David Ortiz finished the best April of his career with a pair of solo homers, Mike Aviles hit a three-run shot and the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 11-6 on Monday night. Darnell McDonald had a two-run homer and Marlon Byrd drove in a pair of runs to support a decent start by [...]
So the Red Sox are once again off to a great start. They have a pompous asshole as a manager, who people say is a great baseball mind. Well I have not seen it thus far. He left Bard in just a little too long the other night, last night he leaves Franklin [...]
The Red Sox lost…again. After starting off last season 2-10, though, this season seems like a breeze. The Red Sox already have 4 wins, but they collected their 8th loss tonight against the Texas Rangers. It really should come as no surprise though considering the Rangers’ prolific offense and the Red Sox general lack of [...]
In some good news today it looks like former Red Sox manager Terry Francona will be at the 100 year anniversary celebration of Fenway after all. Very glad to see Francona taking the high road in this situation considering things ended so badly with him and the organization. Here is more on the story: Former [...]
If I were to tell you in January that there would be a player that would hit .415 during spring training, most fans would think I was talking about Adrian Gonzalez, maybe Dustin Pedroia or even Jacoby Ellsbury, however I don’t believe anyone would have thought that player was Pedro Ciriaco. Ciriaco has not only [...]
In the latest news from the 2012 Red Sox pitching rotation, Josh Beckett is headed to Texas. The pitcher has an alleged thumb injury that needs to be evaluated, and he will have it done in San Antonio. Apparently this came up about 10 days ago, but there were no negative effects on his pitching, [...]
David Ortiz finished the best April of his career with a pair of solo homers, Mike Aviles hit a three-run shot and the Boston Red Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 11-6 on Monday night.
Darnell McDonald had a two-run homer and Marlon Byrd drove in a pair of runs to support a decent start by Clay Buchholz, who held Oakland to one run until he gave up five in his last inning. Predict the next games winner with TopBet Sportsbook!
Ortiz hit .405 in April with six homers and 20 RBIs. He hit .543 in Fenway Park (19 for 35).
It was Boston’s seventh win in eight games, coming off a 6-1 road trip.
So the Red Sox are once again off to a great start. They have a pompous asshole as a manager, who people say is a great baseball mind. Well I have not seen it thus far. He left Bard in just a little too long the other night, last night he leaves Franklin Morales in for 1 batter to long, then he has Jarrod Saltalamacchia pinch hit representing the tying run.
The Red Sox lost…again. After starting off last season 2-10, though, this season seems like a breeze. The Red Sox already have 4 wins, but they collected their 8th loss tonight against the Texas Rangers. It really should come as no surprise though considering the Rangers’ prolific offense and the Red Sox general lack of pitching. On the bright side, a 6-3 loss feels so much better than the 18-3 loss they suffered yesterday at the hands of these same Rangers.
Josh Beckett started for the Sox and put together a very solid start (7IP 7H 3R 3ER 1BB 7SO 110 pitches), and Boston only trailed 3-2 when he left after 7 innings, but the bullpen could not keep it close as Franklin Morales gave up three runs while only recording one out to start the 8th inning. That brought the Rangers lead to 6-2, a lead they would never look back from. The Sox tried to rally in the 9th as they cut the lead to 6-3 with two on and one out, but Jarrod Saltalamacchia lined into a game-ending double play to end the game and squash any hopes of a rally.
The Red Sox will look forward to their day off tomorrow as they prepare for Fenway Park 100th Birthday celebrations on Friday against the New York Yankees at 3:05pm. Festivities will start around 2pm, so if you’re going to the game make sure to get their early, and if you’re watching from home, make sure to have your television tuned to NESN at least an hour before game time.
The Yankees will send Ivan Nova (2-0, 4.15 ERA) to the mound to face Clay Buchholz (1-0, 9.82 ERA).
In some good news today it looks like former Red Sox manager Terry Francona will be at the 100 year anniversary celebration of Fenway after all. Very glad to see Francona taking the high road in this situation considering things ended so badly with him and the organization. Here is more on the story:
Former Boston Red Sox manager and current ESPN analyst Terry Francona has changed his mind and says he will be attending the Red Sox’s 100th anniversary celebration of Fenway Park on Friday afternoon.
Francona had originally said he would not attend because of the way things ended between him and the Red Sox after the collapse of 2011.
If I were to tell you in January that there would be a player that would hit .415 during spring training, most fans would think I was talking about Adrian Gonzalez, maybe Dustin Pedroia or even Jacoby Ellsbury, however I don’t believe anyone would have thought that player was Pedro Ciriaco.
Ciriaco has not only impressed Red Sox coaches with his bat, but also with speed, last weekend he was able to score twice from second base on a bunt, something I have rarely seen in my years watching baseball. In his 24 games played he has stolen seven bases (which is currently tied with Jason Repko for the team lead,) as well as 47% of his hits going for extra bases (Eight out of seventeen).
Last season while playing for the Indianapolis Indians (AAA Affiliate for the Pittsburgh Pirates) he hit a dismal .231 with 2 homers 24 RBI’s, he stole 13 bases in 71 games he was also caught stealing 7 times in that stretch. Over his seven minor league seasons he has hit .270 with 24 home runs, 298 RBI, and 401 runs scored.
The only reason that Ciriaco has a chance to make the roster is due to Carl Crawford’s injury, and the possibility that closer Andrew Bailey may begin the season on the DL as well. While Mike Aviles has been named the starting shortstop coming into the season, it will be interesting to see how manager Bobby Valentine will be able to work Ciriaco into the lineup and use his speed on the base pads late in games. I for one hope that the Red Sox give Ciriaco a chance to start the year in Boston, it is a low risk high reward for the Red Sox and a risk I hope they are willing to take.
In the latest news from the 2012 Red Sox pitching rotation, Josh Beckett is headed to Texas. The pitcher has an alleged thumb injury that needs to be evaluated, and he will have it done in San Antonio. Apparently this came up about 10 days ago, but there were no negative effects on his pitching, so nobody was worried. This is just a matter of putting Beckett at peace with the situation.
Although Beckett is fully expected to make his first start of the season on Aprtil 7th, the club has told Alfredo Aceves to prepare just in case he will be starting that game. Additionally, the Sox are having him prepare for the Red Sox home opener on April 13th. This is just a precautionary measure in an effort to cover all of their bases. Expect Josh to be taking the mound on Saturday.
Is this something that the Red Sox need to be worried about moving forward? Have your say in the comments section below!
Just four days before the beginning of the 2012 Major League Baseball season, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine has finally settled on his starting rotation. The final decision came down just moments ago on who the 4th and 5th starters would be.
Here is a look at our Boston Red Sox starters this season – and a quick look at their pitching numbers from last season. (Please take note that Felix Doubront’s pitching numbers are his minor league stats from last season and Daniel Bard’s pitching stats are all from relief appearances) You can study stats with the best sports books.
1. Jon Lester - 31 GS, 15-9, 3.47 ERA, 182 SO, 75 BB, 191.2 IP
2. Josh Beckett – 30 GS, 13-7, 2.89 ERA, 175 SO, 52 BB, 193 IP
In a bit of news indirectly related to the Red Sox, John Henry is bringing his second love, Liverpool Football Club, to this side of the pond this summer. This doesn’t exactly raise eyebrows around Red Sox Nation except for the minor fact that Fenway Park will be the site where one of their preseason friendlies will be played.
Liverpool will play AS Roma on July 25th at Fenway Park. Not sure how many of you Red Sox fans are soccer/football fans like myself, but this is a must-see match. From a logistical standpoint, the match will be played while the Sox are off on a week-long road trip in the AL Central. However, the game comes just two days and change after the Red Sox last home game before the road trip, so the grounds crew will have about 48 hours to turn Fenway into a full-blown soccer pitch. Even more interesting to see will be how the field will look once 22 soccer players run all over it for 90 minutes in their cleats.
What does Red Sox Nation feel about Liverpool invading Fenway Park? Excited? Angry? Indifferent? Have your say in the comments section below!
Red Sox Nation can rest easy today knowing that an important bit of business has been finalized prior to Opening Day 2012. Jenny Dell, better known as Heidi Watney 2.0 to Red Sox fans, tweeted minutes ago that the Red Sox have optioned potential starting shortstop Jose Iglesias to Triple-A Pawtucket. Given that the Red Sox are a little short on shortstops, this move can only mean one thing, Mike Aviles will be manning the middle infield alongside Dustin Pedroia. Aviles got a good amount of action last season, so he should be good to go once the season starts. Look for Iglesias, who was rumored to potentially be the starting shortstop this season, to get called up here and there to get some action. Also, you can pretty much guarantee that he’ll be a September call-up.
Yes, actually we did. Unfortunately for us it is not the Cy Young winning starter from Exeter NH, but he is a way better pitcher than Theo.
This Chris Carpenter is a 26 year old right handed relief pitcher that recorded some solid stats in the minors and in his 10 appearances in the majors (2.79 ERA).
According to Baseball America he was the 13th prospect in the Cubs organization and could fit nicely in the Red Sox pen.
As the 2012 Boston Red Sox season draws near, the fan anticipation is growing, 2011 is still luring its ugly head, and once again pitching is the biggest topic of conversation heading into Spring Training. One of the biggest surprises for Sox could be found in 25 year old Junichi Tazawa.
When the Red Sox signed Tazawa in 2008, few people knew who he was and what to expect from him. Boston signed the 22 year old to a three year deal worth three million dollars; it was the epitome of a low risk high reward contract.
In his first season, Tazawa was optioned to AA Portland where he posted a record of 9-5 in 18 starts with a 2.57 ERA with 88 strikeouts. Junichi was also named to the Eastern League All-Star Game and promoted to AAA Pawtucket shortly thereafter.
In April 2010 Junichi underwent ligament replacement surgery; while the surgery was successful Red Sox Nation has not heard much from him since then. With Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Clay Bucholtz locked in the rotation, Jon Lackey out for the year and Daisuke Matsuzaka out until at least the All-Star break; the 4th and 5th spots are left vacant. Some would have thought that Tim Wakefield would have filled one of those spots, but with his recent retirement it opens the door for guys like Tazawa.
First off let me share how excited I am to be a part of the RedSoxaholics team for the 2012 season. I have been writing about minor league baseball for busleaguesbaseball.com over the past few seasons and am excited to share some insight about the team I have loved since I was born.
With the big contract signings of Albert Pujols (Angels), C.J. Wilson (Angels), and Prince Fielder (Tigers), the Red Sox have been relatively quiet this offseason. After being the front runners’ last offseason signing Carl Crawford and acquiring Adrian Gonzalez they were considered the team to beat last year.
Two of the biggest departures this offseason was Theo Epstein leaving to join the Cubs and Terry Francona manager for the Red Sox two World Series titles in the past 10 seasons. The key reason that Francona was removed from his position was clubhouse discipline, or the lack thereof. Immediately after the Red Sox collapse, a story was published revealing a need for a strong clubhouse ambassador, enter Bobby Valentine. During Francona’s time with Boston he posted a .574 winning percentage along with two World Series rings, he also had to deal with the self-proclaimed “idiots” of 2004. For the players that were still on the roster, it became clear that Tito had lost his voice in the clubhouse and change was needed.
After interviewing several candidates, the Red Sox decided to go with an outspoken manager, who will not allow drinking in the clubhouse, and will not allow the media to manipulate him. From donning a fake mustache in an attempt to watch the duration of a game after being ejected or constantly attacking the media during his time in Japan, Bobby V. is nothing like Terry Francona. Ray Monell from Yahoo! Sports, wrote a story after the Valentine signing, mentioning how some players were unhappy and were, “grumbling to each other, through texts and phone calls.” The city of Boston and its fans demand a winning product, and loyalty. The minute it came out players were drinking in the clubhouse, the fans turned against the players and change had to happen.
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