Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

[Misfit]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

What a game by Wells last night. Limiting that Oriole's lineup to just 3 hits and no runs over 8 innings. I was pretty impressed. Now let's see Clement start to throw with some consistency.

[Stu]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Another great game by the Red Sox pitching staff. Clement has some nasty stuff when he has his command. Anytime you shutout this Baltimore offense in back to back games you must be doing something right.

Sox have taken 7 of 8 to move into 1st in the AL East

[Ed_Farias]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Tonight, Wake in a Dome. If he can control it, the knuckler should be dancing.

[Misfit]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

That was pretty impressive watching Wells and Clement shut-out the O's on back to back nights, both going 8 innings. It was also good to see Foulke shut the door last night without too much trouble. Hopefully they keep this up at the Trop.

[Stu]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Gotta love Trot:

"I wasn't threatening him. I was just giving him information."

"I was giving him information about what I'd do to him if he's going to do some crap like that, you know."

[Stu]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Just heard on WEEI that Schilling is headed to the DL with an ankle bruise.

LINK

Needless to say, this is not good. Hopefully it isn't an ongoing thing. With Wade Miller coming back in a couple weeks we are equipped to handle the loss of Wells and Schilling but I don't think our rotation could hold up over a long stretch. Miller is still a question mark and Halama shouldn't be anything more than a spot starter.

[Misfit]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Not good. This team needs to find itself as they're just treading water right now. Good thing its still April. I'd like to see Foulke get it together soon though as last night's outing was pitiful. Last night's game was just plain pitiful.

[Stu]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Not good. This team needs to find itself as they're just treading water right now. Good thing its still April. I'd like to see Foulke get it together soon though as last night's outing was pitiful. Last night's game was just plain pitiful.

The good news is that the injuries in our pitching staff are not arm or shoulder related. Another upside is we don't have to rely on any pitcher named Wang.

Foulke is clearly struggling. He's the kind of pitcher who needs to pitch himself out of a slump and I think not pitching in the TB series and game 1 of this series really hurt him. If I'm Tito I'd be looking to get him in games on a regular basis, even if it's not a save situation. Foulke is used to pitching a lot of innings so you don't have the same burnout concerns that you would with Timlin or Embree.

[Misfit]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

I agree about the Foulke thing. I would actually like to see him work in some non-save situations to get it going because seeing him come into a 1-run game isn't very settling.

The problem with the injuries to Wells and Schilling though is that both pitchers are up there in age and don't heal as quickly as younger players. And with Schilling, he clearly wasn't ready to go anyways from a command standpoint and this doesn't help him. Wells will also need to re-find his curve after his injury is through. Its a damn good thing they have Miller but I don't want to see them rush him back just because Schilling and Wells are on the DL.

Here's an interesting stat and one that makes my dad pull out what little hair he still has left:

Mientkiewcz - 4 home runs
Millar - 0 home runs

[Stu]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Here's an interesting stat and one that makes my dad pull out what little hair he still has left:

Mientkiewcz - 4 home runs
Millar - 0 home runs

True but Millar is still off to a decent start. He has a higher Avg, much higher OBP and only 2 less RBI's than Mientkiewicz. I'll still take Millar over a full season despite his inferior fielding. Mientkiewicz is just not that good of a hitter. With Millar you know you're gonna get around .280 20 HR's and 80 RBI's.

That being said I would look for the Sox to upgrade 1B in the offseason with a guy like Paul Konerko. I'm not sure who else will be on the FA market but his name jumped out at me. It also depends on how the Damon situation plays out.

[Misfit]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

I'm not sure I would take Minkey either over Millar, but my dad just happens to be someone who hates Millar. Millar's OBP is a lot higher than normal right now but his slugging is way down. He only has two extra base hits so far. He's mostly just displayed warning track power thus far this year. I've been busy and havent been able to watch a ton of Sox games so far this year but I've heard Remy say on more than one occasion "Millar just missed a homerun by a few feet," only to have the ball end up in someone's glove. I think Matsui scared him off from going deep.

[rsox]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

The Red Sox are looking for a left-handed hitting First Baseman to platoon with Millar, they have had talks with John Olerud over the past month and Olerud is just about ready to be able to play again after off-season surgery.

The Red Sox primary need right now is to focus on their pitching staff, the bullpen has been awful and now the rotation is a mess. Yesterday's rainout may have been the best thing that could have happend for them as it allowed them to push everyone back a game. With 13 games in a row all the pressure is on the offense right now to carry this team for the next couple of weeks. John Halama will make at least 2 starts and Jeremi Gonzalez may make 2 starts before Wade Miller is ready. Hopefully by the end of that stretch Schilling will be back and healthy Miller will be able to help the staff and the Sox can get a good streak going.

[Stu]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Another loss tonight, making it 3 in a row and 5-5 in our last 10. The offense really needs to step up to carry our pitching staff through this stretch. We have an uncanny ability to make mediocre pitchers look good like we did with Chan Ho Park tonight.

[Misfit]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

Eh, I'm not crazy about the Olerud move. He doesn't strike me as a good Fenway hitter but his glove would be better than Millar's and his bat better than McCarty's. I think first base will be a position addressed in the offseason unless Millar has a good season. He's a great clubhouse presence but his bat and glove are so inconsistent.

Sox finally won yesterday, a nice outing by Arroyo, and are currently down 2-1 to Texas in the bottom of the second. Texas has the bases loaded with two outs with Clement on the mound, who apparently doesn't have his command today. I don't have much confidence in Clement at this point as he just can't seem to settle into a groove in his starts (or from start to start). A starter has not been announced for tomorrow's game against Detroit but it likely will be Gonzalez. I know its only May 1st, but I can't help but wonder what Theo and the front office will be looking for come the trade deadline.

[rsox]

Re: Official Boston Red Sox 2005 Thread

I think what they look for at the deadline will depend on how Wade Miller works out. If he comes back strong and does then the bullpen will be a key spot to address. However, if Miller struggles and David Wells can't get it together then they will have to try and get a starter (Roger Clemens?).

As for the Olerud move, the Red Sox are hoping that Olerud can be to this years team what Doug Mientkiewicz was last year-a defensive replacement in the late innings, a LH pinch hitter and an occasional starter at 1B. At any rate it will be at least a month before they even consider bringing Olerud to the big club.