BoSox Weeky : CBSSports.com Blogs

Current NBA Draft

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:37:11 EDT

Me and Sportsfans team in the Current NBA Draft

Starting Lineup

PG: Baron Davis

SG: Joe Johnson

Week 11 Boston Red Sox Update

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:35:47 EDT

The Boston Red Sox are playing like they usually do during interleague play by continuing their dominance. They have gone 6-3 in their last nine games, and are in the midst of an easy road trip. They just took two out of three against the Washington Nationals on the road, and travel to Atlanta followed by Baltimore to conclude the road trip. The Sox have had a rough go of it on the road thus far, and this schedule gives them an opportunity to turn it around. Washington is the worst team in the Majors and Baltimore is by far the worst team in the AL East. Atlanta has been in a slump, and the Sox are catching them at the right time. Atlanta is four games below .500 so the Sox shouldn’t lose a series on this trip.

John Smoltz made his long-awaited start last night, but it didn’t go as planned. We were all hoping he would go out and throw six innings of two or three run ball, but that dream was lost when he allowed four runs in the first inning. It appeared he didn’t want to throw his fastball forcing him to throw too many breaking balls, which he couldn’t find the strike zone with. He did manage to settle down after the first, and only allowed a run in the next four innings. We were setting high standards for a guy that hadn’t pitched in the majors all year, but for him to get that first start under his belt is key. I think he will be a key pitcher for us in the playoffs (if we make it) and the fact that he settled in nice after a rough first, shows that after a little time Smoltz will be back to his old self.

Week 10 Boston Red Sox Update

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:48:13 EDT

The Boston Red Sox finally get an easier team in the Florida Marlins, after facing four straight division leading teams. They went 9-3 overall during that stretch and swept the New York Yankees, making them 8-0 against their rivals this season. They are now in the midst of interleague play, which they are 3-3 in so far. They are playing the NL East, said to be the second best division in baseball, and the Sox have already played the NL East’s top two teams. What really matters is that they have dominated the Yankees this season. We may only be leading by a couple of games in the division, but the fact they don’t know how to beat us is great. Not to mention being able to rub it in all of the Yankee fan’s faces.

John Smoltz is officially scheduled to start June twenty-fifth for the Red Sox. Smoltz was acquired over the offseason by the Sox, but didn’t get to much publicity because of the Yankees big money moves. He has been on the disabled list since opening day, but he is finally ready to give it a go. The Sox new he wasn’t going to be ready till around the all-star break, so it was a bonus that he is ready to start next Thursday. He has had multiple starts in the Sox farm system and has pitched very well down there. The Sox have had great starting pitching other than Matsuzaka so far. They aren’t ready to abandon ship on Dice-K so the sox will go with a six-man rotation.

Week 9 Boston Red Sox Update

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:47:05 EDT

Since last Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox have gone 4-2. This includes their very nice three game sweep in Detroit. The Red Sox have had a dreadful road record, but a big sweep of Detroit put them up around .500 for the year. Dice-K finally got his first win of the season, but didn’t manage to escape the fifth inning, which he has still yet to do a third of the way through the season. The Red Sox paid 51 million dollars just to talk to the guy, and he has an ERA of 7.33 so far this season. He has been outstanding in both World Baseball Classics, but I am afraid it is because other countries don’t see him as often and he gets longer rest during the WBC. His funky delivery and assortment of pitches were good early, but now Major League teams have figured him out. Not to mention the help he gives to teams with all of his walks. If Dice-K can’t pull it together in the next few starts, the Sox may be forced to send him down or move him to the bullpen, because they have plenty of starting pitchers waiting on the doorstep for a job.

Week 8 Boston Red Sox Update

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 10:36:28 EDT

The Boston Red Sox are in the midst of a ten-game road trip, and have gone two and four in their last six games. They have only allowed more than five runs once in their past seventeen games, although they have only gone eight and nine in those games. This means the hitting has been really bad in that stretch, but they have the talent to turn that around. If the Red Sox pitching can keep this kind of ERA up, then the Sox will easily make the playoffs because the hitting will come. Even if giving up five runs in a game isn’t great, they have generally been less than that, not to mention their hitting should produce five or more runs a game anyhow.

Terry Francona realized the hitting needed a boost, so he switched up the lineup on Sunday, resulting in an 8-2 win. The new look lineup features Dustin Pedroia leading off, followed by J.D. Drew, Kevin Youkilis, Jason Bay, Mike Lowell, David Ortiz, Jason Varitek, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Nick Green. I was surprised to see Ellsbury moved out of the number one spot, but I had been calling for Youkilis followed by Bay and it finally happened. I think it provides more power and a better on-base percentage towards the top and some speed at the bottom. I think this lineup will feature some changes later on, but for now it will produce runs better than the old lineup did.

Week 7 Boston Red Sox Update

Tue, 26 May 2009 22:29:37 EDT

The Boston Red Sox fared pretty well in their last two series. After one game against the Minnesota Twins, the Sox find themselves in first place in the AL East. They have a one game lead on the rival Yankees, and 1½ game lead on the Toronto Blue Jays, whom they swept in a three game series at Fenway. The Sox are fortunate that they will miss Roy Halladay in both series against the Jays. Following the Jays, the Sox welcomed the other team from New York, the Mets. They lost the series after Jonathan Papelbon blew his fist save of the season. The Rays are still below .500, and sit a solid five games out.

David Ortiz finally hit his first home run, but it didn’t save him from sliding down in the lineup. On probably the best team in the league, someone batting .195 shouldn’t be in the lineup, especially not third. Not only is he hitting under .200 with one home run, but his only job is to hit. Don’t get me wrong, I love Big Papi, but he is bringing the team down, and moving him down was the right decision. I am a little disappointed that J.D. Drew was the one moved up to third, though. I would have liked to see Jason Bay moved up to that third spot, allowing the first four hitters in the lineup to be batting over .300. If that isn’t going to produce runs then I don’t know what will. I know Francona loves his lefty right alternation throughout the order, but when you can bat four guys that hit like they do in a row, then you need to do so. I also would like to see Ortiz be put at first base for a few games, if he continues to struggle at the plate. It will take his mind off hitting and hopefully get him into a groove.

Week 6 Boston Red Sox Update

Mon, 18 May 2009 19:15:51 EDT

Coming into this Red Sox season, if I told you that Jon Lester and Josh Beckett’s combined ERA was over six; Dice-k, Jed Lowrie, and Kevin Youkilis are all on the DL; and David Ortiz hasn’t hit a home run in the first 38 games, what would you think their record would be? Maybe 5-33 or 8-30, not much higher, as well as mentioning I am completely crazy. Well after those 38 games and all of that actually happening, the Sox are 2nd in the AL East, at a record of 22-16. Although the Sox have hit a little rut, after going 2-4 on their last West Coast trip of the season, it seems like nothing is going right for the Boston Red Sox. Yet they are ahead of both the Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Yankees in the standings, which is why I don’t think they have too much to worry about. Once we get back to full strength and everyone starts to play like they can, then we should only get better.

Week 5 Boston Red Sox Update

Sun, 10 May 2009 19:46:17 EDT

Over the past fourteen games, the Red Sox have only faced the Indians, Yankees, and Rays. Their next three games are also against the Rays. I have to say I am sick of these teams, but we have managed to go nine and five in those games so I guess we can’t complain too much. In Thursday night’s game, the Sox were missing Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Jason Varitek, but that didn’t stop them from scoring twelve runs without an out in the sixth inning. That tied a major league record for most runs in a single inning without recording an out. That just goes to show how much depth this 2009 Red Sox team has.

The first thing I would like to talk about is Jason Bay. Theo Epstein, please sign this guy right now. He will become a free agent after this season, and the longer they wait to sign him, the more money he is going to demand. This year he is batting .316 with eight home runs. He has a team leading 29 runs batted in along with 26 runs. With Youkilis banged up on Thursday, and Ortiz getting a night off, he was batting high in the order and he delivered with five RBIs. Every day this guy plays, the Manny Ramirez trade looks better and better, especially after Ramirez has been suspended for the next fifty games.

Week 4 Boston Red Sox Update

Tue, 26 May 2009 22:30:16 EDT

The Red Sox came into Friday with a six-game winning streak. They won their next five games, including a series with their rival, the Yankees. They lost the second game of the Cleveland series in the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Javier Lopez ran to first after a great diving stop by Kevin Youkilis. Youk threw a nice toss to Lopez, who dropped it, allowing a runner from second to come home on the error. The Sox won the final game of the Cleveland series after coming back from five down. Jonathan Van Every hit his first career home run in the top of the tenth to give them a 6-5 win.

I love the Red Sox bullpen this year, but there is one guy that must go. It is not just because of his error in Tuesday’s game. He is supposed to be the guy they bring in to get lefties out, but they try and leave him in for an inning at a time and he can’t do it without giving up at least a run. This year he has an ERA of 9.39 and has an ERA of 6.75 against lefties; so it isn’t like if they could just leave him in for that one lefty he would be fine. He can’t pitch and he can’t field, so I don’t know why he is still wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey. They need to call up someone like a Michael Bowdoin, who needs the experience and is a much better pitcher. The Sox have the best bullpen ERA in the majors, and it would be that much better with no Lopez.

Week 3 Boston Red Sox Update

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 20:27:10 EDT

Over the past week, the Red Sox did exactly what they needed to do. After starting the season 3-6, they won their next six games to move to 9-6. They are now two games back of the Toronto Blue Jays and are tied with the New York Yankees. The Sox swept a four game series with the Orioles and won a short two game series with the Twins.

The Sox are now playing by far their best ball of the early season. The bats are hot and the pitching is great even after an injury to Dice-K. They have shown that they have the talent to overcome big deficits after coming back from seven runs down against the Orioles. One of the biggest keys in the past week was Jon Lester showing he is getting into the form he was in last season. Lester was an ace last year, but he wasn’t showing it until his last start. He went seven innings, giving up four hits and two walks with no runs, to go with nine strikeouts.

Week 2 Boston Red Sox Update

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 22:16:19 EDT

After a tough first week they didn't have a better second week. The Red Sox got off to a 1-2 start and since the series against Tampa Bay they are 2-4 bringing them to an overall 3-6 record. The past week they were on the west coast and didn't fair to well as you saw from their record over the past week. They played the Los Angeles Angels who have been a great regular season team the past few years, but can never beat the Sox in the playoffs when it really matters. The Angels are missing starting pitchers John Lackey and Ervin Santana to the disabled list, who are by far there best 2 pitchers. The Sox were hoping to win a tough road series with the Angels banged up, but the bats were just not there. They got hits just not at the right times so no runs would come from the hits. All of the games had save opportunities so they were close, but the Sox couldn't get the timely hitting to win.

Week 1 Boston Red Sox Update

Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:38:14 EDT

Opening day has come and past and now we can watch baseball night in and night out up and through October. The Boston Red Sox and Tampa Rays had to wait a day to get under way, but that didn't stop it from being a great series. In a rematch of the ALCS game the Red Sox won their home opener by a score of 5-3. In a matchup of Josh Beckett and James Shields is we pretty close throughout. The defending MVP champion in Dustin Pedroia started off with a bang. On his first at bat in the 09 season he hit a golf shot over the Green Monster.

Josh Beckett looked great after striking 10 over a period of 7 innings. Beckett only allowed one run on 2 hits along wit 3 walks. Jason Varitek also looked very good even though he went 1 for 4 in the game. All 3 of his outs were hard line drives that were right at the Rays defense and the one time he didn't hit it right at someone he knocked it out of the park. The Sox bats were on fire in the opener along with Beckett's arm.

Red Sox, Yankees, or the Rays

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 15:13:21 EDT

The AL East is probably the best division in baseball and if you don't think so I would like to here which you think is better. You have the 26 time champion New York Yankees. Then there is the 2004 and 2007 World Series champion Red Sox. Lastly, you have last years division champs filled ith young talent in the Tampa Bay Rays. Not to mention the Toronto Blue Jays led by ace pitcher Roy Halladay and the Baltimore Orioles with often talked about youg prospect catcher Matt Weiters who has a chance at rookie of the year depending on when they bring him up to the Bigs.

Last years AL East standings finished as follows:

Tampa Bay Rays: 97-65 (division winner)

Boston Red Sox: 95-67 (wildcard winner)

Looking Back At the Sox, Marlins Trade!

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:54:17 EDT

In November of 2005 the Boston Red Sox and Florida Marlins made a huge trade. At the time, Hanley Ramirez was just a prospect while Mike Lowell had just come off an injury plagued season and Josh Beckett was one of better pitchers in baseball. Years later the Sox find themselves struggling at shortstop but striving with an ace of Josh Beckett. The Sox have won the World Series with both Lowell and Beckett and Lowell did manage to win World Series MVP.

Hanley Ramirez is now being picked number one overall in fantasy baseball leagues and is one of if not the best player in all of baseball. He plays a position in which most teams struggle at and he manages to hit .300+ with 35+ SB and 100+ runs. He has stolen 51 SB twice in his 3 year long career. No doubt any team would want this guy to play SS for them.

Red Sox 2009 keys to victory

Fri, 27 Feb 2009 20:54:05 EST

After losing to the Tampa Bay Rays in the ALCS last year the Red Sox are hoping they can repeat what they did in 2004 and 2007. And I am going to tell you what they need to do, to accomplish that task.

First thing is I think they need David Ortiz to be the guy he was prior to last year. He managed to only bat .264 with 23 home runs in during the 2008 season. He was battling a shoulder injury throughout the season which obviously didn't help anything but if the Sox want to get to the World Series they need Papi to bring some power to the lineup. After losing their cleanup hitter in Manny Ramirez they have lost a lot of power and are relying on Big Papi to carry the load. He has also been one of if not the biggest clutch hitter in his time and they are going to need him to step it up espessialy when he is needed most.

Boston Red Sox Position Breakdown

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 21:52:22 EST

The Boston Red Sox are in what appears to be the toughest division in all of baseball. The AL east holds 26 time World Series winners in the New York Yankees. The 2004 and 2007 World Series champion Boston Red Sox. And 2008 ALCS champion Tampa Bay Rays. The Yankees have the highest payroll in the majors with $218 million. They put that to good use this year in acquiring 3 of probably the 4 biggest free agents. They are paying first basemen Mark Teixeira $180 million over 8 years, not to mention the biggest pitching contract to CC Sabathia. After giving CC 7 years $161 million they went out and got A.J. Burnett for 5 years and $82.5 million dollars. Not to mention they are already paying Derek Jeter and A-rod huge contracts.

Then you have the Rays with all of the young rising stars. They have suffered throughout their teams history but after winning the AL East last year with a record of 97-65 and making the World Series they are they may possibly be able to repeat last seasons performance. With Evan Longoria a rising third base star and center fielder B.J. Upton leading the lineup they have to be in the talk of World Series possible winners. They also have a devastating starting lineup that is also very young.