Frankensteiner

How many games have we won where we've actually lead the entire game? I recall Opening day. It seems as if we're always trying to come from behind to win these games.

Not really liking this ump's strike zone for Danks.

I should have mentioned we lead the league w/ RISP in 2006. So it's not all terrible under Walker, but 2006 clearly looks like an anomaly at this point.

By the way, I think the key hitting statistic is our average w/ RISP. It's dead last. We've actually finished last twice before under Greg Walker ('05-surprisingly & 07) but we were much closer to the mean both times.

The lack of situational hitting is appalling. We hardly ever seem to make productive outs. With all that said, the Sox are 9th in the AL in runs scored which is about what I expected. There's been some guys who underachieved up to this point and some guys who have done better than predicted. The major problem is we're 11th in the AL in ERA. At the start of the season had anyone said we'd be outside of the top 3, I'd say we have no chance in competing for the division. What people called the best starting rotation in baseball has only one above league average starter at this point.

2-14 w/RISP today. I saw the Mariners fired their hitting coach but appearantly the team hitting .001 above the M's has a hitting coach with a lifetime contract.

Kotsay or Teahen plz!

I thought he had a transplant.

The only concern I have is Peavy and his lack of velocity. If he can regain his form and pitch like a #1 guy I think the Sox can still compete for the division. Offense is bad, but other than Jones and maybe Rios, I don't think anyone on the team has hit up to their potential. Konerko and Quentin have been mercurial despite some nice moments. We'll see how we look once the guys start hitting.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 03:01 PM) Prior to Gavin's bombing today, Our starters' ERA was 4.09. Middle of the pack in the AL. Well that's kind of disappointing considering I remember people here were upset when some site (was it ESPN?) didn't have the Sox ranked as the best starting rotation in baseball. Given the expectations here, you can't say they've been doing a good job. I think pretty much everyone here would say that if the Sox starters weren't at least top 3 the team would struggle. The offense has been bad but there's plenty of blame to go around.

QUOTE (chw42 @ Apr 18, 2010 -> 01:02 PM) The Sox had a lead in the first 7 games. Until the game where Peavy gave up 7 runs, it was doing a fine job. I've only counted 3 starts where our staff has not given us a chance to win. 3/13 is not a bad percentage. "Chance to win" is different than shutting the other team down. Obviously you can't ask them to pitch shutouts all the time but still. Cleveland scored 2 runs in 4 games against Texas and Detroit. They're a terrible offense. Only in Buehrle's first start did we hold them under 3 runs. That's 1 out of 6 games, whereas against other teams they were held under 3 runs in 4 out of 6 games.

The thing about the 0-8 record when scoring 3 or less is more an indictment on the pitching staff than anything else. I mean, we all knew the offense would suck and low scoring games would be common place. But I think that most of us would think that with our pitching staff, we can pull some of these games out, at least some of the time. Even if we won 2 of those 8, we'd be 6-6 right now. Basically, the pitching was supposed to carry this team. I don't think it has.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Sep 16, 2009 -> 12:34 PM) Nobody's calling for KW's head. At the time, Rios seemed like a good move (despite the fact a few people I know told me Rios is a cancer and lazy and will suck) because KW gave up nothing but money to get him. He's been a terrible acquisition so far and Pods is still out in cf butchering that position a couple times a week. I hate giving up so many pitchers for Peavy, ones who could have pitched this year, but he's the savior so I'll go along with everybody and applaud that move. Actually, I disagree. At the time, it was the same move as it is now. Rios is a talented player but one that has not produced up to his salary for the last 2 seasons, that was true then and it's true now. All I know is KW better not be crying poor when it's time to improve the lineup and bullpen in the off-season.

QUOTE (CanOfCorn @ Sep 9, 2009 -> 03:30 PM) Yes, that's exactly what I said.... /rolly I'm just saying that next year they won't put extra pressure on him. Come in, play hard, remember there are other hitters around you and relax. So how is that any different from his situation this season? Why is he have extra pressure vis-a-vis next season? If he sucks like this for the rest of the year, wouldn't he put just as much, if not more pressure on himself next season to justify the trade and contract. I know when there's a new guy on the team people here want to really like him. It's like getting a new toy. But excuse making masquarading as amateur sports psychology kinda sounds lame. I think it's far more likely that his hitting mechanics are shot.

His OBP of .299 is a season total so I am not juding him on his time with the Sox. He is a better player than what he's shown here so far and he's a better player than Brian Anderson. I never made that argument. I guess reading comprehension isn't a strong point on this forum. All I'm saying is we all thought BA sucked, and Rios is statistically close to, although better than, BA. However, and I can't stress this enough, no one was paying BA 60 f***ING MILLION $$$. Rios has been on a downward trend for 3 years. He will probably play better, but the fact that he is capable of such suckage, even if for a season, means he's not worth the kind of money on his contract. Especially when the Sox cry poor as much as they do.

By comparison, BA (who I think sucks) had an OBP of .322 when the Sox cut bait. Essentially we traded for a rich man's Gary Matthews Jr.

QUOTE (Chisoxfn @ Sep 2, 2009 -> 10:57 AM) I don't agree with him on the rotation, but for the most part he summed it up well and while this season has been a disaster I'm already excited for next season because this team is close. Close to what? Our starting pitching should be great but the other areas (hitting, fielding, bullpen) are disasters. I doubt we can fix those holes in one off-season, especially when we already sunk a bunch of money into Rios.

I said it last year and people ripped me, but I will say it again, 2008 was our last shot to win a WS for the conceivable future (that's why I was disappointed with last season). Unless we spend a crap load of money, which is doubtful, I don't see how this team is going to get much better -- Peavy notwithstanding. As sad as it is, the old geezers have still been our most productive hitters. Who's going to replace them? I just hope we're not banking on Latin BA. And the bullpen still looks like a mess.

This just seems like a very dumb hitting team to me. Are there splits for hitting with guys on 3rd and less than 2 out? Because I'd love to see our numbers vs the rest of the AL. The other thing is that every no-name pitcher is out there twirling no hitters against us. Now we could blame some of that on advance scouting and some on players themselves, but there's no way Walker shouldn't be held accountable. Unless Greg Walker is your friend, or he's taken you out to dinner, I don't see why people would get so attached. Hitting coaches get fired all the time.

I know this isn't a very good team.

QUOTE (bmags @ Aug 24, 2009 -> 07:39 PM) I'm just so disgusted right now. SO f***ing disgusted. I was disgusted over the weekend. Now I've made peace with this team sucking.

What difference is Peavy going to make? We're 2 games over .500. It's not as if Contreras has piled up all our 61 losses. In fact we've won his last 2 starts.

QUOTE (daa84 @ Aug 24, 2009 -> 07:30 PM) yeah but when you team spots your pitcher a 3 run lead, expectations change a little bit Chances were he was going to give up more than 4 runs.

This isn't the game to get worked up over. Contreras pitching in Boston can't be a good thing. Our two best pitchers losing to the 2nd worst team in the AL at home? Those games were a f***ing embarassment.

Rios has a .877 home OPS.