caulfield12

15 K's. Soon to be 16? Harrelson gets to take another shot at the umpiring, lol.

6/7 throwing out runners. Funny thing is we need Flowers' offense a lot more than defense, the opposite of when we acquired him. Guess we miss Felix. Actually wanted to see how our hitters fared against him, but it's probably better for Beckham and Morel to face struggling pitches like Noesi and Millwood.

QUOTE (kapzk @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 03:00 PM) So we are striking out this bad against starters who don't exactly have the flashiest K/9, I could only imagine when we face guys that are strikeout pitchers We usually have hit Felix Hernandez in the past. Even Brian Anderson.

QUOTE (IowanSoxFan @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:56 PM) Jesus, didn't even realize that the game had started. Oh well, doesn't look like I wanted to see it. Yep, it's Gavin, it's April, and we still can't hit with RISP. Nothing new there. Might almost be better off watching the movie BATTLESHIP, although that's just as predictable, maybe moreso than the Sox. How was Stewart ever a top relief candidate with the Reds throwing at 90-91 MPH? Hmmm....it's like Nick Masset and the disappearing fastball. Did they not want to announce the attendance intentionally?

QUOTE (Soxfest @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:52 PM) DV looks lost. Very few major league hitters hitters are going to hit that 3rd strike when their timing mechanism is geared for 97-99 MPH fastballs.

Viciedo at least SHOWED the ability to time a 97-98 MPH fastball. So he has the chance to hit it, if he's looking for it. That's about the only positive to take from that inning, and the fact that Alex Rios is finally starting to look like a major league hitter again. 101 K's.

DAMMIT Tank. Horrible game. 100 K's now. Hat trick.

Fastball Viciedo, be READY.

The irony is accomplishing those 12 K's without either Morel or Beckham, or Fukudome for that matter.

99 K's and counting. The next one will be 100 in 12 games (8.33 per game). Great heater vs. Konerko bat match-up. It's not fair how good the Rangers' system if they can just release this guy or not protect him.

QUOTE (Flash Tizzle @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:38 PM) Why not just walk Konerko and AJ every AB? Would we win another game this season? Up until a week ago, that would have worked. But Rios and Ramirez have been pretty dangerous. Maybe walk AJ, though, and try to get the DP ball from Rios or Alexei. Somehow, I wouldn't be shocked if it was Nathan Jones and not Addison Reed eventually emerging as the closer.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:32 PM) His mental errors on the field are way too similar to Pierre last year. The funny thing is that I was listening to a Dodgers' broadcast maybe 3-4 years ago and Vin Scully said he NEVER saw Pierre make a mental mistake on the field of play. Kind of lapsed there with Ozzie, although a lot of his errors were physical as well as mental ones. Hawk loves Adam Jones, lol. Reimold has looked REALLY good this season, too. Wonder who Adam Jones goes to as a FA? He'd be a very good fit for the Cubs if they didn't have Jackson coming up, because Byrd's nearing the end of the line as a productive player. Heck, he'd look really good for the Sox, too, but not for $15-16 million per season.

That ball was actually out over the plate, but 70% of Dunn's K's have to have been on low and inside (mostly balls) sliders/cutters/curves at his kneecaps.

More mental errors by DeAza. You can't get thrown out with Dunn at the plate and down by 3 in that situation. I don't care what Harrelson just said.

Lillibridge looking more like the 2009 and 2010 version. Needs to shorten than swing if he wants to actually make decent contact against a fastball.

Jones would be the 2nd best bullpen option right now in Boston.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:18 PM) Very well said...all of Kenny's horrible trades/lack of MLB caliber players in return have really drained this organization. Let's just hope Molina and Castro can build on their recent outings. Be careful, Marty or Cowley will quote that back at you at some point.

Viciedo and Beckham are definitely TALENTED guys. Whether they fulfill that potential, who knows. Same thing with Dunn and Rios, Alexei, Paulie....AJ has always been a good hitter. Morel and DeAza, they're much bigger question marks. AAA players or major league back-ups or starters for bad teams.

QUOTE (fathom @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:13 PM) Just seems like no matter how Ventura configures the lineup, there are 3 guys in it you just know have no chance to contribute that day. Lillibridge should never start against RHP, and still not sure why Escobar is in the majors. Oh well, maybe we can get two guys on and let our best hitter PH today (and no, I don't mean Morel). Too bad we didn't have him in that first inning to blow the game wide open...but at 35 he can't play everyday, clearly. Amazing how the fortunes of the Dodgers have turned so much in the last 18-24 months. Let's hope that we can somehow replicate that turnaround. Andino, Red Sox killer, strikes again.

The most exciting thing about the remainder of this game is seeing if we can manage 10,000 in attendance when they announce it. Chavez is still a VERY good outfielder. Great recovery there.

Harrelson more and more annoyed with our offense and Gavin. On the plus side, a double play removes 2 possibilities of striking out.

Ramirez has been looking pretty hitterish for April play. About as good as he has in his Sox career.

QUOTE (SoxFan1 @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:01 PM) Of all things, the pitching staff is the least of out concerns. Not concerned. What I mean is the opposite. If we throw a bunch of shutouts or dominate from a pitching standpoint, it will be 50% because of those stadiums, the woeful line-ups and the cold April weather. Somebody better not serve up a cookie to Cespedes, but Gavin will probably manage it next week.

QUOTE (jeffro2525 @ Apr 19, 2012 -> 02:00 PM) In fairness, the Sox were pretty good vs. the Tigers. The Baltimore series has been a grind though. Even when the O's don't score they put some fear into us with baserunners and hard outs. Those two games we won, almost every possible break went our way. Just the opposite for three of these games. Baseball always tends to even out, especially when you're just an average team. DeAza's been the equivalent of Juan Pierre in CF, to the point where anything we've gotten offensively has been offset by mistakes defensively. That and the fact we were fortunate to face them without Verlander and Fister, too.

Theo Epstein has ruined (or is in the process) of ruining 2 organizations (Cubs swept by Marlins). He might go down as the Alan Greenspan of GM's. From almost mythic hero status to dastardly villain and symbolic of excess. Floyd hanging more and more pitches, Zach Stewart massacre coming soon.