Red Sox Reality Check

As we approach the All-Star break, maybe we can analyze the good, the bad, and the ugly about the 2009 Red Sox. The Good. Locking up Lester, Pedroia, and Lester was a key move by the Sox The Sox seem to have the key ingredient (pitching) to deal with the tectonic shift away from performance-enhancing drugs toward more speed and defense Jason Bay has proven himself to be an elite player, capable of beating up on the dogs and cats and the lions and tigers. The Red Sox bullpen is the best in their modern era. The front three of Beckett, Lester, and Penny give the Sox a chance to win 70 percent of their games...or more. Nick Green has far outperformed expectations. Jacoby Ellsbury continues to mature as a player, and is on pace to set a Red Sox stolen base record Jason Varitek has maintained his defensive skills and had a mean reversion to offensive productivity, although June wasn't his best Tim Wakefield, may he make the All-Star team, but maybe getting voted on by the fans would be ...

Baseball and life. Sometimes the season doesn't turn out the way you thought it would. As we approach the halfway point in the season, the Red Sox have the second best record in baseball. How the hell is that possible? David Ortiz has only recently begun to hit, while the offensive core of the team, Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia has fallen off a bit lately. The only players who have outperformed expectations offensively are Jason Bay and Nick Green. Jason Varitek had a great start, and now the jury has gone out offensively. Among starting pitching, Tim Wakefield and Brad Penny have overachieved, Josh Beckett and Jon Lester have resumed their expected trajectory, and Daisuke Matsuzaka has suffered through any player's worst nightmare. The obvious answer becomes the excellence of the bullpen. They have held leads, closed victories, and allowed the team to stay close in others. Recently, with short starts, the bullpen has shown a little fraying around the edges. Management...

The manager's job never gets any easier, arbitrating among egos, streaks, the vicissitudes of baseball, and personal problems that we will never know. What affects a player, illness or injury, frustration, depression, or personal problems? How a player gets treated also depends on the alternatives? Consider the choices: Jason Varitek versus George Kottaras Daisuke Matsuzaka versus John Smoltz Julio Lugo versus Nick Green J.D. Drew versus Rocco Baldelli Each pairing has a 'starter' paired against a challenger. Let's avoid Matsuzaka for last... Jason Varitek handles the pitching staff and calling the game. His offense has exceeded last year's performance, but lately he too suffers from "the dwindles." His June numbers are .154/.298/.256/.554. Whatever he tried in April and May seems to have evaporated in June. His left-right statistical differential is huge. Nobody (as far as I know) screams, "sit the old man down". The alternative doesn't soun...

Not many thirteen inning baseball games can hold your attention, but the Sox-Phils marathon did tonight. The game had a number of highlights, twists, and turns, and hair-raising moments for the Hose. John Lester became the first Sox left-hander to have three consecutive ten strikeout games. We're including Babe Ruth here, Mel Parnell, Bruce Hurst, Bill Lee, and Rogelio Moret, too. Lester's brilliance got lost in the shuffle. Six Sox pitchers gave up five hits in thirteen innings. Dustin Pedroia went 0-7. David Ortiz played first, but won't win any Gold Gloves. Nick Green made a pretty 6-3 double play against the speedy Jimmy Rollins. Ramon Ramirez moved down the pecking order surrendering a ninth inning titanic game-tying homer to Ryan Howard. It happens. Dave Roberts noted (correctly) that the Sox had lost momentum and energy; the Sox promptly rallied. Justin Masterson surrendered (almost) the game-winning three run homer in the 12th. It was foul...by a hair. The Sox pushe...

Quick hits: John Lester was magnificent in a 2-hitter, with a perfect game for 6 1/3 innings. He had better stuff than he no-hit the Royals with last year, with a couple of different styles of curveball, the hard cutter, a turnover sinker, and touched 98 on the gun. He lowered his ERA to 5.06 with the complete game. Would the Sox consider realigning the rotation to have him pitch Thursday on four days rest against the Yankees? Jason Bay had a key 2-run RBI single after a lengthy at bat to break the game open in the fifth inning. David Ortiz hit the Pesky Pole for his 2nd dinger of the season and hit the ball hard a couple of times. Francona grabbed the big guy and encouraged him to take a recognition of the "Curtain Call". I'm sure Ortiz isn't looking for extra face time right now. Julio Lugo is frustrated with his playing time. Most Sox fans are equally frustrated by his playing time.

Anybody watching the Red Sox tonight has to wonder how long the Red Sox can stick with this formula... Julio Lugo gets no jump in either direction and clearly his inability to make plays at short hurts the team. Brad Penny wore the victim's hairshirt tonight and the frustration sits on his sleeve like a dank mist. Yes, Lugo sustained an injury, but if he can't get the job done, he must sit. Fielding aside, Lugo hasn't confused anyone with the 1983 Cal Ripken at the plate either. The Sox have contractual obligations to Lugo whether he rides the pine or wets the bed at short. Nick Green holds no fascination for me. Getting an everyday shortstop who makes plays should occupy Theo Epstein's thoughts 24/7. This has become unwatchable, a slow motion train wreck with your best friends aboard.

Julio Lugo. (crickets) Daisuke Matsuzaka tossed a vintage 'dental extraction' victory, throwing a million pitches in five innings for his first win. A bullpen parade featuring Delcarmen, Okajima, Ramirez and Papelbon iced the victory, although the Papelbonian ninth sweated out Sox fans, as he loaded the bases with none out before fanning the side. NAME GP GS W L Sv QS Hld IP H ER HR BB SO K/9 P/GS WHIP ERA Pitcher A 24 0 2 0 0 0 8 23.1 14 6 2 9 24 9.26 0.0 0.99 2.31 Pitcher B 22 0 0 1 13 0 0 23.0 22 6 3 11 28 10.96 0.0 1.43 2.35 Obviously, pitcher B has a lot more saves, but Okajima (Pitcher A) has pretty good stats relative to Papelbon, who does it closing. David Ortiz...had the hat trick tonight...he didn't look quite as disconsolate though. Gerry Callahan 's axe required surgical removal from Ortiz before the game. The former Chelmsford gridiron legend did the ultimate hatchet job on Ortiz ...

"Chicks dig the long ball." Well, maybe it was just the synthetic testosterone. The Sox have proved a bit frustrating because they simply have failed (at times) to play the best fundamental baseball. The Minnesota series proves the point. The Sox have far more talent (and payroll than the Twins), yet the Twins' execution and solid play earned them a split. What's with all the hip labrum disease? Is this something newly found (Lowell, A-Rod, Delgado and more) or a new phenomenon? Hooray for Jacoby Ellsbury's working to hit the ball on the ground/line drives instead of homerun swings for popups. Can we find some superior fielding shortstop like A-Gonzo? Maybe Lester and Beckett have found the answer. No substitute for a live arm, right Daniel Bard? Remarkable how supportive Sox' fans are for David Ortiz. There's no way to plug a player into a meter and say "he's lost it." Can you believe that Jason Varitek has a higher OPS than J.D. Drew? It...