| 12 June 2009
I was behind enemy lines all week in NYC and I'll be deep undercover most of this weekend... so here's my two cents on all things Sox in lightning round fashion:
1. Josh Beckett is awesome. He's 3-0 with a 0.32 ERA and 30 Ks in his last four starts... and he's 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA and 45 Ks in his last seven starts.
2. Daisuke Matsuzaka is not awesome. In six starts this season he has yet to get through the 6th inning - in fact, he's only made in into the 6th inning once - his last start. I thought he was turning things around when he held the Tigers to one run on June 2nd... but I was wrong. With Smoltz and Buchholz chomping at the bit... we might see Matsuzaka hit the DL again soon.
3. Speaking of Smoltz and Buchhy... Brad Penny had another solid start last night and has me wondering if trading him makes a whole lot of sense. I know Buchholz and Smoltz have looked sharp, but will they really be better than Penny in the majors?
5-2 and a 5.32 record ain't great, but despite allowing 83 hits in 66 innings, Penny has held opponents to 3.25 ER per start this season. Just to compare, AJ Burnett has allowed 40 ER in 12 starts for a 3.33 R/GS... I'm just saying.
4. Want more awesomeness? Look at this shirt... you should buy one.
5. Jason Bay is still pretty awesome, but we're starting to see the law of averages taking affect here. Bay has a hit in 9 of the 10 games played in June... but they've all been one hit games - dropping his BA from .286 to .277. He seems to be the one guy not benefiting from the new lineup - which I find ironic considering he seems to have more "protection" now that Ortiz is hitting again.
5. Speaking of The Large Father... he's awesome again. He finally jumped over the .200 mark with two hits last night (and a hit in 7 of 8 games this month) and he's hitting .310 with three homers in June. We'll have to look back in September and see if this was the start of the greatest turn-around in MLB history...
6. This is also kind of awesome... if the season eneded today and the two best teams from each league played the World Series... it would be the Red Sox vs the Dodgers.
7. The Phillies are pretty good too (35-23) and we'll get a good look at the team I think will eventually get Brad Penny in a trade. With Moyer struggling and Meyers on the DL, we'll see the back end of the Phil's rotation this weekend. They're solid, but are they the long term solution? I say no... especially if Moyer is cooked.
Bastardo (awesome last name) has been sharp, holding opponents to three total runs and grabbing two wins in 11 innings... and Happ has won two of four since becoming a starter. The key here is the Phillies bullpen. with Happ starting and Brad Lidge on the DL, the Phils have struggled late in games, but Ryan Madson has stepped up and JC Romero is back from suspension. If we can knock these young starters around, we should be able to walk away with at least two win this weekend.
8. Also... Raul Ibanez and his 21 HRs and 58 RBI are awesome. So is this comment about him using roids:
"You can have my urine, my hair, my blood, my stool - anything you can test," Ibanez said. "I'll give you back every dime I've ever made" if the test is positive. Ibanez was reacting to a report in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday morning that highlighted an article posted on the blog Midwest Sports Fans.
And with that comment about stool... I'm going to wrap this up.
Let's hope the Sox keep rolling while in Philly... The Dodgers are good, but this could def. be a World Series preview. Here's something to ponder while we ait for the 7:05 start...
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