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I hope he starts BA instead of Erstad on Opening Day.Is he going with Erstad?

That is a pretty amazing stat when you think about it. I'd say that record will never be broken.

How come Travis Hafner can hit lefties and our lefties cannot hit lefties? Just take it the other way, guys. Memo to Thome: You don't need to try to hit 50 hrs this year. When batting against lefties defy the shift and dribble some singles. AJ: Bat on ball, baby. Bat on ball. Go with the pitch Pods.

Maybe. I just don't see, it, though. Really, the Rowand trade proved no player is safe on a team, anyway. So really any player on any team should be concerned about his future with any individual franchise. I'm not saying you are wrong, but I don't see this being an issue with as many vets as the Sox have. For some reason, I am trusting Oz to have learned some things and I have a sneaky feeling we'll be complaining about his using too many players this year than having one set lineup. He's going to be platooning a lot to combat this problem of the Sox lineup against tough lefties. I also can't see him going with Vaz as long as he did last year. I would think he'll make the mistake of leaving him in too long once, then it'll be 5 2/3 inning Vaz.

I agree. There's no way of predicting. I, however, think our starting pitching will bounce back (knock on wood) and I think we do have a pretty good bullpen, assuming MacDougal and Bobby will be the anchors. Our defense should be good if Uribe has another good year in the field. I truly believe Oz will play Ozuna and Anderson against lefties and because of our pitching we will win the division. The lack of a backup catcher is scary. If AJ gets hurt and/or hits .110 vs. lefties, that's not a pleasant thought. It's all about our pitching. I like the fact we have two lefty starters.

There's no guarantee Ozuna is gonna hit CC on Monday, but I would definitely platoon Pods at the age of 31. Thome should hit all pitchers and as a veteran, wise up and just make contact against lefties. How many homers did he blast vs. lefties last year anyway? Also Erstad should never play against lefties. It should be Anderson. It's pretty simple to me, and I bet you, aside from possibly Opening Day, that's what's going to happen. He's going to play Anderson and Ozuna a lot.

Fathom, he's talking about Opening Day, not all season against lefties. Thome will hit lefties all year, but no way will he play Erstad all the time vs. lefties. Ozuna will get tons of at bats, maybe even on Opening Day. Why can't our professional lefthanded hitters shorter their swings and hit lefties better this season anyway?? We're only gonna face two lefties in the Cleveland series alone. It's KW's fault ultimately if he thinks our lefties are a problem against lefties. If the division is lefty dominated, then he should have got us an option besides Erstad and Pods. Though I bet you Ozuna and Anderson are going to play ALOT vs. lefties.

Wow balta, as usual thanks for the stat. AJ played in 140 games? Well, he can do it again. As far as him not hitting lefties, he's not as bad as Thome and Pods is he? Our lineup should suck it up and focus more when we face the lefties of our division this year. We need to get on them early and knock them up and out of the game before they get on a roll. This may be blasphemous, but guys like Thome should confound the shift and just try to get bat on ball against lefties and fricking get on base. Pods and AJ too. Just stroke a single or take a walk. None of these power swings vs. lefties when you are a lefty. Am I off base here???

The point of the original post was "small ball." I think we all agree that was in name only. We've not played small ball at all. The Sox are predicated on home runs. We have for the most part slow plodders. The Sox bunting last year was horrible as you recall. There is no small ball.

I don't know about that. I mean, are the Sox the only team in baseball where management sends a message like this to players? I mean the season is so long ... do you really think 2 seasons after the parade all the veterans are going to not care about winning? I mean April, May, June, July, August, Sept., they want to be ridiculed in the press and booed on the field?? I doubt it. We may suck but it won't be for not caring I feel. Hopefully Oz and KW will ship guys to the minors if they have the attitude you suggest. Konerko will not loaf; our starters aren't primma donnas. They may get rocked but they will try. Why would Dye brood? He's been great in Chicago and won't want to falter. Iguchi? Why would he brood? I think your argument is lame personally.

Logan should have made the team based on those stats. I know it doesn't matter what players think, but it has to be demoralyzing for team morale to see a guy with an 0.00 not make the team. I'm assuming Logan is not some jerk who the players hate. If he's a decent guy and does not have some personality flaw I think he should have made the team. I mean what more can a guy do??

84 wins maximum

Out of pen: MacD. Starter for must win: Jose C Clutch hit: Thome against a righty; Crede otherwise. Won't you all tire of seeing that Thome shift again this year?

Good point fathom. Let's just hope spring training really is meaningless. The team certainly did nothing of note except lose meaningless games. What I like is potentially our bullpen is looking good if Bobby still has it. I envision MacDougal being effective setup man with those other guys getting one or two outs when need be. If MacD sucks, all bets are off I feel. What I don't like is we had potentially a good fifth starter in Brandon and/or Freddy. Instead we now have a guy who appears to be a major question mark at best in Danks. Hopefully the second lefty will help balance our staff a bit. And hopefully our big four will return to dominance. Pods however is one year older and likely slower. Just one catcher in AJ which is nobody's fault of course. A major question mark in Erstad, just like BA was a major question mark last year. Infield looks good if it stays healthy. Thome must stay healthy.

Wow. Those stats are horrific. Hopefully Jose will set the tone with 7 strong innings on opening day.

To those of you who have watched a lot of spring training up close and personal and studied the stats as well ... How do our four starters look? Is Mark throwing gopher balls like he did the second half of last year or does he look rejuvenated? Is Jose the Jose of the first half last year? Does Vazzy look good? And does Jon look like an ace? Obviously our season depends on those four starters and the team defense behind them. If they can't go 7 strong innings we are hosed. Are we looking at domination on the mound this year?

It's good to have two lefties in the rotation. GO DANKS!

Good point Tizzle. But you know they are not going to play him if he can't throw anybody out. He simply won't play. Because of the injury, he's obviously a wasted acquisition. We need to pick up some veteran who has been axed. Why not Widger?

If we have fifth starter problems this season, we should want KW's head for getting rid of Freddie. If this Molina guy is an automatic out, we're going to be hurting big time when he plays. I say catch AJ 130 games even against lefties. Can he handle 130?

I know it's not Sox news, but why do you think Reed's skills didn't translate to the big leagues? Was there any sign in the minors that he couldn't hit? He has nothing in his bat, no pop in his bat, correct?

Thanks for the update chsoxfan. I believe you fully but how is BA hitting .290? That's way better than last season. Has he attacked the ball at all? Or is he still that tall lumbering at bat guy who looks like a pitcher at the plate?

I hate to say I've been stuck at work swamped all of march and haven't had time to check the stats. But I've just now checked them and I'd say, Yes, I wish BA would be starting ahead of Erstad. Hopefully with all the lefties in our division, BA should play a lot. He hit 290 in the spring, did BA with a better on base than Erstad which should have given him the job. Hope Darin doesn't suck in April and May. We have to stay pace all season with the Tigers, Indians, Twins and maybe even the Royals, who have our number.

Who cares what the minor leaguers think about how Anderson has been handled? The minor leaguers should try to make the majors and shut the bleep up. Anderson sucked at the plate last year. He sucked. Plain and simple. If he produces, baseball men like Oz and KW will play him. He he continues to be an automatic out, he won't. Personally I wish we still had BMac as No. 5 starter, but as far as Anderson, he needs to produce or get what he deserves, the bench.

No offense, but having a lot of veteran position players ... wouldn't we be better off with a fifth starter who the Sox know can pitch? Do we really believe a 21 year old is gonna last six, seven innings in the big leagues per game ... in our tough division? I really hate to be a pessimist, but I wonder. Those of you who have seen the guy pitch, are you convinced he, at 21, is gonna do the job? I mean many on the boards freak at veterans like Vazzy imploding after six innings. Aren't the odds much greater of Danks doing what Logan did at the start of last year than Danks winning games for a team that supposedly is a contender??

Does anyone think Owens/Sweeney will ever get a chance? If so, when.