State of the Nation

The Red Sox have had all sorts of sub-stories to talk about in the last few days. I figure that today I'll touch upon a few of them!

First off, I try to not conform to society, but what are you doing, David Ortiz? Not only is your hitting (or lack there of) affecting the production that this lineup is capable of, but the sulking in the dugout has got to cease! Every time you miss an 89 mph "Cheeseball" ala "Eck" you throw your arms up, you don't run it out (that's another aggravating trait that you have grown accustomed to), and then you go in the dugout and you look like you're being forced to listen to Celine Dion. If you still have anything left in the tank it will come but remember to play the game the RIGHT way. The Baseball Gods will look down favorably on someone who plays the game correctly.

Josh Beckett looked like the player that we thought we acquired from the Marlins in 2006, on Saturday night. giving up 1 unearned run and shutting down a potent, and star studded Mets lineup. He was overpowering, finessing, and flat out out-classing them and got nothing to show for it because of a 3rd string catcher hitting a ball off the top of Tha Monstah off of Jonathan Papelbon.

After watching Brad Penny for the 4th consecutive start give the Red Sox a chance to win and achieving the timeless "quality start" his stock is rising for his June 15th trade availability. Because of his 1 yr deal with the Red Sox he is entitled by MLB regulations to remain on the team through the ides of June before he is trade bait. His recent performance has shown that he is someone that you can count on handing the ball to every 5th day. This gives us a SERIOUS bargaining chip that is expendable because of the presence of John Smoltz to the Red Sox rotation. It may not happen on the 15th but rest assure that when Smoltz is ready to pitch he has a spot on that rubber and Penny will be with another ball club.

Finally, the ENIGMA that is Clay Buchholz. Today he took a perfect game into the 9th inning against AAA Louisville and threw 70 of 96 pitches for strikes. *scratches head bewildered* Wasn't this the same Clay Buchholz that came up here last year and pitched like Big Papi hits? *rimshot* Short answer: Yes. Long Answer: he busted his tail this offseason and learned what the best pitch in baseball is. Strike one. Follow that up with strike two on a consistent basis and you're going to have yourself one hell of a pitcher. In a similar case with Tommy Hanson of the AAA Braves affiliate they are both pitching out of this world but with 0 availability in the parent clubs rotation. The real question? Do we keep him and hope that the ageless 'Wake' doesn't come back next year and then have 4 fireballers in our rotation OR trade him with others for a young power bat, say Adrian Gonzalez. Pardon my salivating.

With a small sidenote: Dennis Eckersley needs to have more Freudian slips during broadcasts because it makes for a fun drinking game!

Stay Tuned

Ryan