If I could name a specific aspect of our team, specifically our pitching staff, that needs to be locked down to keep us in these games:

 

Holding runners on base

 

Our pitchers need to hold the ball, throw to 1st a LOT, not give up your best pickoff move, and keep these guys on 1st base as much as you possibly can

 

I'm tired of teams running at will on our pitching staff because they're inept at holding runners, it's ridiculous and it's time for a change

If I could name a specific aspect of our team, specifically our pitching staff, that needs to be locked down to keep us in these games:

 

Holding runners on base

 

Our pitchers need to hold the ball, throw to 1st a LOT, not give up your best pickoff move, and keep these guys on 1st base as much as you possibly can

 

I'm tired of teams running at will on our pitching staff because they're inept at holding runners, it's ridiculous and it's time for a change

 

Obviously,Buehrle is one of the best. But we really need to work with Floyd on this...Contreras is well past redemption.

 

We have two catchers with bad arms and two players up the middle that do not do their fair share of keeping the runners honest off second (cabrera and ramirez). Pierzynski takes just about as long to get the ball to second as anyone else that comes to mind. The throw has to be near perfect just to make up for the lost time getting it down there. Luckily no current starter for us is as bad at letting base runners run all over them like contreras is, that is a plus anyway.

How often do guys actually score when they steal against the Sox? I've seen Floyd let a ton of runners steal and he leaves them right there. The last thing I want is for the pitchers to change their routines. Keep guys off base and we won't have a problem.

Keep guys off base and we won't have a problem.

Exactly! The key to this series is keeping guys off base in front of Mauer, Morneau and Cuddyer. Do not let Span and Gomez on base and careful with Kubel.

 

Exactly! The key to this series is keeping guys off base in front of Mauer, Morneau and Cuddyer. Do not let Span and Gomez on base and careful with Kubel.

+4

 

The Sox consistently put Mauer and Morneau in a position to beat them. They should not. Morneau will swing at bad pitches when he thinks he needs to drive in a run and get himself out.

 

Mauer is kind of indestructible. My theory on him is to knock him down once or twice early in the series and get him a little light on his feet. But he's good. I'd rather him hit singles the other way with two outs more than anything.

 

 

These pitchers (minus Contreras) work best when they work fast. That means not making a lot of throws to first. If they could be a little better at the slide step, that's about as far as I would go this late in the season.

 

But other than that...+5. Keep the Piranhas off base and this won't be a problem.

If you can't hold runners on base and have shown that all season my guess is it isn't going to magically change during this series. I agree that it is a glaring weakness though, but too late to worry about it now. Baseball broken down to the basics, which applies to this series, is to throw strikes, be aggressive on two strike pitches and put the batter away and play good defense. Of course scoring more runs than the Twinkies will help a lot to win games.

Edited September 23, 200817 yr by elrockinMT

careful with Kubel.

 

 

THAT DAMN LUMBERJACK

Vazquez and Buehrle are 2 of the best pitchers in the league in keeping baserunners from stealing so not worried. Id say the most important thing is to not leave runners stranded in scoring position when we are hitting.

i don't see how, in the last week of the season, sox pitchers are suddenly going to do a better job of holding runners.

No, they need to not give a s*** about runners on base, don't walk people, and get outs.