Bruins win! but sox lose

GOODBYE HABS. Enjoy your offseason poutine. Such is life… bitches! I had been holding my breath for 3 hours watching the Bruins game, but during commercial breaks I saw enough of the Sox game to wonder what is going on with them

Too many defensive breakdowns tonight led to unnecessary pitches by Beckett which turned into 3 runs. Unacceptable. In little league they teach outfielders how to call off the infielder. It’s not hard, you just scream “I GOT IT.” Bucholz was shaky last night giving up 3 runs on 12, yes 12, hits. Beckett wasn’t much better tonight.

The offense continues to be plagued stranding runners in scoring position. This must stop. On a brighter side, Francona essentially announced Jed Lowrie as the Sox starting shortstop, replacing the ineffective Marco Scutaro.

Read about it here: http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/red-sox/post/_/id/10312/tito-all-but-ordains-lowrie-as-starter

Good for Lowrie, the kid has been through a lot of injuries with wrist problems, mono last season and getting stuck behind subpar and overpaid fielders. Let’s see what the kid can do!

Drop us a line about either the Bruins or the Sox.

Old friend Carl Everett arrested

Former Red Sox centerfielder and umpire-headbutting extraordinaire Carl Everett has been arrested in Lutz, Florida for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon by putting a handgun to his wife’s head. He seems to have a head fetish. He’s also been charged with tampering with a witness. Glad to see retirement has been treating Carl well. Stay in jail Carl.

Oh what a night

Welcome to the Easter edition of The Baseball Buffoons.

While many of us (myself included) were glued to the 2 OT Bruins game last night (CA-REEEY, CA-REEEY), the Red Sox continued their impressive turnaround. I watched enough of the Sox game during the Bruins intermission’s to see that they were doing well, but it wasn’t until about the 5th inning that I could give them my full attention.

After calling for Dice-K to be traded 2 weeks ago, I’ve been shocked with how he’s pitched. In his last 2 starts, that’s the number of hits he’s allowed: 2. His breaking stuff has been excellent and he’s consistently locating his fastball.

Crawford is showing signs of breaking out of his beginning of the season funk, going 2 for 4 last night with an RBI. Let’s hope this continues.

The area that I’m most concerned with now is catching. Have the Sox lost confidence in Saltalamacchia? It seems that way because Varitek has been catching a lot more games than an over-the-hill backup catcher normally would/should. Varitek’s offense is anemic, but the Sox seem more than willing to let that go as long as the pitching staff is doing better. And they have been since he’s been catching more. This is certainly an area to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

Adrian Gonzalez contract

Numerous news outlets are reporting that the Red Sox and Adrian Gonzalez agreed to a 7 year, $154 million contract. That’s $22 million per season. I think this is a good deal, and given that he still has tremendous upside offensively and is excellent defensively. He’s been one of the bright spots offensively and his defense so far has been solid. Hopefully he can follow through and live up to this contract. I think he can and will. In other news, Red Sox- Blue Jays tonight with the boys of summer looking to get back on track.

TONIGHT!

If you’re looking for baseball analysis from me (Lee) tonight, you won’t find any. I’ve got a fever, and the only prescription is…. MORE BRUINS! Not more cowbell, as is usually the case.

Beat those french-canadian bastards

Lefty battle!

Tonight finds the Sox and Rays throwing arguably their best pitchers: Jon Lester and David Price. They seem to be cut from a similar mold: both lefties with overpowering fastballs and excellent off-speed pitches.

As a sox fan, I appreciate the talents of David Price, but I will never forget that he is the reason the Sox didn’t go to the World Series in 2008 (if you’ll remember, he stonewalled the Sox in Game 7 of the 2008 ALCS). The Red Sox will need to bring it tonight if they want to be successful against him.

Jon Lester looks to build momentum against a Rays team that was unstoppable offensively last night. If the Sox are to start digging their way out of this 2-8 start to the season, it falls on Lester to begin the process.

Thoughts from last night’s game and the future

3 quick thoughts from last night’s game:

– Dice K needs to be traded or released. Immediately. Last night was the definitive proof that he can’t make it in the American League East. Does he have the talent to be a major league pitcher? Yes. Last year he almost no-hit the Phillies, so the stuff is there. But he isn’t made for the pressure of Boston. Maybe he’d be suited better to Seattle if the Sox can eat at least half of his salary. Please check out the article by Peter Abraham today for better articulated thoughts: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/extras/extra_bases/2011/04/the_time_has_co.html?p1=News_links

-Curt Young needs to go. The new pitching coach must be fired at some point soon if this terrible pitching continues. Ultimately he is responsible for the pre-game preparations, including gameplanning a pitching strategy. He’s failing.

-Catching sucks. The catching is terrible. I’m beginning to wish the Sox signed a Molina.

There we go

Last night’s game was a vast improvement over any of the games the Sox have played this season, including their win on Friday. Friday’s game was won on emotion, tonight’s on emotion and execution.

Beckett looked like the Beckett we became used to seeing in 2007 when he dominated. 8 strong innings and 10 strikeouts. His fastball had great life and his curveball was devastating. Even when it went as a ball, it routinely froze the righties batting for the Yankees last night. He looked far more comfortable with ‘Tek behind the plate, so perhaps ‘Tek can catch for him every start. Beckett essentially said this after the game: “‘Tek and I were really clicking. We do that a lot.”

What hasn’t been said about Pedroia? Going into the weekend he said he was going to rake the ball and the he went out and did so. He was the catalyst for the weekend’s offense, finishing up by getting on base 5 times last night. Laser show showed up and delivered.

The new Sunday Night Baseball crew is slightly better than Jon Miller and Joe Morgan, but barely. I wanted to reach through my tv and punch Bobby Valentine in the face. I know Boston is a beautiful city and Fenway is a baseball mecca. I’m from here, I know all about it. The play-by-play guy kept calling Pedroia “that little guy.” Everyone knows he’s small. We also all know that he’s been a Rookie of the Year and an MVP. Shut up with the small talk. Orel Hershiser was refreshing, and I’m glad he pointed out that Manny quit on every team he ever played for. Someone in the national media finally had to call him out. I’m glad it was a hall of famer.

With an eye to tonight’s game against the Rays, let’s hear what you thought about last night’s game.

Fenway home opener

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Yesterday is the day that Sox fans have been waiting for. Especially with the way the season started, the return to Fenway provided new hope for fans and players who were beginning to look down-in-the-mouth. There’s new grass in the infield: this is significant because Pedroia had been an outspoken critic of the old infield grass… I guess it wasn’t like the grass Bill Murray used in CaddyShack: 2:04 into the clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrcgjMJmvNg

John Lackey again proved that he sucks, but luckily for him Phil Hughes was equally bad. Who saw Bartolo Colon pitching that well? It’s almost too bad that he got the loss and lackey the win because it was clear that Colon was the best pitcher yesterday. With the offense showing life, I think that the pressure for them to hit will lessen and offensively they’ll look more like the team we were expecting. Pedroia said pre-game that he was going to rake the ball, and then he backed it up. Laser Show.

The bullpen was excellent yesterday, even call-up Alredo Aceves (former New York Bastard pitcher). Jenks-Bard-Pabelbon showed that the the late innings of the ballgame might be too late for teams to try and make up ground on the Sox this year. I was pleased with Bard’s bounce back performance after his shaky outing in Cleveland where he matched his career high in losses (2).

The boys are right back at it today at 1:10, but I’ll be needing the Picture-in-Picture option with the Bruins playing at 1:00. What a sports day.

Goodbye Reyes, Hello Doubront

The Boston Globe is reporting that Dennys Reyes Has been designated for assignment and that the team has recalled lefty Felix Doubront to replace him. Perhaps Theo Epstein received my attempts at mental telepathy the other night when I wondered if Doubront would not in fact be the better long term choice for the team (see Is this serious? from April 6).

Reyes was horrendous. Perhaps he was the 2011 version of “Bullpen by committee” except as “Lefty by default.” Let’s hope so. In the meantime, let’s hope Doubront can continue the success he had at the end of last season.

Less than 3 hours to go now until the Sox home opener against the Bastards from New York. Get excited. Playing at Fenway will hopefully rejuvenate our boys of summer.

Is this serious?

0-5. I do not fault Dice K. He pitches the only way he knows how: frustratingly. His last 3 innings tonight were actually surprisingly tolerable when compared with his first 2.

As good as the bullpen looked last night, they looked the exact opposite of that tonight. I honestly think I could have been a more serviceable pitcher than Dennys Reyes. 3 batters: 2 HBP and one 4 pitch walk. His “effort” tonight really shows how far Okajima had to fall to end up in AAA. I wonder if Felix Doubront would have been the go to lefty this season if he hadn’t hurt his arm during spring training. He certainly was good at the end of last season.

At first I didn’t want to blame Dan Wheeler for how the rest of the inning shook out. As I scrutinized him more closely, he was missing where ‘Tek was set up. He allowed all of the runners to score that Reyes put on base plus one more on the home run he gave up. Ridiculous.

I know it is way too early to call for anyone to be fired, but the performance of the pitching staff so far has planted the seed in my brain that pitching coach Curt Young won’t make it until June if this keeps up.

Let’s hear your thoughts and frustrations.

0-4

On a damp chilly night in Ohio, the Red Sox stuttered their way to 0-4 on the young season. Did ANYONE see this coming? I certainly didn’t. Back on March 28, I wrote a piece wondering about Beckett going into the season. While his start tonight wasn’t as bad as he has been in the past, he certainly wasn’t the Beckett we all want him to be.

Jeremy Lundblad of ESPNBoston noted today that for both April 2009 and April 2010, Beckett finished with a 7.22 era. Not good. For me, tonight’s start was problematic mostly in terms of Beckett’s high pitch count that limited him to 5 innings. His final 2 innings were representative of his night as a whole: shaky command, surprisingly patient Indians hitters, and an inability to get the crucial out when it mattered most. On the plus side, Beckett had pretty good control of his curveball in weather that is not usually conducive to effective breaking pitches (see Indian closer Chris Perez’s slider in the 9th). The bullpen was solid tonight, and gave us a glimpse of what it could look like as the season progresses. In 3 innings of relief tonight, Albers, Jenks, and Bard racked up 8 K’s. I’ll take it. Tomorrow we look to Dice-K to help deliver the Sox first win. Nervous? I am. Let us know what you think about tonight’s game.

What did this weekend tell us?

Can we glean any information about the Sox from their opening weekend fiasco in Texas? I think we can, but I also believe that it is far too early to become overly-concerned about these issues.

1) The Sox supposed top 3 pitches all got roughed up by a potent Rangers lineup. Does this speak to the ability of the Rangers to be an excellent offense? Absolutely. Ian Kinsler tore the cover off the ball this weekend, and he is poised to have another excellent season.

2) With the pitching getting roughed up, should we flag it as an area of concern? Potentially. Hopefully the starters don’t continue to give up so many home runs to the other team (11 given up this weekend), but this will be an area to watch.

3) David Ortiz is off to an excellent start. After a solid weekend, perhaps no one outside of the Sox locker room predicted that he would begin the season like this. I certainly didn’t.

4) We should not be concerned with Crawford being dropped to the 7-spot. Tito said before the game that Crawford was trying too hard, and his increased success on Sunday shows that he was more relaxed. Will he stay in the 7th spot in the batting order? No. The Sox need him, Ellsbury, and Pedroia at the top.

5) I missed Don and the Remdawg more than I thought. They do an excellent job of blending solid analysis with humor. They both clearly enjoy working with each other and this is reflected in the quality of the broadcast. Also, I still love Heidi Watney.

Drop us a line with any of your thoughts from the weekend as the Sox road trip continues to Cleveland.

MINUTES TO GO

With only a few minutes to go until the Sox season begins, I have a few thoughts, and a few over/unders for you all to weigh in on.

First, I’m really interested in seeing how the enigma known as Dice-K does this season. We all know his history of inconsistency. In a contract year, will he finally show the consistency in the command of his pitches? With the still lurking questions about Beckett and Lackey, it is crucial that Dice K be at least decent if 2 out of the Sox’s 3 Texan starters (Bucholz being the third) cannot be the dominant pitchers they are being paid to be.

OVER/UNDERS:

-over/under 90 stolen bases for Ellsbury and Crawford. I’m taking the over at saying together they will have 107 stolen bases. Even if this number is wrong, their speed will be devastating to opposing pitching staffs.

-over/under 105 rbi’s for Adrian Gonzalez? I’m going over, with 115. The monster and his swing will be a formidable pair, I hope.

-over/under 26 HR’s for Ortiz? I’m going under with 24. I want to be wrong here, but I’m afraid his slow starts will eventually carry farther into the season.

-Finally, over/under Pedroia referring to himself as “Laser Show” 5 days per week? Way over.

Leave a comment and let us know what your over/unders are.

Sox making a trade?

Conflicting reports are surfacing about the Red Sox making a trade. The rumor stems from Joel Sherman of the NY Post, tweeting that a deal for Rockies minor league catcher Mike McKenry and Sox minor league pitcher Daniel Turpen is in place. ESPNBOSTON’s Gordon Edes cites Sox GM Theo Epstein saying that a deal has not happened yet. For what it’s worth, the trade would give the Sox catching depth in the minors if anything happened to Salty or ‘Tek.

Keep an eye out for updates over at MLBTradeRumors.

Hope in Pittsburgh?

For as long as I can remember, and probably for as long as you can remember, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been a joke. More than a joke. Some of their seasons have been so bad that I almost feel bad for those involved. Of course, some of this problem had to do with the players, some with the coaches, and a lot with cheap ownership.

This season, however, I see reason to think that they will be better. It all starts with Clint Hurdle. Once a successful manager with the Rockies, his style should fit well with a young Pittsburgh team. Realistically, they will not make the playoffs, but what they can do is begin to finally put the pieces in place to build toward winning seasons.

Let’s start with Andrew McCutchen. The kid is 23 and has all of the signs of being the next big thing for the Pirates. He’s got speed (36 steals last season) and he has a decent average (.286 both years in the majors). If Pedro Alvarez can strikeout less and get on base more, McCutchen will see better pitching and should improve his numbers. If Lyle Overbay can summon the remaining gas in the tank, the Pirates 3-4-5 hitters could be good. Not scary good a-la the Cleveland Indians in the mid to late 90s, but good. Their pitching needs work, and this is the reason why I don’t see them improving significantly this season. However, their top pitching prospect, Jameson Taillon, is only 19 and from all reports has the potential to be good. Baseball America has him as the #11 prospect in the country. He’s 6’6, 225, so he’s big. What does this mean right now? Nothing. But if he can figure out how to be an effective pitcher while in the minors, look for him to make a splash in the majors in the next few seasons. There’s reason for hope in Pittsburgh, and this season can be the beginning of something good. Now with this National League Central information in hand, go forth and make your friends look foolish with what you know.

D-Train derailed

What has happened to Dontrelle Willis? It’s been announced that Willis has been reassigned to the AAA club of the Cincinnati Reds (the Louisville Bats), showing again that Willis has not been able to regain the near un-hittable form he had with the Marlins in 2005. It seems more likely that his 2005 season was nothing more than proverbial a flash in the pan (yes, a gold mining reference). Did the Marlins coaches put too much pressure on him and allow him to pitch too many innings too early in his career? At age 23 he threw 236.1 innings. Look at what has been happening with young pitchers since then. Clay Bucholz was brought along slowly, as have other sox pitchers. The Nationals had a limit with how many innings potential-ace Stephen Strasburg could throw before he got injured last season.

I am not here to suggest that Willis was up to anything fishy during that season, but in my opinion I think it was the only season where he ‘put it all together’ and showed what he could be. As happens with so many players with great potential, unfortunately, Willis succumbed to injury problems and made the never-good decision to start changing his delivery. By tinkering this way, he all but ensured that his brain would never allow his body to repeat the same consistent throwing motion that was so devastating in 2005. Will he ever make it back up to the majors for a full season? I doubt it. Is it a shame that this promising young man has run into so many problems the last few seasons? Let us know what you think.