NESO'S TAKE ON SPORTS » Boston Redsox

Why the Sox will Win the AL East

agarwal — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:02:13 +0000

The Boston Red Sox are currently in first place in the AL East, as they lead the New York Yankees by a game. With the Yankees making a sudden surge of offensive power and solid pitching, Sox fans are thinking that their seemingly average team will have to contest for the American League wild card. Not so fast. Not only are the Red Sox in first place, but they are leading the division despite one home run from David Ortiz, a starting pitching ERA over 5.00, and no everyday short stop.

In terms of Papi’s struggles, the Red Sox offense has been doing fine without his presence, as they are in the top 5 in almost every offensive category, including average and home runs. Whether or not David will hit 30+ home runs is yet to be determined, but I know that Ortiz is a competitor, and will continue to battle out his situation. He will hit at least 15 homers this season.

The starting pitching for Boston started off absolutely horribly, with the exception of Tim Wakefield. Wakefield has continued to make quality starts, while Brad Penny is becoming more comfortable in Boston. Josh Beckett has shown his dominant self, as he has gone 2-0 with a 2.67 ERA over his last four starts. Daisuke Matsuzaka is back from the DL, and he figures to give Boston 5-6 innings of solid pitching on a consistent basis, similar to what he did last year. As he continues to develop, he may start going deeper into games. Jon Lester has had trouble thus far in the season, but he will climg out of the rut he’s in and get into a groove, similar to what he did last year.

At short stop, Julio Lugo figures to be the starter, but missed a significant portion of the season so far. He has been putting up good offensive numbers so far, and his speed on the base paths is an added bonus. His defense has been bad, and while he’ll never win a gold glove, he will be more consistent.

As you can see, the Sox are in first place despite three major problems. However, these problems are fixing themselves, and if the Red Sox can continue the season with consistent offense and a dominant bullpen (ERA of 3.03 is best in the majors), their starting pitching will line itself back up, as will struggling players. Also, Mark Kotsay and John Smoltz will soon be thrown into the mix, adding depth and skill at their respective positions. Not only is Smoltz on the horizon, but so is Clay Buchholz, who threw a near perfect game at Pawtucket (AAA) two days ago.

When the team is fully straightened out, they will be dominant, and if the Yanks continue to have problems with Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera and Chien-Ming Wang, they don’t have enough depth to fix their problems.

I had previously believed that New York would take the AL East, but with the teams playing the way they have, I now believe the Sox will win the AL East. The Red Sox are deeper than New York, with a better bullpen, starting pitching and defense. Good pitching always beats good hitting, and the Sox have enough offense to stick with the best teams in the league.

Mariano Rivera Cannot Beat Boston

agarwal — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:00:44 +0000

Sorry Mariano but once again, you have failed to do your job against the Boston Redsox. Joe Girardi, your manager, put his faith in your hands. All you needed to do was get four outs (2 of them against the bottom hitters of the Sox’ lineup) while holding a two-run lead. Fail. All that happened was that Jason Bay smashed a two-run shot over your head and into the monster seats. Are you just afraid of the Sox? It certainly seems like it, because you’ve blown twelve saves against the Boston Redsox, more than any other team you have faced. With any other Major League club, Mo time means go time. That is, when Rivera’s pitching, fans might as well just leave, ’cause he’s lights out. I borrow a word from Dwight Schrute’s dictionary when I say: “False.” In Boston, Mo time means “YES! We can still win this thing!”

Do I think Mariano Rivera is a great pitcher? Yes, I absolutely do, but when it comes to facing Boston, he just cannot seem to make the big pitch. Thanks to him, the Sox have won game one of the season series between us and the Yanks.

What’s Going on with Boston?

agarwal — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:35:26 +0000

This is what many Redsox fans are thinking right now. What is going on? The Boston Redsox, expected to be the Wild Card team of the American League, are 2-4? Their batting average is .240? What? Clearly, surprised, possibly flabbergasted is a word to describe the way us fans are feeling. Still though, we are only six games into the season, and we’ve faced two of the best teams in the league, in the Angels and Rays. If we combine this year’s win-loss record with the postseason last year? The Sox are 8-9, something that is very respectable considering that the Rays and Angels are such great teams. Also, how long do you think Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz, Jason Bay, Mike Lowell and Jacoby Ellsbury will be under .225 batting averages? Exactly. The Sox’ hitters have gotten off to a slow start, because they have faced top-notch pitching. The only thing that concerns me thus far is the pitching, with exception to Josh Beckett. Every bullpen pitcher who was expected to be a stud (Okajima, Papelbon, Saito) have given up home runs. Why? Because the team has gotten off to a slow start. Don’t worry about this 2-4 record junk! THE SOX HAVE ONLY PLAYED 6 GAME PEOPLE! There are 156 games left in the season, and every single aspect of Redsox baseball will improve within the next 6 days. All the Sox need is a little bit of time, whether it be one game or 5, to get their game to the high level at which it can be. If it takes 1-2 more losses, you need to understand that we’re talking about a 2-6 record. Teams go through ups and downs all season long, the Sox just started off on a down. What does this mean? They’ll end on an up, which would have been appreciated last season. The Yankees are down too, and neither the Sox or the Yankees will be losing teams this year. Their pitching will be better and more consistent (just look at last season’s numbers), the hitting will improve as the players’ health does (Ortiz, Lowrie, Lowell) and after that, the locker room will be looser, and we’ll be rooting for a bunch of idiots again. Successful idiots, if I may.

Who Will Win from the AL East?

agarwal — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:01:02 +0000

The New York Yankees basically took their team, chopped the entire supporting cast off, and bought in a new class of players, including C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeira. The Tampa Bay Rays, the Cindarella story from last season, pretty much have the same team, and are still a solid group of players. The Boston Redsox werebit by the injury bug last year and used the off-season to get healthy. In Patriots like fashion signed a few low-key, low-cost players, like Rocco Baldelli. The Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays don’t even deserve to be a part of this conversation. The Jays lost their 2nd best pitcher in A.J. Burnett, and the Orioles are a hit-only team, which can barely hit.

Really, the East is between the Sox, Yankees and Rays. and the AL Wild Card will probably go to one of those teams, whom I thhink will be the Sox. Yes Tampa had a great run last year, but I just don’t think that they can keep up with the Yankees, or the Redsox when healthy. So, just like it should be, the AL East will be between the Yanks and Sox.

I love my team, the Sox, but I really don’t know how they will match up against Chen Ming Wang, A.J. Burnett and C.C. Sabathia. Also, other than Jon Lester and Josh Beckett, our pitching staff is quite inconsistent, meaning that Mark Teixeira, A-Roid, Jeter and Posada will eat our pitching alive. Still, I think the Sox are better than any other AL team, and will be the American League wildcard team.

However, in the postseason the Sox will beat the Yankees if given the chance. C.C. and Rodriguez suck in the clutch, and A.J. Burnett has almost no big game experience. Every Redsox’ player, from Jed Lowrie to David Ortiz to Josh Beckett, has proven himself under pressure, whether it be in extra innings with two outs during the regular season, or facing elimination to your rivals in the post season.

If I were to guess the AL postseason matchups, I would say Sox vs. Angels in the first round, while the Yankees would face the Indians (who I think will be back to their ’07 form). Of course, the Sox would beat Anaheim again, while the Yankees would make it through Cleveland (which lost Sabathia). What does that mean? You got it! Redsox – Yankees, ALCS! As a series prediction, I think Sox take it in 6, because Beckett, Lester and Matsuzaka all come through.

Should Jason Varitek Be Back?

agarwal — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 23:32:20 +0000

Recently, the Boston Redsox have upgraded their offer to catcher Jason Varitek, who they clearly want to return as not only their catcher, but as their play caller. Varitek is a key part of the Redsox team, even though he is a weak htiter, and is towards the end of his career. Without Tek, the Sox’ pitchers have a mighty amount of trouble, and the record shows. Jason Varitek needs to come back, because without him, our pitching staff won’t pitch nearly up to its capabilities, and the if the pitching is bad, then the Sox won’t make the playoffs. Also, if Tek doesn’t come back, the Sox don’t really have a prime, backup catcher who can realy fill Jason’s shoes. Nobody, at this point, can do what Varitek has done. Now, this can change in the future. Varitek can mentor young catchers like George Kottaras, and Kottaras will likely see more time in the big leagues, now that Kevin Cash is a Yankee. Cash was clearly the prime candidate to take Tek’s job, but now, Varitek is needed more than ever to keep the Sox pitching staff afloat, while mentoring young catchers like Kottaras. Also, Tek can help young pitchers if pressure starts to affect them, as he has “been there” and “done that,” and his veteran experience is respected by all pitchers. I mean, even Curt Schilling could have benefited from listening to Tek a couple years ago. Schill was an out.. ONE OUT.. away from a no hitter, but after shaking off what Jason Varitek initially called, he threw a splitter, which Shannon Stewart lined for a base hit to right field. Clearly, listening to tek would have benefited.

So, the Sox would not only benefit because Varitek could mentor younger catchers, but also because he is a valuable asset to the pitchers.