We’ve Just Been Verlander’d

This is why Justin Verlander is in the midst of all the Cy Young talk with Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay, and Zack Greinke. He flat out, out-classed the Red Sox on Thursday, and he should have! On a day where we trot out the Cactus League All Stars (Kotchman, Reddick, Woodman, (I may start lumping Papi in here)) we deserved to lose. Justin Verlander with his, on average 97.3mph fastball, and his changeup (harder than 65% of the Big Leagues fastballs) were slicing and dicing his way through the Pedroia-less Boston 9. He threw 123 pitches and his last pitch to Jason Bay was clocked at 100mph. Verlander did what he had to do for his team on a day where he was facing essentially the Toronto Blue Jays. And I'm going to say that he is the RAREST pitcher in baseball. He is the only person in the league that for 8 innings can throw upwards of 98-100 mph, and throw 70% of his pitches for strikes. That makes for a very long day for ANYONE's offense. Let's face it Sox fans, we've been Verlander'd.

What didn't go unnoticed was another well tossed ballgame by the biggest enigma in Boston Sports, Clay Buchholz. What's the difference between Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett, aside from the sheer kick-ass nature that radiates through JB's pores? Beckett can bend but he won't give in and give up a run. Buchholz although the first run was unearned had to find a way to pitch out of that jam. He needs to get downright dirty when there are runners in scoring position. Get that bulldog mentality and get rid of the deer in the headlights look. You have all the make up to be a front line starter, please don't turn into Craig Hansen. But I have to give credit where credit is due. Say Hey Clay twirled in his best game since his no-no, but picked the wrong day to give up a run. I think it's safe to say he has just been Verlander'd.

While you could chalk it up to a dazzling pitching performance by the aforementioned Justin Verlander, David Ortiz looked like he brought a knife to a gun fight, with Verlander having an AK-47 and Papi holding a plastic butter knife. David Ortiz is no longer the Big Papi we know and love. While I'll give him the benefit of the doubt with regards to his steroid allegations (I think I owe him that much) I have come to the painstaking realization that this team is NOT better with David Ortiz in the lineup. Yes, Mike Lowell is on fire, and NO it's not going to last, not to this extent anyway. He needs to be sat when Youkilis comes back from his suspension in favor or Mike Lowell. He can't get around on any fastball over 94mph with any regularity. He's off-balance when Uncle Charlie comes a callin'. He hasn't been able to come through with that big hit when we need him to like the Papi of Yesteryear. I'm not mad at Papi for hitting like Argenis Diaz, I thank him for all the memories that he has given us, but it's time to grab some pine. Just another case of being Verlander'd.

Moving forward, we are going to really find out what the Dog Days in summer are like down in Arlington with the Wild Card Lead on the line. Here's what I think. THE RANGERS ARE NOT THAT GOOD. Their offense is phenomenal, but their pitching is marginal at best. The Wild Card IS coming from the AL EAST. That being said I think they are going to catch the Angels who also, this year, can't seem to pitch their way out of a paper bag. They are however going to lose some ground in this series. Boston will win 2 out of 3. They will lose the Brad Penny, getaway day game. Tazawa will throw a gem and Lester will be flat out dominant tonight. The one person I'm excited to see is the rookie fireballer in Texas, Neftali Perez. As easy as Daniel Bard makes throwing 100mph look, this kid looks like he's throwing 120.

Lastly, I just heard that the Sox put in a waiver claim for Reds SS Alex Gonzalez. I'm gonna call bullshit on this one because you should have kept him 3 f'n years ago! I don't want him now. They need to find a way to get JJ Hardy if they are going to splash into the shortstop waiver market. Buckle up Sox fans, the next week and a half WILL, in fact, tell you how good our hometown heroes are. But as far as yesterday is concerned, we were Verlander'd and there's not much we can do about it. But let it be known if we get Milwood'd tonight, I'm probably going to go Chris Brown on someone.

Stay Tuned

Ryan