State of the Red Sox

Let's cap off the Red Sox season so far. They started off at a ferocious pace. On April 18th, they were 10-4. Since then, they've gone 4-8 to find themselves at 16-12. There's been a lot of focus on the pitching situation, but it's really about the run support.

Coco Crisp, who became a folk hero in only 5 games, has been injured and will stay on the DL until mid May.

Josh Beckett had a torrid start, but has slumped in his last three games. I'm wondering if he's injured again, but with the tight lips policy at Fenway, we might not know until after he goes on the DL.

Ortiz has started off hot and has remained so. David has 11 HR so far and has shown no sign of slowing.

Manny has been the April/May Manny and will hopefully pick up his productivity soon. Especially since I traded away Crisp for Manny in a multi player deal in my fantasy league.

Wily Mo Pena still doesn't have any errors credited to him. But Francona has started avoiding letting him play in the field. In the meantime, because of the injuries, he's been productive at the plate. He's currently hitting .322 with a slugging percentage of .559.

Lowell has been hitting better than expected with 13 doubles so far. I can't figure out if this is a good thing or not (as far as what we should expect from him for the rest of the year). He may have 13 doubles, but only 2 hr. Does this mean he's hitting it long, but having trouble hitting it out?

Kevin Youkilis has been the 10th man of the team so far. Curt Schilling may have predicted it, but I wasn't expecting it.

I really wish Wells would just retire. He's going to have a rehab game, can't we just leave him in the minors until we know he's going to get out of the third inning in a start?

I still want Papelbon to get out of the bullpen. Yes, he may become the next great closer. I'd rather he become the next great starter.

Wakefield has suffered from the lack of run support, not because Josh Bard was having trouble catching the knuckleball. Maybe the rest of the team will be more confident going into his starts with Mirabelli in the lineup, but we'll have to wait and see.

Foulke has 15 games so far and has a high ERA at 4.26, but that's misleading. He's been doing a lot better this year and batters are only hitting .224 against him. Only Wakefield, Schilling and Papelbon are doing better.

Mirabelli's flight

Some interesting quotes from Mirabelli in today's Boston Herald.

There's been some controversy (albeit a small one) on whether using a police officer to rush a catcher was a good use of public resources. Well, the Sox paid $160 to do it, and they do it all the time (even if it's usually in the other direction).

Also, the plane landed in Kansas City to refuel and they kept the load very light:

"We had to keep the weight down," Mirabelli joked. "God forbid Curt Schilling were on that flight, we never would have made it."

Mirabelli’s house had been occupied by outfielder Gabe Kapler, but the catcher said that "when he heard I was coming back, he packed up."

Mirabelli gets warm welcom

Damon did not.

Normally, you expect police will get involved at a Yankees Red Sox game eventually. Last night, they were involved even before the game started as Mirabelli got a police escort from Logan to Fenway.

From the Boston Herald:
Mirabelli has probably never felt so appreciated or important. Last night, the backup catcher emerged from his police escort, after flying in from across country, and jumped out of the car in full uniform. He had touched down at Logan at 6:48 p.m., arrived at Fenway at 7:00, and took Wakefield’s first pitch at 7:13.

And yet, Wakefield still didn't get the win, since the bats didn't arrive until late in the game. I think the focus on Bard was a little overstated. Yes, he did have 10 passed balls in five games. But the real reason Wakefield (1-4) didn't get the wins was the hitting for the Red Sox. They haven't been punching the runners in. In his 5 previous games, the Red Sox scored a total of 10 runs, 8 of which occured in the first two games.

Was trading for Mirabelli a good move? You bet. Every little bit helps and I'm sure the whole team feels better about having someone who knows how to catch the knuckleball behind the plate for Tim. But don't fool yourself. There was a reason the Red Sox were willing to trade away their back up catcher.

The bigger deal last night, despite the police lights, was the 7 run performance by the hitters.

Mirabelli coming back to the Red Sox?

Big news from Boston Sports Media Watch (who is listening to WEEI this morning). If true, Wakefield may have his catcher back.


Boston Sports Media Watch

After Mike Adams called into Dennis & Callahan this morning to say that he had information that Doug Mirabelli was trying to arrange transportation from San Francisco to Boston today, Buster Olney of ESPN appeared with Dale & Holley to report that the Red Sox have traded Josh Bard, Cla Meredith, a player to be named later and cash to San Diego for Mirabelli.

He also said that the Yankees got involved in this trade, trying to prevent the Red Sox from getting Mirabelli back...

Patriots make a surprising move

Well, just as I predicted, the Patriots can't be predicted. I certainly wasn't expecting them to trade up in the second round to get a wide receiver! With 7 of their 10 picks, the Patriots took offense over defense, and their first pick a running back.

Strange things are happening in Foxboro.

Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk are aging half backs with plenty of issues. So, perhaps it shouldn't come as a surprise that Belichick and Pioli went for a running back with their first choice. And with Givens leaving in the offseason, a new wide receiver was a necessity.

But there were a lot of holes in the secondary last year. Admittedly, most of the holes came from a slew(sp?) of injuries, not talent. But once injured, most players have trouble staying on the field.

It was definitely an interesting draft this year.

PATRIOTS DRAFT BOARD
Round	Pick	From	Name
1	21	Assigned	Laurence Maroney, RB, Minnesota
2	4	Assigned	Chad Jackson, WR, Florida
3	22	Assigned	David Thomas, TE, Texas
4	9	Detroit	Garrett Mills, TE/FB, Tulsa
4	21	Assigned	Stephen Gostkowksi, K, Memphis
5	3	Oakland	Ryan O'Callaghan, OT, California
6	22	Assigned	Jeremy Mincey, DE, Florida
6	36	Compensatory Pick	Dan Stevenson, OG, Notre Dame
6	37	Compensatory Pick	Le Kevin Smith, DT, Nebraska
7	21	Assigned	Willie Andrews, S, Baylor

And, BTW, I really, really don't understand the Patriots obsession with drafting tight ends.