Almost At Half-Way Mark

The 2011 baseball season is nearing the halfway mark. The Sox have 7 games left before reaching 81. I'm sure that Gaff, Steve & I will get another podcast in soon to grade the first half of the season.

While the Sox can play .500 for a week & still be on track for 96 wins there are signs of concern as they head towards the All-Star break.

- Josh Beckett & Clay Buchholz are missing starts. Beckett has the flu & Buchholz has a nagging back injury.

- John Lackey's last start reminded everyone that he is still a pitcher with an ERA of 7.00+. He needs to be more consistent & his next start will be important to see if he returns to a 3-4 run pitcher per start or a 6-7-8 run pitcher per start.

- As one commentor to the blog mentioned, J.D. Drew is non-existent. Maybe Tito just goes with Reddick for awhile & let's Drew get a mysterious 15-day DL injury. I would put Mike Cameron in the same category as Drew, non-existent. $24 million between those 2 players for about .200 batting average.

On the flip side there is hope.

- Youk & Pedroia are starting to heat up offensively as everyone thought. It took awhile, but both are multi-hit game guys almost every time out now.

- Carl Crawford will be off the DL shortly. McDonald & Reddick have filled-in fine for a week & there is just one more week to go.

- Andrew Miller looks like a guy who can give the Sox quality innings. Some reporters think he could eventually replace Lackey in the rotation. Wouldn't that be interesting!

- Gonzalez & Ortiz are having career years. There are no signs that either one is slowing down.

As we all thought back in Spring Training, the race is between the Yankees & Red Sox with Tampa Bay still hanging around in 3rd due to their pitching. Baltimore & Toronto are fading.

The 2nd half of the 2011 season should be more Red Sox & more Yankees clubbing their way to the top of the AL East. Should be a fun summer for Red Sox Nation.