After watching what was a great-looking start; I'm now officially worried about the Red Sox. Yes there were a couple timely hits, but Milwood shut us down. I personally, along with everyone's favorite snarky Red Sox Blog, are going to finally say that the John Smoltz experience needs to come to an end. Say Hey needs the call up NOW! I'm normally not one to panic but we need to get a bat in our lineup as well. Let's get to it.
Our offense is nothing short of the Pittsburgh Pirates right now and as a big market team that isn't going to cut it. Nancy (Drew) is hitting .190 in the leadoff spot, J Bay is hovering around the Mendoza line for the last 3 weeks, and Youkilis is striking out so much that Adam Dunn is saying, "who does this guy think he is?" So what does Francona do? He tries a little change by putting the streaking (although just recovering from a stomach flu) Ellsbury back at the top of the lineup and moves Drew back down into the 6-hole. Although I'm willing to give Ells a pass because he's been sick, JD needs to start earning his paycheck if he ever did. I'm done with people saying he doesn't need to do anything because he can play in October. We need to get there first and if our offense performs like we are now we'll be on the outside looking in. This offense needs a jolt, it needs a power bat (Gonzalez, Martinez, Berkman (if Houston flounders)) but what is the cost going to be? Please Garrett Atkins, Nick Johnson, Hank Blalock you still need not apply.
John Smoltz in one word: GET THE FUCK OFF THE MOUND. I love what you did with Atlanta. But can you please do me a favor and fake an injury and tell them to call up Buchholz. Yes, you looked good through 5 but you HAVE to be able to make pitches, especially when you don't have 96 mph in your arsenal anymore. EXECUTE should be a word Etched in every locker that you stay in. But don't just carve it in there, read the goddamn word and then go out and do it! You say you get pissed when you give up 2 out runs well I'm getting pissed when you're giving up two strike hits. If you're up in the count, bury them! Sounds simple, I realize its not. But for a sure fire Hall of Famer it should be second nature. I want to applaud Theo for attempting this, but I'm now chalking this one up as a Lugo, I mean an error in judgment, and we need to give one of our young guys a chance.
Everyone is saying that we don't have any holes in our lineup, but I'm going to argue that we have more than 1 hole in our lineup. Our RF this year is hitting .250ish (below league average), SS is obviously a revolving door, and our 4-5 starters are struggling to get through 5 innings which is putting a burden on our bullpen. Speaking of our bullpen, why is Saito pitching in the major leagues? Because he can throw 94? His fastball is straighter than an arrow, he hit Verducci's 3-year wall, there is also no mystery about him anymore. STOP putting him in the game. I'd rather gauge my eyes out with a rusty spoon than watch him attempt to pitch. I would also rather see Origami (Manny DelCarmen: Folds under pressure) pitch.
I'm begging you baseball gods, please don't start the Curse of Julio Lugo disrupt this season. Send us some help and let us get back to playing baseball the right way.
Stay Tuned
Ryan
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