at 1st?
When did Gonzo learn to hit?

[Blackout]

3rd base is harder defensively at first playign the ball, because you're expected to cover more ground. Moving a 3b to 1st translates well. It's his picks that are impressive.

[Mark Laliberte]

It's actually the third 2-1 win.

[Haunted]

It's actually the third 2-1 win.
Yeah, I just noticed I wrote 2nd. All the same, they had a total of 3 wins when they scored 2 runs last year. So this is a plus.


edit: goddammit I hate Mike "The Human Rain Delay" Hargrove. :mad:

[Haunted]

Prior to today's AAA lineup, Big Sloppy went back on the DL. DiNardo will take his spot in the rotation, and Jermaine Van Buren was called up. link (http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060415&content_id=1401591&vkey=news_bos&fext=.jsp&c_id=bos)

According to Sox Prospects (http://www.soxprospects.com/players/vanburen-jermaine.htm), Van Buren is a 25 year old righty reliever, low 90's fastball, decent slider, decent curve, ok changeup. So in other words, pretty average. Potential for his carreer: setup guy. With Pawtucket, he's pitched (http://www.minorleaguebaseball.com/app/milb/stats/stats.jsp?n=Jermaine%20Van%20Buren&pos=P&sid=milb&t=p_pbp&pid=435278) 4 innings, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 6 K: so, a good start.

With DiNardo moving to the rotation, they have no lefties in the pen. However, the team seems to be moving towards the Moneyball idea of lefty/righty matchups being totally overblown. So who knows.