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Gordon Edes Sees a Lot of Negatives, But Let's Not Forget the Positives!

Gordon Edes wrote a great article early this morning about the Red Sox making their fans queasy with the playoffs approaching. I am not suggesting there are not concerns, but I think Gordon should get himself checked for a bad case of the flu, because I don't share his queasiness.

First of all, this is not a Gordon Edes bashing. Gordon remains among the best writers for ESPNBoston.com and definitely don't take his concerns lightly. But I'd like to point to a couple positives he seems to have quickly forgotten. As of August 31st, and I quote from MLB.com:

"Sox pitchers have held foes to a .243 average (1,105-for-4,554) this year. Boston last finished a season with an opponents' average that low in 1968 (.241). Red Sox pitchers have held opponents to three hits or fewer in two of the club's last five games and a Major League-leading 14 times in 2011, Boston's most such games in a season in the live-ball era (since 1920)."

And that is just the pitching. Kevin Youkilis is finally back in the lineup, and "Big Papi" David Ortiz has been larger then life since his return, hitting right around .500 with a handful of home runs. Jacoby Ellsbury is 100% healthy going into the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Clay Buchholz is going to throw a simulated game later this week, meaning he will likely have a few starts to earn a playoff rotation spot. If you look at this situation from another angle, losing 2 series in a row and 4 of 6 hardly seems like a big deal.

Other noteworthy positives include the return of Jed Lowrie, and the news that Josh Reddick is just fine after being drilled by a pitch just 2 days ago. There are a lot of teams that can win a game against the Boston Red Sox. There are a few teams that can win a 3 game series against the Boston Red Sox. But how many of these teams are really going to defeat the Boston Red Sox in a 5 or 7 game series, when they don't have a chance to face guys like Lackey and Miller?

Maybe 1, and they beat the Sox this weekend. The Texas Rangers' surging bats are nearly unstoppable when hot, and their pitching scares me a whole lot more then CC Sabathia.

Who's The Red Sox's Third Musketeer In The Playoffs? Pitching So Vital.

It seems to have become common knowledge that pitching wins championships. The Yankees learned this lesson the hard way in 2001-2008. The Rangers learned it against the Giants in 2010 as well. The Phillies went the extra mile to sign Cliff Lee because they knew it would give them an unrivaled rotation. It put them as close as they could get to guaranteeing a 3rd World Series birth in 4 years. Any holes in the offense were eliminated at the deadline with the addition of Hunter Pence.

Barring injury, the Red Sox line-up really has no holes either. Saltalamacchia has even become a threat with the bat in the last few months, and Scutaro and Lowrie are giving Red Sox Nation about what they expected from the shortstop position. However, the rotation has not been as good as planned. Beckett has rebounded from a rough 2010 with a very strong 2011. Lester, even with a few rough starts has continued to stand as the Red Sox most consistant pitcher on a year to year basis.

As for the rest, John Lackey rebounded from a very rough first half to give the Sox a few quality starts since the break and has a 5-1 record to show for it. Wakefield has had some struggles since winning number 199, but has provided the Red Sox a lot of stability out of the back end of the rotation.  But the #3 pitcher that is so vital to the playoff formula is not a lock at the moment to say the least. Theo Epstein did all he could to help before the trade deadline, in acquiring Erik Bedard. Bedard has been shakey at times, but providing strong results to keep the Red Sox in games. He has also shown some really good signs that he is still a strikeout pitcher, fanning 17 in 16 innings.

But the question still stands. Who is the #3 starter when the playoffs begin in about 6 weeks? And even more scary, who's #4? I'll post the numbers. You make the call!

Tim Wakefield: 6-5, 4.90 ERA, 121.1 IP, 1.294 WHIP

John Lackey: 11-9, 6.02 ERA, 122 IP, 1.549 WHIP (Since All-Star Break: 5-1, 4.53 ERA, 43.2 IP but still a 1.500+ WHIP)

Erik Bedard: 4-8, 3.44 ERA, 107 IP, 1.193 WHIP (Since Joining Boston: 0-1, 3.38 ERA, 16 IP, 17 K)

 

David Ortiz's Injury Leaves Red Sox Offense in a Funk; Rays Take Series 2-1

So just how valuable has David Ortiz been to the Red Sox this year? Adrian Gonzalez went 0-9 with 2 walks and 2 strikeouts against the Tampa Bay Rays. From watching him, he appeared quite behind on the David Price fastball.   Kevin Youkilis went just 1-6 with a walk in the series, also failing to drive in a run and Terry Francona opted to rest him in the second game of the double-header on Tuesday. At least some of this has to be attributed to the loss of the biggest home run bat in the center of the lineup.

In fact, the only Red Sox position player to hit well was Jacoby Ellsbury, who went 3-11 with a triple, 2 home runs, 4 RBI's and a walk in the series against Tampa Bay. The starting pitching finally started to come around, allowing just 5 earned runs over 19.2 innings of well-pitched ball. But the defense (short of the triple-play) and the bullpen stayed on vacation with the offense and the Red Sox looked overmatched by the Tampa Bay Rays. If not for Jacoby Ellsbury, the Red Sox would be flying to Kansas City 0-3.

Either way it very disappointing and humbling series for the Red Sox that cost them the lead in the American League East. They are going to have a lot to think about tonight on the flight to Kansas City. Red Sox baseball resumes tomorrow at 8:10pm. Josh Beckett with face the once promising Luke Hochevar. Hochevar is marked as a likely non-tender candidate after this season and will be pitching in hopes of giving the Royals a reason to offer him a contract next season. Josh Beckett will be looking to rebound from a rare rough start where he allowed 5 runs in the first inning at Safeco Field. He settled down after that to keep the lead where it was through 5.0, but the damage was done. A late surge by the Red Sox almost got him off the hook, but when the fans cleared out, it was a 5-4 M's victory.

Offense Dead in Yesterday's Double-Header With the Rays; First Triple-Play Since '94

The Boston Red Sox were able to take just 1 of 2 in the double-header against the Rays yesterday, and allowed the dreaded Yankees to slip their way back into first, half a game up on the Sox.. The starting pitching was very strong with Lester and Bedard only allowing 2 ER between them. Jon Lester rebounded from very rare back-to-back losses to throw 7 innings of 1 run ball. He also struck out 8 on the day and he seems to have found his release point again after a 5 walk performance last time out.

Jacoby Ellsbury had a great day, homering twice and driving in 4. Besides that, the offense was dead. Varitek hit a solo shot in the second game, but it wound up being meaningless when the Rays broke the game open, 6-2 late. Bedard again kept the Sox in the game allowing 3 runs, only 1 earned, over 6 innings. He got out of some excitement when Jed Lowrie turned the 6-4-3 triple play, the first for the Red Sox since 1994. Some defensive miscues cost Red Sox pitching some runs though, including a very ugly rundown play that began between first and second and ended at home plate with the Rays scoring. Terry Francona was left shaking his head in the dugout.

The Sox will look to move back into first place at 1:35 pm today. David Price and John Lackey will oppose each other on the mound, as the Sox offense will try to put it all back together.

 

Boston Red Sox Will Make MVP Discussions Difficult

The Boston Red Sox have made a habit of making the MVP discussions interesting when they get involved. In 2008, when Dustin Pedroia took home the award, there were many people seemingly including Dusty himself who felt Kevin Youkilis could have easily been named MVP over him. Youk had him in just about every offensive category and had his Gold Glove in 2007 and a great defensive year to match Pedroia's. This year is no different, except there is a third player added into the mix.

Once again, Dustin Pedroia will find himself in the MVP discussions. After a slow start, he has been on fire hitting over .350 since June to bring his average up to around the .310 mark. He has an eevn .400 OBP with 17 more walks then strikeouts (73/56). With 16 home runs and 23 steals, Pedroia also seems destined for the 20/20 club.To my knowledge, there hasn't been a 2B to join the 20/20 club since Roberto Alomar in 2001. Alomar came in 4th in MVP voting that year with a .336 average and a Gold Glove. With the monster July that Pedroia had, he seemed destined to match and surpass these numbers. While it now seems like his season may not match Alomar's best when it's all said and done, voters will have a hard time ignoring what Pedroia has done in 2011.

And then there is Jacoby Ellsbury. There was a lot of banter in the last 18 months or so about how the Red Sox should have traded Ellsbury when they had the chance. Many thought a decline was imminent after his injuries in 2010, and the Sox missed out by not moving him for a superstar arm when they had the chance. Well, let's just say Theo Epstein is doing a happy dance that he was able to hold back on moving the dynamic young star. Jacoby has already joined the 20/20 club, a feat that I don't think even the best of experts expected he would accomplish so early in his career if at all. With 20 home runs, 31 steals, 31 doubles, 85 runs scored and an astouding 74 RBIs out of the lead-off spot, Jacoby is my favorite pick for the MVP this year. He is in the top 3 on the best scoring team in baseball in every category except RBI's (4th) and walks (5th). He had over a .900 OPS for a short period of time and has sat comfortably just under for most of the season. The only downsides to Jacoby are his CS (11) and his plate discipline. His strikeout totals are up on his career numbers, but not a concerning amount. He is an aggressive hitter and that has benefit him in 2011.

Finally, there is the man who we all expected to be the AL MVP before the season even began. Adrian Gonzalez has a video game type line (.352/.412/.552) but there is only one reason I give him the MVP. That reason is consistency. When the offense is slumping or the pitching is off, Adrian Gonzalez has still been on. Despite his power outage since the All-Star break, A-Gon is still hitting .347/.406/.442 in the second half. Gonzalez will likely be the AL MVP, but he can be sure Bautista and Granderson won't make it easy.

Jose Bautista has had a bit of a falloff. This comes to no surprise for 3 reasons. The first of these is that his numbers were too good to be true. I don't doubt now, that Beast-tista as I've called him all year in 2011, is the real deal. This guy is going to hit .300 and 35-50 home runs every year for the duration of his 5-year deal in Toronto. However, this is a guy who has maintained for portions of the season over a 1.200 OPS. If not for the surge by Mark Teixiera, he had dozens more home runs  in the last 2 years then the next guy in line. Numbers like those if your name is not Ted Williams are unsustainable, I don't care who you are. He still has an amazing .311/.448/.636 line for a 1.084 OPS. Those numbers have been dropping fast however, as he is having a rough August hitting just .205 with 3 home runs, and amazingly for the first month all season, more strikeouts then walks. The reason for this falloff, is that the break and the Home Run Derby tend to throw off guys' strokes and timing. Many players take a long time to get back in a rhythm, even great ones like Bautista and Gonzalez. There is also the minor injury he sustained against the Yankees. Just another thing thrown in there right around the All-Star break that could effect his timing and swing. All of these things may keep the MVP from him.

Curtis Granderson meanwhile, is making a late push into the talks. Overtaking a lead Adrian Gonzalez has held all season, Curtis Granderson drove in his 93rd run, putting a new face on the leaderboard for the first time since May. Since the break, Granderson has hit .291 bringing his season average up to .275. He also has 107 runs scored (1st), 33 HR (2nd), and 22 steals. He has taken his play to the next level in 2011, and while he won't win a Gold Glove in CF, he has made some spectacular plays and even a Red Sox fan must admit this guy can be one of the most exciting to watch in the game. Another true 5-tool player.

So who is your pick for the 2011 American League MVP? This year is going to have a lot of tough award choices with the Cy Young also very debatable.

Boston Red Sox Fans: The Best Fans In Sports

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The last game played against the Yankees, was the 688th consecutive sellout at Fenway Park. As the march toward 700 continues, we are reminded of the last game that was not sold out at Fenway Park. On May 14th in front of 32,485 fans, the Red Sox crushed the Texas Rangers 7-1. Nomar Garciaparra hit his 7th home run of the year off R.A. Dickey, and Ortiz doubled and drove in 2 in a 2-3 performance. Casey Fossum started that game for the Boston Red Sox.

Since May 15th, 2003 (a game started by Pedro Martinez) every single game at Fenway Park has sold out. The front office keeps adding more seats, and the Fenway Faithful keep filling them up. Red Sox tickets are the hardest to get in baseball without paying more than face value, because the fans are not giving them up. Yes I'm aware Fenway doesn't even fit 40,000 with all the added seats, but it says something when from the Orioles to the Yankees, every seat in the house is taken.

This is a token to us, the fans. There's a reason the Boston Red Sox's fans and park have so many nicknames. The Fenway Faithful and Red Sox Nation live at and love America's Most Beloved Ballpark. And that, my friends is why the Red Sox have sports' greatest fan base!