Jake

There are some HUGE ramifications to clubhouse and Santos' morale when you go out there and pull him before he blows it because he doesn't look right. He's earned the right to be the official closer, which means when he goes out there it's his game to lose. He hasn't squandered enough games to have that quick of a hook. Players would lose faith in their manager if he just gives up on guys that have been doing so well, we'd have another Brian Fuentes/Huston Street debacle. Santos knows his role, knows even if his first X amount of batters are horribly pitched he is in there until the game is won or lost. That's how it should be until further notice.

QUOTE (TheBigHurt @ Jun 9, 2011 -> 10:30 PM) Only this year? You're a new Sox fan, aren't you? I have a feeling that fans of just about every team think they get owned by rookies way too often.

I actually really liked Torres' stuff. I have a feeling if he would have pitched with nearly as much command as he clearly had at AAA, he would have been very successful. As he's learned, you don't always get very many chances to figure it out up at the big show, though. And I have no problem with that, we've been in no position to give him any more chances due to personnel/his past performance.

I've spent hours on video analysis of Peavy's motion and what I've found is startling and explains this issue completely. I won't bore you with the medical jargon, so I'll try to put this in layman's terms: Peavy has a really unusual pitching motion, and you may see this when you look at it from the right angles, but he actually uses his legs as part of the pitching motion. This can pull on the groin, which is very problematic. The worst part is the guy has been ignoring Coop's constant requests to remove his legs from the motion. Ideally, Jake would be kneeling the entire time. Sure he may lose that strikeout pitch, but he can do without it. It is more important that he's out there. I have my reservations about this new motion though, it may cause undue stress on his back.

I had a bad groin strain my freshman year of high school that was never really treated beyond icing and a few days off because of the nature of the beast in high school, trying not to miss any games as a three sport athlete. Now as a sophomore in college, it still bothers me. I still pitch and deal with some pain and inflexibility, but I'd venture to guess that I would have a hard time discerning whether I had reinjured it or not unless I did so on a large scale. Sometimes it's hard to discern whether a small pain/sensation is just one of those momentary things or not.

He felt a "grabbing sensation" at first. He didn't try to pitch through something, he just didn't know if he was hurt. This is the type of thing where you're not sure what's wrong until it actually tightens up. Pitching through an injury would have been going back out there after that inning.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 02:21 PM) That might have been a strike out on the HBP that wasn't called. Agreed.

He went around, should have been strike three.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 02:04 PM) Mmmmmmm, yeah probably. Too bad. I for one like him but he's become very maddening. There's a lot to say for a guy that hits for average, always makes contact, and for the most part plays the game right. I am rooting for the old Juan Pierre to come back. I think he is basically there at the plate, defense is getting better, and still lost stealing bases. What we saw today had nothing to do with speed, either.

QUOTE (BigEdWalsh @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 02:00 PM) I love the Juan Pierre who stole 68 bases last year. Who is this impostor??? This one seems to hit better, just needs to put together his game on the basepaths.

QUOTE (CaliSoxFanViaSWside @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 01:58 PM) Smart call does not equal smart results if your jump is worthless. The mistake wasn't in the call or even the bad jump. The mistake is not just stopping and waiting for the next pitch. You're allowed to have a bad jump, you just don't keep running.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 01:57 PM) We saw that last night too, just wearing the opposite uniform. Yes we did. Different method, same results.

Fellas, that's what an ace looks like.

I love watching Jake Peavy pitch. I have basically the same repertoire minus 8-10 mph. I learn so much watching him.

A guy like Juan should steal off that combo there. He just isn't allowed to wait till release to start running.

With any other P/C combo, he spins the wheels and goes back there. He had to know how bad his jump was, but probably assumed even with a jump that cost him at least a couple strides that he'd be able to get in there off Penny/Vmart

Wow, what a horrible jump that was. He didn't start moving until Penny's leg was on its way back down.

You have to admit that Juan has been a different (and adequate) player for a little while now.

QUOTE (fathom @ Jun 5, 2011 -> 01:38 PM) The issues that Dunn, Rios and Beckham have/had are pretty easy to see, so I'm sure Walker is doing his best to fix them. I'm sincere with that actually. Players will resist the change at times because they're going to be at least somewhat comfortable with the mechanics they have, even if they are bad. They don't want to try to break out of a slump feeling even more uncomfortable at the plate than normal. Needless to say they are wrong and probably do need to change, but sometimes it isn't clear especially for a player whether mechanics or approach are in need of a change and when to start messing with mechanics instead of approach or vice versa.

Valverde's fastball got significantly better as the inning progressed.

At least he stayed inside it, not the worst approach. He wanted to make contact.

QUOTE (danman31 @ Jun 4, 2011 -> 09:22 PM) The Sox are 18-13 since the start of May. The season is turned around. They just have to sustain it. I agree that we're now a winning team. We just have to play lights out for a while and I think that's going to necessitate at least one of them coming through regularly.

That first pitch to Dunn had a s*** ton of movement.

When doesn't Brent hit it hard?

QUOTE (forrestg @ Jun 4, 2011 -> 09:19 PM) Dunn will answer miggy's bomb. Not before LilllBOMB does!