Entries Tagged 'Beckett' ↓

Alright. The Rays couldn’t handle the Cardinals, and the Brewers couldn’t get anything out of the Sox, so the Fenway Faithful get to see their boys back in the top slot of the AL East.

Interestingly enough, I didn’t think the Sox would fare as well as they did (even with all the errors this weekend) against the Brewers. In fact, I had my mental prediction the other way around. If I were to pick a group of National League players to follow, I’d follow J.J. Hardy, Braun, Fielder and Gwynn. They all have a massive amount of talent and the Brewers will definitely do some major damage once their pitching is settled.

Speaking of pitching, Justin Masterson will make his second MLB start tomorrow (Tuesday) against the Royals and … drum roll… is that the smell of “Colon”? Why, yes… it’s Bartolo Colon, who will make his first Red Sox start on Wednesday. Personally, I think this is going to be a HUGE difference maker to the season. Bartolo is currently throwing in the upper 90s and seems to have his head back in the game. It’s like picking up a #4 free agent for nothing.

Other thoughts:

• Ellsbury got caught for the first time in his career. 25 straight without being tagged. That’s two shy of Tim Raines’ record.
• Varitek is such a great catcher, but he looks so weak at the plate sometimes.
• BOOM, Papi. Boom.
• Pedroia takes every opportunity he can find, doesn’t he?
• Beckett found his long ball pitch. Let’s put that back in the locker and hide it again, shall we?
• Craig Hansen is nowhere near the prospect he was when he pitched at Saint John’s. It may be one contract and out for that kid.
• The Yankees don’t have a chance this year unless they find a way to hit out of the cellar; pitching is not going to do it for them.
• Manny is deeply mired in a lack of power; no doubt putting pressure on himself over the next 2 homers.
• The Sox need to keep it going against the Royals. Losing this series will hurt them in the long run.
• The Celtics game was WAY too close. Par for the course on their season. Hopefully they won’t end up with the same destiny as the Pats (all this way for nothing).

Right now there are a number of very nervous Red Sox fans waiting to see how bad Beckett’s back is doing. I’m certainly one of them. During a warm-up session, he came down hard on loose dirt and jammed his muscle (an MRI provided no indication of a bad disk).

Jon Lester, if Beckett is still hurt, will more than likely get the call for Opening Day in Japan.

How’s that for the southpaw? He comes up from the minors, proves to be a dependable lefty, then goes out for treatment of his lymphoma, then comes back the very next year and wins the final game of the World Series. Now, it seems, he’ll get another boost to his resume.

Too bad it’s in the Cy Young and not the playoffs.

Sabbathia beats out Beckett for AL Cy Young.

Seriously, though, as good as Sabbathia was, it’s been basically impossible to recognize Beckett’s performance this year. Not just because he won an additional game, but because he absolutely set himself apart from last year and other pitchers on the Sox staff. Wakefield had a tremendous year as well (17 wins?!), but Beckett simply dominated.

The votes were cast before the end of the regular season, but I don’t think that would matter. Too many writers had been talking about Sabbathia during the regular season.

Expect Eric Wedge to win AL Manager of the Year over Francona or Torre.

Mike couldn’t get them to budge from their reported 12.5 Million/year/3 years deal, so he swim with the fishes and sharks. Too bad. I think not getting this done leaves a bad taste on everyone’s tongue even if he does re-sign.

The Cy goes out for the AL today at 2:00… Will it be Beckett (20-7, 3.27 ERA) or Sabbathia (19-7, 3.21 ERA)… ?

Hmmm…

Hi, Colorado Rockies. It’s nice to see you.

No, really. Even with your 21 out of 22 game winning streak, it’s nice to see ANY National League team. Even one that beat us (and Beckett) 2 out of 3 this Summer.

You see, you’ve been sitting around for 8 days waiting. The Sox just finished their own amount of post season magic as well and if I were you, I wouldn’t stay too comfortable.

The two teams meeting this week/end/week are nothing like the two teams who played this summer.

Tonight will feature Jeff “calmer than a doorknob” Francis against “I’m cool, but I’ll throw this ball through your mid section if you look at me like that again” Beckett.

Beckett seems to like this “post season thing”. Not that Francis is any slouch, mind you; he’s 2-0 this post season.

In order for the Rockies to survive (or at least not get swept) they’ll need to take a split in Boston and head back home with their heads up. I, of course, would rather see Guiliani as a Red Sox fan, but I digress.

For Boston, it’s more simple: don’t lose at home. You’ll sweep them if you take these two first games.