Quick look at who is lurking down in Pawtucket.
Last week I wrote about knuckleballer Charlie Zink who is now 13-3, 2.76 ERA.
Pitchers:
Bowden, 0-2, 5.17
Pauley, 12-4, 3.40
Smith, 1-3, 2.24, 13 SVS
and I don't think we'll see Kyle Snyder back soon: 1-3, 6.28
Position players:
Thurston, 2B, .316
Bailey, OF, .300, 24 HR's
Carter, OF, .299, 23 HR's
Van Every, OF, .272, 24 HR's
Pawtucket is doing well in the International League with all this talent.
I can understand the need to trade Manny at this point, even for a lesser quality player like Jason Bay, but to throw in Hansen and Moss is way too much. The Sox have bullpen problems and did nothing about it, they could have sent Moss to KC for Mahay and now they have one less arm in the pen. This is a tough deal to understand right now, I hope another trade for some help in the pen has been made and we have not heard about it yet.
Read more...David Ortiz has returned to the Red Sox from the DL. To make room for his return the Sox have optioned Brandon Moss to Pawtucket.
Read more...After all of the craziness of last night's game, we have some updates.
Injuries: Manny's hamstring injury does not look too serious and he may not miss a game, Ellsbury hurt his wrist but had a negative X-Ray, he could miss a few games.
The Sox called up Brandon Moss and sent Carter back down as they now need outfielders.
Fight Night: Coco could be in for a 10 game suspesion and with Ellsbury hurt it might be just the news Bobby Kielty was looking for.
Nobody on the Sox is opening up about the Manny-Youk altercation. There is speculation Youk was not pleased that Manny took his time joining the earlier brawl and was even beat to the field by newcomer "speed demon" Bartolo Colon. Tito and others said it was no big deal and the team will be fine.
Sweep: The Red Sox did sweep the Rays and now have a game and a half lead in the AL East. The hapless Mariners are coming to the Fens tonight. Lost in all of the fighting was how well the Sox played last night; while Lester did give up 8 hits, he did not walk anyone and struck out 5 in 6 and 1/3. The bullpen continued to be solid and the Sox offense provided some timely hits including a homer by Manny in the first as part of his 5 RBI night.
Sox Win 7-1 BOX SCORE
Things have been rough for Bobby Kielty since he hit the game winning home run in Game 4 of the 2007 World Series. He chose to accept a spot with the PawSox after he was cut from the Red Sox at the start of the season in the hope that he could be back with the big club sometime this season. Much of the landscape has changed since he reported to Pawtucket; there is now a good chance that Coco will not be traded, and Brandon Moss and Jonathan Van Every have emerged as a good options when another outfielder is needed in Boston. Shortly after the season began Bobby Kielty went on the minor league DL after having surgery on his hand, missing a time when he would have been called up. He made his first of 2 rehab starts last night for the Single A Lancaster going 0-2. If Kielty is going to get back to Boston this season he needs Coco to be traded and he needs to beat out Moss and Van Every for the fourth outfielder spot. Injuries are bound to happen so I wouldn't count out Kielty but it is going to be a big test for him to find a way back into the limelight.
Brandon Moss has been called up to the Red Sox which can only mean that Sean Casey will go on the DL to make room.
Read more...
Bartolo Colon pitched very well in his first start getting a win for the PawSox. He pitched 5 scoreless innings only giving up one hit while walking 2. He is putting the pressure on Clay Buchholz to pitch well in Toronto this weekend. The PawSox won the game 3-0. As for the offense, recent Red Sox players Bobby Kielty went 0-4 and Moss went 1-3. You can view the box score here.
One thing is for certain; Manny is the starting left fielder. After that things start to get a little muddy. Fans and Sox management want Jacoby in center but they still have Coco to contend 
with. For now it looks like Coco and Ellsbury will platoon in center so Boston can showcase Crisp's abilities and prove the injury is behind him. Teams like Chicago and Oakland are still interested in trading for Coco but a trade does not appear imminent. The Red Sox will try to get Ellsbury into more games when Coco starts by having him pinch run or as a late inning defensive replacement for Manny. J.D. Drew now has the mysterious back spasms that seem to be attacking Red Sox players this year, the injury is minor but it has already caused him to miss two games and the long flight back from Japan will not be much help. Drew believes he will be back by April 1st. Brandon Moss had a great spring in the outfield for Boston and was the opening day hero but there is no room for him on the roster so he was sent down to Pawtucket today. Bobby Kielty is on a non guaranteed contract but has won a spot on the team as the 5th outfielder. Kielty had a leg injury late during spring training and was not 100% in Tokyo, that is why you saw Moss in right. It will be a few months before Jacoby is the everyday center fielder and may be just as long before we see Moss back in Boston.
The Red Sox are 1-0 but for much of the night (or morning) it looked like they were headed for an opening day loss.
Pitching: The Red Sox pitching was not good. Dice-K got into trouble in the first and second and took too long to settle down; he had to leave in the 5th with 95 pitches. Mr. Celery did not do much better; he gave up a 2 run homer to give the A's the lead. Lopez, Corey and Okajima were the saviors of the staff going 2.2 scoreless innings, Oki picked up the win. Papelbon recorded a save but only because the A's made a base running error. He very easily could have had the loss in this game giving up 3 hits and a walk in the bottom of the 10th.
Defense: Who needs Coco's defense when Jacoby can make plays like he did in center. (Be sure to watch Ellsbury's catch) Dice-K also made a good barehanded play in the first.
Offense: Brandon Moss stepped up big time after getting the start when J.D. was scratched
late with a back injury. Moss had an RBI double and hit the game tying home run in the 8th. Manny was being Manny with 2 doubles and 4 RBI's. Papi was o-4 but he did draw an intentional walk and scored a run. Pedroia and Lugo each had 2 hits.
There were some things to be concerned with in the game particularly Dice-K and Papelbon's performances but overall the Sox gutted one out to come from behind and win 6-5 in 10 innings. Boston is on top of the AL East with the best record in baseball, right where they belong. The game will be rebroadcast today on ESPN 2 at 1:30 Eastern.
© Blogger templates The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008
Back to TOP
