Last Day of June

Well, the Red Sox have tread water this month with a record of 13-14.  A win tonight in Toronto will give them a 14-14 record, exactly .500.  If we could go back in time & replace May's results with those of April & June, we would be a few games over .500 & in the race.  As we approach game 81, the official halfway point of the season, there is no optimism that the Sox can win at a .600 clip during the 2nd half of the season & make a charge back into contention.  85 wins seems a long way off when the Sox are a several games away from 40 yet.  At 35-43 over the first 78 games & 7-1/2 games behind Baltimore the Sox would need to go 50-34 the rest of the way to even get into the conversation about the playoffs.  And if the Sox are still 10 games below .500 & around 10 games back of the leader at the all-star break, I expect Cherington to be an active seller in order to get a playoff roster started for the team in 2016.  July may be the most exciting month of 2015.   

How Long Will Buck Stay Focused?

We got the "good" Clay Buchholz again last night in Toronto.  Buck goes 8 innings, giving up just 1 run in a Red Sox win 3-1.  He has had several good starts recently.  Does that mean that Buck is due for an injury like in past years?  Does that mean that he starts losing his command & control like in the past?  It's hard to evaluate whether the Red Sox pick up 2 options of $13 million each on Buchholz or they use him as a trade chip next month.  Which Clay Buchholz do you believe in?  Personally, I'm not sold on Buck or his Mad Max haircut.  I'm ready to move on from him.     

Sox Take Series in Tampa

Red Sox 5, Rays 3.  Sox win this series against the 1st place Rays by beating up on Chris Archer, a guy who just can't beat the Red Sox.  Justin Masterson made it through 5 innings, giving up just 1 run.  Ortiz, Panda & De Aza all homered in support.  Sox are 6-4 over their last 10 games.  Can they continue to win at a .600 clip without Pedroia & Ramirez?  Doubtful.  But we'll take the series win & see how things go in Toronto this week.  By the all-star break the Sox will know if they are buyers or sellers.

Hanigan's Return May Force Trade

Ryan Hanigan was suppose to be the back-up catcher to Cristian Vazquez.  Vazquez ends up having season-ending Tommy John surgery, so Hanigan became the #1 & Sandy Leon became the back-up.  Hanigan broke a bone in his hand in May, so the Sox call-up rookie Blake Swihart who has become the everyday catcher for the past 6 weeks.  Let's review.  Vazquez-Hanigan went to Hanigan-Leon which then went to Swihart-Leon.  Ryan Hanigan is close to coming back to the big club.  Vazquez will be ready to go in spring training next year.  4 catchers for 2 spots means that it's very possible that someone will be traded.  It could be Swihart, a kid with lots of potential, if the Sox commit to Vazquez as their everyday catcher next year.  Hanigan is signed for another year & he has shown that he is a good veteran presence behind the plate with a good blue-collar work ethic.  Leon is the personal catcher for Buchholz, a guy who is pitching better of late.  Swihart would command a sizable return in the trade market, maybe a Cole Hamels.  It doesn't seem like Vazquez & Swihart can co-exist.  If the Sox want to keep both, perhaps the switch-hitting Swihart can become the everyday 1B next year in place of Mike Napoli.  Hanigan's return will prompt some sort of move.  Returning Swihart to AAA doesn't seem logical, unless they give him reps at 1B.  July will be very interesting.   

Sox Win In Extras 4-3

Mookie Betts & Brock Holt picked the right time to get their hits last night.  It was in the 10th inning when Betts doubled & Holt singled him in with the winning run.  Sox beat Tampa Bay 4-3 & allow other AL East teams to gain ground on the Rays.  Besides clutch hitting at the top of the order, Rick Porcello had a much better outing than his previous 6 tries, allowing just 3 runs in 6 innings.  The bullpen shut it down after that with 4 innings of shutout relief.  Koji registered his 15th save.  A nice win. 

Kelly to AAA, Masterson's Last Chance

Sox lose another series to Baltimore.  More importantly, Joe Kelly is sent to Pawtucket to figure things out.  That gives Justin Masterson one last chance to prove he is worthy of a starting job with this team.  If Masterson should fail, then it will be Brian Johnson's turn to give the big league rotation a try.  JBJ was called up & he responded with a 2-hit night & a putout of a runner trying to go home on a short fly to RF.  Here's my advice to John Henry - try all the kids so you know what you have for next year.  Showcasing some talent before the trade deadline may help with trades to improve the team going forward.  Try Pablo at 1B & sit Napoli against righties for awhile.  Give Travis Shaw a good look at 1B & 3B.  There are ways to improve this team over the 2nd half of the season.  So let's get to it.  It's now tryout time for the 2016 Boston Red Sox. 

Red Sox Changes

Sox lost to the O's 6-4.  No sense talking about the game because the Red Sox just can't beat the O's this year.  They fall to 3-8 thus far.  I'd rather talk about roster changes.  P Justin Masterson & C Eric Krantz were activated yesterday.  Rusney Castillo & Steven Wright were optioned to Pawtucket.  Masterson will pitch out of the bullpen while Krantz is only here until Swihart returns.  Good move to send Rusney down to play everyday & learn more about the fundamentals of baseball, something he apparently missed in Cuba.  I expect Steven Wright to be stretched out & come back as a starter for either Porcello or Kelly.  Mike Napoli is on the verge of being released with 4 more strikeouts in last night's game.  Shane Victorino & Ryan Hanigan are rehabbing, getting ready for their return soon.  That makes Swihart or Leon & De Aza expendable.  These are more guys that Ben Cherington could wrap into a trade package for veteran pitching, improved bullpen (particularly lefties) & a power-hitting 1B.  Cole Hamels, Troy Tulowitzki, Paul Goldschmidt come to mind.  Do a 5-for-1 deal & get rid of several spare parts.  I feel like lots of changes are coming in July & these will be changes that improve the 2016 team.     

Brady Hearing Today

What a joke!  You would think that Tom Brady was on the same level as NFL players that beat their girl friends or wives in public, fire guns in strip clubs or get arrested for DWI.  The lengths that Roger "Goof Ball" Goodell & the NFL are taking to persecute the Patriots & Tom Brady is mind boggling.  For me it puts a damper on the Pats stunning Super Bowl win & a damper on their entire 2015-2016 season.  You know than announcers will bring it up over & over & over again.  I'd like to see Brady fight it to the bitten end, but as Joe Montana said, it's probably best to just get it over with & take whatever punishment can be negotiated.  This mockery lets Goodell sidestep the real issues within the NFL, like concussions & the convict behavior of NFL players noted above.  It's a joke!     

A Nice Win

Red Sox demolish the Royals 13-2 to win the series in Kansas City.  This was a nice win, but we need about 59 more in the remaining 90 games to make the playoffs.  So let's forget about the playoffs this year & concentrate on what we have moving forward.  Mookie Betts is showing that he can be productive at the big league level.  Xander Bogaerts is having his most complete year as a player, both in the field & at the plate.  Cristian Vazquez will be back from Tommy John surgery next season.  Eduardo Rodriguez is not afraid to pitch at this level & to pitch successfully.  Blake Swihart got called up early due to injury, but he is another guy that could play a role as back-up catcher or 1B in the future.  Add Dustin Pedroia to show these kids the work ethic that it takes to be consistent on a day-to-day basis.  David Ortiz will play at least 1 more year to reach 500 home runs.  If I'm Ben Cherington today, I'm looking to find out if I can move Hanley Ramirez &/or Pablo Sandoval &/or Rusney Castillo.  Add Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino & Justin Masterson to that list.  He still has Jackie Bradley, Jr. waiting for a fair chance to play everyday & to show what he can do offensively for the big team.  Jackie is already a Gold Glove outfielder.  The pitching rotation needs to be adjusted.  Brian Johnson & Henry Owens are options in Pawtucket that Ben can try over the 2nd half of the season.  Let's see what we have going forward & not look back for the rest of 2015.       

Porcello Fails to Win Again

I like Rick Porcello.  At 25 or 26 years old he has pitched over 1,000 innings in the big league.  Maybe it's the scrutiny that comes from playing in Boston.  Maybe it's trying to live up to the big contract extension.  Something is not right with Porcello & it's time for him to take a DL stint to clear his mind.  Brian Johnson is a guy that the Red Sox would like to see pitch in the majors, just to see what they have in him for next year, so here's the perfect opportunity for 2 or 3 starts - just like how Eduardo Rodriguez got his chance.  I would not give up on Porcello.  However, he can't keep having these meltdown innings & he can't keep giving up home runs.  Give him a mental break & bring up Johnson.  And while you're at it, bring up a few lefty relievers & send Layne & Breslow to the DL as well.

A-Rod Gets 3,000th Hit

Does anyone care - outside of New York - that a cheat & known steroid user got his 3,000th hit last night?  No.  Nuf ced!

Red Sox 7, Royals 3

Don't get excited.  The Red Sox have won 3 of their last 5 games.  To get back into contention, the Sox would need to stay at this .600 clip or higher for the remainder of the year.  No way they do that, so just enjoy a win when it happens.  Nice start for Eduardo Rodriguez, going 6+ innings & allowing just 1 run.  Let's not call him E-Rod either as we want no facsimile or reference to A-Rod.  This kid has had 3 out of 4 good starts & he reminds me of a young Jon Lester.  Rodriguez, Bogaerts, Betts are guys you can build this team around for the future.  And the future is now as the Red Sox need to find a way to dump payroll & get some roster flexibility for 2016.  The first choice is picking Hanley or Big Papi as your DH of the future.  Good luck with that one!  Then you have money coming off the books for Napoli & Victorino which could pay some of the salary costs of moving Pablo & Hanley if that's possible.  It's all about 2016 at this point.  Brian Johnson should be the next pitcher up to see if he can repeat the success of Rodriguez.  If yes, then the inconsistent & often hurt Clay Buchholz becomes expendable.  Buck can be used to entice a team to take Pablo.  Lots of changes should be made as we near the trade deadline. 

Pablo, Instagram & Diva

Instead of talking about a Red Sox win, we have the Pablo situation in the headlines.  During Wednesday's game, a game in which the Red Sox are losing, Sandoval does into the clubhouse & "likes" a picture of a big busted girl named Diva on Instagram.  Mind in the game?  I think not!  Yesterday, instead of being totally embarrassed, Pablo calmly met with reporters & said it was a mistake & he will take his punishment of being benched.  No big deal.  If I was John Henry, I would suspend Pablo without pay indefinitely until the MLBPA came to his aid.  Let him miss a few checks & see if his concentration improves.  Just another example of no cohesiveness with this team.  There has to be consequences or the inmates run the jail.  What a joke!

Braves 5, Red Sox 2

The Red Sox had a short-lived win streak of 1 game.  The Braves are far from an imposing team that you fear.  Yet, they get the job done with the players they have by playing smart baseball.  A few well-timed singles last night was enough for the win.  By contrast, the Sox are anything but timely & when you only score 2 runs you are not going to win on most nights.  No more smoke & mirrors talk, please.  Cherington knows that the season is over.  Everyone in the Red sox organization knows that this team doesn't have the "it" factor this year.  They just don't.  So stop pushing the it's not over scenario.  The Sox are 6 games behind 4th place, never mind 1st place.  We may be 2 years into another 86 year drought. 

Finally, A Win!

Red Sox 9, Braves 4.  Yes, the Red Sox finally put together good pitching by Wade Miley & a hitting cycle by Brock Holt to defeat the Braves.  No Dustin Pedroia or Hanley Ramirez in the lineup due to minor injuries.  Alexandro De Aza delivered a big hit with 2 on, scoring both runners & increasing the Sox lead to 5-1 at the time.  Mookie had a big day with 3 hits from the #2 spot, scoring Holt with the 1st run of the game in the 1st inning.  The only negative was Rusney misjudging a line drive & letting it go over his head.  Since this season is pretty much over I'd send Rusney to Triple A to learn baseball sense, baseball savvy, situational play & let Jackie Bradley, Jr. take over RF on an everyday basis for awhile.  De Aza can continue as the 4th outfielder, spelling guys once a week.  A nice win, but we are still a last place team.   

Bad Loss - Again

No player wants to lose.  It's one thing to play a better team, give it your all & come up short.  That's not what has been happening in the 6-game losing streak.  The Boston Red Sox are playing like a Little League team -- missing pop ups because of the sun, lackluster hustle to balls in the outfield, poor base running & poor defense.  The Blue Jays averaged 10+ runs over 3 games, a combination of poor pitching & poor defense.  This last series reminded me of the Boston Massacre by the Yankees a few years back.  Pitching - both starting & relief - has been horrible.  Hitting has been better, but spotty.  When you don't catch the ball, pitch the ball, hit the ball or run the bases well on a consistent basis - you lose.  And the Red Sox are now 10 games under .500 as they approach mid-season.  At this point 75 to 80 wins would be a stretch.  The only team with a worse record in the AL is Oakland.  Changes could be made top to bottom, but what change will get this team back on a winning note?  I just don't know.        

Snake Bitten

Our Boston Red Sox can't buy a win.  Down 4-0 they tie the game at 4-4. but they just can't get that go-ahead hit.  So the Red Sox lose in extras 5-4.  That makes 5 losses in a row.  That makes 2 series losses in a row.  And forget what John Farrell said about not writing this team off.  He know that there is no way that this team goes 60-39 over the last 99 games.  It's just not happening.  We just keep sinking lower, lower & lower.

Consistently Inconsistent

How's this for describing the Red Sox?  Consistently inconsistent.  For the better part of a month the Sox offense was on vacation while the pitching was good.  Now the Sox offense is scoring runs, but the pitching has turned sour.  Sox lose 13-10 last night after leading 8-1.  Bullpen gives up 9 runs in the 7th inning.  Another demoralizing loss.  Teams that are more consistent on a nightly basis go to the top.  Teams that are mostly inconsistent go to the bottom.  We are at the bottom.

Different Day, Same Result

You can take my comments from yesterday & just change the date to today.  Our Boston Red Sox have played themselves out of the 2015 post-season.  The Orioles finished off a sweep with a 6-5 win at Camden Yards.  Wade Miley went a little cookoo, but so what.  Theatrics don't change poor performance.  Let's just move onto 2016.

Inept

That's my word for the Red Sox offense - inept.  Another loss to the O's last night means another series loss & another sub-.500 performance.  The sweep of the A's seems like a long long time ago.  Just too many players are having below average years all at once -- David Ortiz, Pablo Sandoval, Mike Napoli, Rick Porcello.  Mookie, Rusney & Swihart are all learning at the big league level &, as will happen with young guys, their performance is up & down.  It's the veterans that are costing the Red Sox this season.  With no sign of life & no sign that the Sox can play .600 ball the rest of the way, this season is now officially over.  So relax, fans, & enjoy watching the young kids like E-Rod & perhaps Brian Johnson in the near future.  Don't look for the Sox to make any moves at the trade deadline involving their prospects.  Maybe Napoli, Victorino, Masterson & Nava become short-term rentals for another team.  Pressure is off.  We are out.

Rusney A Dunce

Rusney Castillo has a lot to learn about playing baseball in the good old USA.  He was inserted into last night's game after Hanley suffered a knee injury.  With a runner at 3rd & 2 outs Rusney worked the count to 3-0.  Instead of taking the next pitch, he swings & flies out to RF for the last out.  Later in the game, Rusney comes up with runners at 1st & 2nd.  He calls time out to talk to Butterfield because he didn't know the bunt sign.  The O's know he's bunting now & they put on a play to keep Machado at 3B.  He tries bunting the next pitch, but he doesn't get the ball far enough down 3rd or away from home plate.  Wieters throws out Pedroia at 3rd.  Overall, the offense is non-existent & that is everyone's fault in the batting order.  But Rusney sure didn't help anything by squandering 2 scoring chances last night.

Tough Loss, But Not Fatal

Yes, last night's 1-0 loss to the O's was a momentum buster since the Sox were riding a 3-game sweep of the A's.  No, although I was upset like every fan, it is not a fatal blow IF the Red Sox bounce back & win the next 2 games of this series.  As I said yesterday, the Sox need to win 2 out of 3 & 3 out of 4 more often than not for the remainder of the season to reach 85 wins & a possible playoff spot.  Don't blame E-Rod as he shutout the O's through the first 6 innings.  A passed ball by Blake Swihart on a Matt Barnes pitch scored the only run of the game.  When your team scores no runs the margin for error is none.  This loss is squarely on the offense who may be without Hanley Ramirez for a few games due to a foul ball off of his knee.  The Sox can ill-afford to lose Hanley's bat since Ortiz, Napoli & Sandoval are all struggling.  Let's see what happens tonight & tomorrow.   

Let's Do Some Math

Now that the Red Sox have our interest again, let's look at some math for the remainder of this season.  Currently, the Sox have 27 wins in 58 games for a .466 winning percentage.  To reach 85 wins, the Sox need to win 58 of the remaining 104, or produce a winning percentage of .558.  85 wins should get them into a wild card position, if not a share of the AL East crown.  We are talking about producing 3 wins over .500 for each of the next 4 months.  That's a very do-able task.  In round numbers, they need to average a record of  6-4 every 10 games.  So let's see if the men from Beantown are up to the task. 

A Sweep of the A's

I picked a good weekend to be away.  I heard about the wins on Friday & Saturday, led mostly by the good starting pitching of Wade Miley & Joe Kelly.  I got back today in time to see the Sox fall behind 4-0 before the 7-run offensive explosion in the 8th inning, leading to a 7-4 come-from-behind win for the sweep.  Who is that offense?  We haven't seen that kind of outburst all year.  So now the big question - do we buy into the Red Sox after a 5-2 home stand or are we just kidding ourselves?  Will the real 2015 Red Sox please stand up?  Here we go fans!   

Time For Hanley To Go

Another embarrassing loss, this time 8-4 after leading 4-0.  Humiliating base running into outs all over the place.  Ugly defense when you most need it.  Yes, Pablo has made 4 errors at 3B in the past 5 games & he is in a slump, but I keep him a little longer to see if he will work his way out of it.  At least you can see effort out of Pablo.  Hanley, however, has to go since Big Papi will not be giving up his DH spot any time soon.  My suggestion for Ben - trade Hanley & Napoli to Colorado for Tulowitzki & Gonzalez.  Put Tulo at 1B & Cargo in LF.  A big change needs to happen for this team to turn it around.  Hanley is not the answer.  He is the problem.  

Offense Good, Offense Bad

Offense good - win 6-3.  Offense bad - lose 2-0.  That's the way the day went for the Red Sox as they split a twin bill with the Twinkies at Fenway Park.  Both games featured excellent starting pitching by Eduardo Rodriguez & Rick Porcello.  Rodriguez gave up 1 run in 7 innings & Porcello gave up 2 runs in 8 innings.  Both efforts should have resulted in 2 W's.  But the fickle Red Sox offense took the nightcap off & they were shutout.  I see a lot of swings & misses by Sox batters on balls out of the strike zone.  You can't be an effective hitter when you swing at balls & help the other pitcher out.  And Hanley, please stop swinging at every 1st pitch you see.  Every opposing pitcher knows that if I do.  Pitching & defense are keeping the Red Sox in close games.  Time for the offense to perform or time for more changes, like the recent signings of De Aza & Peguero. 

Sox Start June With A Win

It wasn't an offensive explosion after a vote of confidence by owner John Henry.  But it was a much needed win, 1-0, over the vastly improved Twins.  As X-man said after the game, we needed a win.  Clay Buchholz was the story as he pitched 8 shutout innings, giving the Sox his 5th or 6th good start in a row.  I hate to get on the Buck bandwagon because that's when he usually goes on the DL.  Remember his great 9 or 10 outing to start 2013, then going on the shelf for the rest of the year?  We'll take these good performances while he's riding a hot streak, but I'm not tying my wagon to Buck as history is not on his side.  A good win for sure last night.  Let's see if the Sox can ride momentum & string more wins together now.

Blog End

To All Our Blog Viewers - We ran into problems in May when we tried to upload a podcast.  Evidently, BlogSpot no longer allows free uploads.  As a result, I made a move over to Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.  You can go to any of those sites & type in "3nohitters" to see my comments & videos.  It's a work in progress, but I think we are getting the hang of it.  I have continued this blog as a back-up for the past month, but I will be ending this dual system on July 1st.  I hope that you will continue to follow me on these other more modern social media sites.  Links to these sites will be posted throughout the month of June.  Thanks for your support over the past 10 years.  I'm hoping for 10 more years on these updated platforms.  Thanks again!   

It's A Mess

I'm like everyone else - totally frustrated.  A 10-19 month of May leaves the Red Sox in last place in the crummy AL East, only 4 games out of 1st.  How do you fix every phase of the game - offense, defense, pitching - as you reach the 1/3 mark of the season this week?  Let's start with pitching.  I would listen to trade talks that involve Porcello, Miley & Kelly.  Let Buck, Wright & Rodriguez stay & go get a Cole Hamels.  Bring up Brian Johnson.  Next is the defense.  I agree with Lou Merloni on Hanley.  Move Hanley from LF to 1B & let him DH against lefty pitching which Ortiz isn't hitting now.  Trade Mike Napoli for whatever you can get.  Pablo made a few errors on Sunday, but he is a good 3B.  Move JBJ to left & have an outfield of 3 center-fielders who can play good D.  Finally, offense.  You can't fire the entire middle of the order, so preach going the other way instead of pulling the ball for easy ground outs.  If no one listens, start thinking about a trade for another bat, like Troy T. in Colorado.  We can't play any worse in June, right?