Entries Tagged 'Kevin Cash' ↓

Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted on this thing. I barely remember all the stuff that’s happened since I took a break.

It’s all about the second half now, where the Sox will pick it back up against the Angels leading the AL East by .5 a game. It’s not much, but with the way the Rays were playing into the break, I would have rather skipped the All-Star Game and gone right to the second half to watch them crumble.

We have some really interesting things to watch on the sidelines for the second half of the season, including:

Papi

When will he return? Is he okay and ready to go? What will it be like for him to get back into his rythm? If he goes to both Portland and Pawtucket, and the Sox are losing groud, will they forgo any of the rehab assignments and just call his butt back up to the Bigs asap?

J.D. Drew

Wow, this kid spends 11 years being “promising”, then has a career year (so far). Not only that, but he picks up some MVP hardware at the All-Star Game to boot (sorry, Dan Uggla, I know that word isn’t too good for you right now… *cough error cough*). Unfortunately, when Papi does return, Drew will slide out of that powerful 3 spot in the order… then it’s anyone’s guess as to his “back problems” or his “hammy issues”.

Varitek

Is it time to get ‘Tek to pull 75% duty? Will he last the rest of the year, regardless of how horrible a hitter Cash is? The guy is in tremendous shape, and I’d love for him to be productive for the next six years, but I don’t see it. He’s losing his offense at a dizzying pace and his arm is showing fatigue.

Trade Deadline

What the hell will Theo do? Aside from bringing up Masterson to be a long-relief guy, what can they do to shore up the team? Is Lugo going to have 12 errors in the second half? Will they put up with his incredible missing offense? Is it time for Lowrie to hit the bench and be ready to play for a few days in a row?

I’m happy we still have half a season. I’ve been to busy to truly enjoy the first half.

Yesterday afternoon’s game was filled with some great “stoopit” trivia stuff. As pointed out by Boston.com:

• Kevin Youkilis has broken the record for consecutive games without an error by a first baseman (194)
•  Jon Lester is the first left-handed Sox starter to record a win in Oakland since 1995.
• Terry Francona still misses chew. (Yes, I made that one up, but I guarantee you he does.)

It’s not a bad thing to take care of Oakland, regardless of their 1 and 2 starters. They needed to walk out of there with the series win and give the fans a nice start to the season.

With J. D. Drew starting last night, the team finally felt a little like normal, I suppose. Tomorrow night, Tim Wakefield gets the start in Toronto’s home opener and Kevin Cash will begin the campaign to prove he’s not Mirabelli.

First homers for Papi and ‘Tek felt good as well. Nice to see it starting to become a “regular” season.

The Red Sox have said farewell to Wake’s personal catcher and possibly his best friend on the team today as they have released Doug Mirabelli on unconditional waivers.

I agree with the article that says Kevin Cash will most likely take his place, but WOW, what a move by Theo. I didn’t think he had it in him (well, at least until next year).

The dynamic duo had their 45 minutes together last night for the first time in a couple of weeks and then Mirabelli strains his hammy coming across first after his only at bat. Great. Enter: Kevin Cash, the quiet, yet interestingly weak-hitting catcher who seems to be the only “other” person in MLB to employ the soft hands required to receive the knuckle ball.

If you keep your eyes on the next two years, we’ll see the emergence of George Kottaras as the starter and Cash as the Wakefield binky. Kottaras is a highly-regarded prospect and good catchers are becoming hard to find these days.

Notes:

• I will be seriously amazed if Youk doesn’t get the Gold Glove. He is ONE game away from breaking the AL record for most consecutive starts at first base without an error. He’s already shattered the club record.
• Dice-K thinks Pedroia should be the Rookie of the Year. So do I. But, then again, I’m biased at the moment. His play during the last few weeks has been nothing short of spectacular. The only problem is, aside from Jon Donovan of SI.com, he hasn’t gotten that much national attention.
• Papi hit his 200th home run with the Red Sox. Why didn’t we know about this kid when he was with Minnesota!? Wow. What an amazing free-agent find.
• Buchholz loves kicking the collective butts of the Orioles. He’s now held them scoreless in consecutive outings. Nice.
• Rick Ankiel, Cardinals phenom for the second time after converting from pitcher to hard-hitting outfielder, has his name on a list of people who purchased HGH in 2004. I can’t wait to hear all 45 names from this list. Expect to see Nomar and a couple of other former (and current?) Sox players.

Wakefield continued his sheer dominance of anyone in a dome last night (he’s 9-0 in the Trop) and the Sox win it 6 to 0. There’s nothing like a trip to Florida (off-season hometown to about 75% of the Sox players) to make you feel hope. The only drawback is that Wake mentioned in a post-game interview that his neck/shoulder/back was stiff and that it happens when he goes down there. Hey, if that’s the case, then don’t change a thing.

Notes:

• Wily Mo has more home runs than J. D. Drew.
• Interesting thing to remember: The Red Sox have led the East for the past 127 days.
• The Yanks lost thanks to my new Budde.
• Kevin Cash didn’t make it look too pretty, but he was so much better than Josh Bard that I think “American Icon” Doug Mirabelli was shaken, but not stirred.
• Lester will be on the mound tonight against a pitcher, who, last time out kicked their tails to get his second win of the season. Let’s hope the Sox don’t give him his third.
• Keep it real today.