Bad News for Boston
The Red Sox’s disabled list is getting awfully cramped. Josh Beckett has surpassed a month on the table with a lower back strain; Jacoby Ellsbury will pass that plateau this week with fractured ribs; Jeremy Hermida has fractured ribs as well; Mike Lowell’s strained right hip has kept him down since earlier this week; and Jed Lowrie/Junichi Tazawa have missed the entire regular season .
Add at least one more name to the tally, as Dustin Pedroia was placed on the 15-day DL with a fracture in his left foot. Clearly this one hurts the most. Pedroia is one of the best players in baseball. Not only that, but he was in the midst of perhaps his finest season yet. The early timetable on his return suggests that he’ll miss quite a bit more than the 15 days, which leaves Boston in an uncomfortable position of having Bill Hall man second base while they search around for a potential replacement. As a matter of fact, Boston just acquired Eric Patterson via trade. And well, he’s not replacing Pedroia, and he may not even be able to suitably replace Hall.
As if matters couldn’t get any worse, Clay Buchholz left his start tonight against San Francisco after one inning on the hill. He suffered a leg injury on the basepaths, which prompted Boston to strain their bullpen. Buchholz grabbed his hamstring which may be the culprit and there’s no word on the severity, nor, obviously, on his status moving forward.
Boston has climbed back into the playoff hunt after a hellacious April, but those fortunes could turn once more if they continue encountering an injury bug with the vengeance of an angst-filled Cthulhu.
Clay Buchholz was always one to join a party…
Don’t let the party keep you from being intellectually lazy.
eric patterson for fabian williamson
ANother steal by theo.
Patterson is a great hitter…in AAA.
DO not be surprised if he does well in boston
As an A’s fan, I say: have fun with that. Patterson is a turd of a player. No arm, no bat. We are lucky to have gotten a human for him.
Theo Epstein may have just picked up the phone and dialed Jack Zduriencik.
For what – their replacement level ex-second baseman or their replacement-level converted second baseman?
Or perhaps for the best LHP in baseball right now?
Well, that’s what I get for skimming the article and assuming it was just about Pedroia’s injury.
@Slurve, if they weren’t willing to trade the farm for Halladay, it would make little to no sense to trade a wealth of talent for Lee now.
I’d actually take their replacement level ex-second baseman, Lopez. I can’t imagine he’d cost much to trade for and the guy put up a WAR of 2.5 last year. It would seem like a very good time to buy low on a piece of need. Why not trade for a slumping guy? If he hits at replacement level, it’s the same as calling a guy up (statistically speaking, as he is your “replacement player”). If he hits better, great.
Lopez as a hitter is in many ways Beltre-lite: less power, but all of it as a pull hitter to LF. He might not get as many dingers as Beltre, but a lot of his dying quail outs in Safeco would be doubles off the monster in Fenway. (He also has the Beltre-ian weakness for lunging at the low-and-outside pitch he has no hope of hitting, but at least he doesn’t call on the first base ump to give him a strike on checked swings). And he’s pretty much at his lowest possible value; as inconsistent as he’s been over the years (putting good first halves next to terrible second halves, and vice versa) he’s still only 26 and could benefit from a change of scenery (or just a home park that doesn’t get into his head).
However, early (very early) UZR and eyeball results at his new position notwithstanding, he’s not going to make anybody forget Pedroia in the middle infield. He might not even make people forget Bill Hall.
get Adam Everett, move Scutaro to 2nd. no point in making a big deal when Pedroia will be back in two months.
Considering the massive amount of offensive production lost, you sure you’re willing to say that?
Especially since Adam Everett is almost always an out.
John McDonald could be an option, although, he’s probably less of a black hole then Everett or Hall.
You take Brendan Ryan, we’ll take Jose Iglesias.
Who is also on the DL.
I was pretty sure the issue with Buchholz was a hyperextended knee, for what it’s worth. I assume that may be better than a hamstring issue?
As for Pedroia, I’m sure they’re on the prowl as we speak. Mariners could definitely be a good fit, if Jose Lopez can still play some 2B. Kelly Johnson could be another possible name, I’d think.
Pedroia one of the best players in all of baseball? Very good – Absolutely. One of the best – are we using a height adjusted scaled?
Pedroia away from Fenway (career): .285/.353/.420
Orlando Hudson’s career #’s: .282/.348/.428
OK, he has his own Beyond Baseball commercial and he is VERY good defensively, but can we put an end to this one of the best in baseball garbage?
Aw man, I hate it when I forget that home numbers don’t count.
Or when people continue to overlook the impact of Fenway because Pedroia’s so short and such a ‘gamer’ and ‘scrappy’
The splits are MASSIVE – we are talking a 115point difference in OPS
I just don’t get how maybe being the 3rd best player at his position gets translated into “one of the best in the game” (of all positions?). Take him out of Fenway and he is what, a moderately above average hitter? Unless a .773 OPS is elite?
Heck, his career BABIP is 44 points higher at home… that is just luck?
Wade Boggs made the HOF first ballot with those splits, so Pedroia has nothing to prove
Right, because hall-of-fame voters are the authority on evaluating a player..
Actually you guys should probably just disregard everything I’m saying. I did some thinking and realized just how invalid my argument was.
Great, now we have Boston fans posing as others to prop up their players and make sure nary a negative word is spoken….
Jorge Posada’s home OPS is 65 points higher than his away OPS
Ken Griffey Jr’s home OPS is 98 points higher than his away OPS
Mark Teixeira’s home OPS is 108 points higher than his away OPS.
I guess we should just disregard all of these guys’ home numbers and call them decent but not great players.
Ummm.. pretty sure you need to look at the baseline those #’s start from? There’s a difference from going from .730 to .850 vs .850 to .970? But way to distort an argument.
…but hey keep defending the flag, that’s solid work you’re doing there.
Pretty sure Griffey’s road #’s are just a wee bit better than Pedroia’s (not taking the time to check, but I’ll go out on a limb) and is anyone calling Posada one of “the best in baseball”…. if they are I’d certainly look at his home splits.
And please point to a single post where Pedroia was referenced as a “decent player”… I’m just saying not one of the best in baseball (which then gets converted by into – average, decent or whatever else you want to believe)
Elite defender + moderately above average hitter does not equal best in baseball. If he hit as well on the road as he did at home, I would put him in the “one of the best” class
Nowhere did I say the same scale should be applied to Griffey as to Pedroia, Griffey is obviously the superior hitter, but you are saying that Pedroia’s career .773 away OPS, a just over 100 point drop from his home OPS turns Pedroia from a great hitter into a merely above average one, so I am pointing out that the same logic would mean that Griffey’s .860 road OPS, a 100 point drop from his home one, would turn him from an elite hitter to a good one.
You are clearly picking and choosing which players you give the benefit of the doubt to in terms of home and road numbers.
This is how your original post reads if I had replaced Pedroia with Teixeira:
Teixiera career away numbers: .269/.365/.493
J.D. Drew’s career numbers: .283/.390/.502
Ok, he plays for the Yankees and has a huge contract, but can we put and end to this one of the best in baseball nonsense.
Same logic, you compared Pedroia’s away numbers to Orlando Hudson’s overall stats to say that Pedroia was overrated, so I’m comparing Teixiera’s away numbers to Drew’s overall numbers to say that Teixeira is overrated and shouldn’t be mentioned as one of the best in baseball.
So I understand a .773 OPS with elite defense = one of the best in baseball… forget Hudson for a second (you obviously got hung up on that for some reason).
It’s not the 115point drop that makes him above average it’s the actual .773 level hitting in normal ballparks – that is where you are falling down… the problem is the .773 OPS is not visible because it gets inflated by the home #’s. Put to an extreme a guy hitting 1.10OPS at home, and a 1.000 on the road doesn’t get downgraded to a “decent” hitter BECAUSE HE’S STILL HITTING 1.00OPS on the road…. can you not understand that basic argument?
That is all I’m saying…you can reinterpret that into me calling him decent or average. You can compare it to Griffey’s home/road split through some misguided logic. And you can put up Tex’s #”s and put words in my mouth- I actually don’t think he’s one of the best in baseball. Nor is Posada.
Pedroia = elite defender and overall a very, very good player. One of the best in all of baseball – nope, not when you consider how much of his hitting is due to homecooking. Now please continue on with the re-intrepretation of this being me calling him “decent”
All I’ve said is take him away from Fenway and he is a a moderately above average hitter… which obviously gets reconfigured by those ‘defending the flag’
The only nonsense is coming from what appears to be a RedSox homer who merely wants to turn this into a Yankee/RedSox thing. The Yankees have nothing to do with this argument (and I’m not even a Yankee fan)… I could care less what their home road splits unless folks are trotting them out with a specious “best in baseball” argument like is being done for Pedroia.
It’s just completely absurd to judge a player exclusively off of his home numbers. And I am not a “Red Sox homer trying to turn everything into a Red Sox/Yankee thing”, Mark Teixeira was a clear example of my point, so I used him.
Well, this depends greatly on what you mean by “one of the best.” Is he top 10? No. Top 20? Quite possibly. Top 30? Likely. Top 50? Almost certainly.
To me, if you’re in the top 50, you’re among the best players in baseball. That’s just about in the top 5%. I would say that being in the top 5% of your field is “one of the best” so I’m not sure what the argument is here. He’s in the top 3 at his position in the world, so… (shrug). Not sure what the argument is here. It’s not like Cano doesn’t benefit from being at Yankee Stadium. Or that Utley doesn’t benefit from playing in Citizen’s Bank Ballpark.
Most good players are going to have positive home splits, unless their home really really sucks (Sorry A-Gonz). In some cases, these splits may be exaggerated by a particularly good ballpark or surrounding players. In fact, for MOST good hitters that will be the case. Good teams will want them, they’ll sign them, and they’ll have a park that is conducive to their playing style (if they’re smart).
Even if you only use his road numbers, he’s still been a solid player. We’re not talking Vinny Castilla here. And judging by the performance of the last say… half dozen Red Sox shortstops- being in Fenway does not automatically give you awesome stats.
Might want to look at Cano’s home/road splits….but why let the facts get in the way of a good strawman?
home (career) .836OPS
away (career) .837OPS
Could you imagine what his #’s would be if he didn’t play in Yankee stadium…well you don’t really have to. You can also look at wOBA, or other stats if you think I’m cherrypicking but you’ll be disappointed.
It’s not whether he’s getting any benefit at all from home splits, but the **degree** to which he is benefiting….. which again is MASSIVE. Do lots of players enjoy a +115OPS at home? a +44BABIP at home?
Again people keep distorting the argument… Fenway does not give you awesome stats, it gives you an obvious delta over your baseline stats, especially for certain types of hitters.
By the way, recent Red Sox SS’s
Scutaro has a +66 OPS at home
Jed Lowrie +59
Julio Lugo +200 (2007), +178 (2008)
I would say their #’s got a Fenway assist, but hey what do I know? Were their overall stats “awesome”….of course not, were they helped by hitting in Fenway…. you can decide.
Again Fenway does not give you awesome stats but it can give you a significant improvement (especially slugging %), and the question is is that more than just a hitting at home effect… when the split for OPS is 115 points I don’t see how people are arguing that Fenway is a good chunk of this, especially when you look at it in conjunction with a large BABIP rise.. it’s almost like a flyball pull hitter is benefiting from outs turning into doubles off the wall…. yeah I know crazy talk…. it’s not like over 64% of Pedroia’s doubles come at home.
Firstly, FYI – Cano has had two different home parks. So your numbers are bunk. Secondly, Cano benefits from being in Yankee Stadium, at least the new Yankee Stadium. He’s slugged: 0.566 there, as opposed to 0.521 elsewhere. Not earth-shattering, but notable.
In fact, the only reason why Cano’s splits don’t look wider is that he spends a solid amount of time hitting at Camden and Fenway, which are also nice hitters parks. (Imagine if he played all his games in Baltimore, no? Advantage, strawman.) So… are we going to throw out numbers for anyone who plays in the AL East now? It’s a division with 3 parks that benefit hitters, in one respect or another. The moral of the story is that both Pedroia and Cano would be much worse players offensively if they were in Petco. Or even if they were in the AL Central, with more balanced park designs.
So sure, Pedroia benefits a bit more than most. But on the other hand, if he were in another home park he might end up adapting his swing to be a good home hitter there. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m hardly on the “Pedroia is God” bent. Utley is clearly the best 2B in the league, by a significant margin. But like it or not, unless you want to start throwing out half a player’s stats- Pedroia is top 3 at his position and would probably still be top 3 if he was playing for SF. So what’s the point again?
There is just so much wrong here I don’t know where to start
– We should ignore Cano’s 3 years in old Yankee stadium because….
– We should ignore that Cano’s spread this year is +27 points, and solely focus on one year where the spread was 80pts because…
– We should consider this comparable to Pedroia’s spread of +115, over his career (as opposed to a cherrypicked small sample size)
– We should now begin to factor Camden into the equation (sample size? quality of Baltimore pitching?)
– we should ignore peripheral stats:
Cano in 2009
OPS to left: .907
OPS to center: 891
OPS to right: .991
So sure Yankees stadium may have helped some, but is this a rightfield argument or is Yankee stadium now benefiting all fields? And apparently not so much this year?
Let’s look at Pedroia’s spreads to different fields (career as opposed to cherrypicking data):
OPS to left: 1.073
OPS to center: .604
OPS to right: .722
Pedroia is helped a “bit” by his home park (stifles chuckle) and you want to compound that and make it sound somewhat comparable to Cano, by choosing one year of data? Seriously? Really?
I’ll try one last time – Pedroia: Elite defender, very good hitter – not one of the best in baseball. I can see how people could argue how he is one of the best in all of baseball based on his overall hitting #’s but given how inflated they are by his home performance, he’s not one of the best in baseball (You can apply whatever reason you want for a +115OPS- if you want to bury your head in the sand and consider the park a ‘bit’ of an effect, he’s still ‘just’ a .773 OPS guy on the road – above average sure, but not top notch)
I think a little more emphasis needs to be given to the point that players will hit better at home regardless of whether they live at a hitter’s park. I don’t think that you can say that the entire 115 (whatever the number is) points OPS is due to the shape of fenway, and that a part of it might not just be due to being at home.
Also, remind me why this discussion is taking place using OPS?
And my 2 cents is that it is entirely reasonable to call Pedroia one of the best players in all of baseball – pretty much what B N said at the beginning of his post.
Maybe Pedroia is an extreme pull hitter. My hunch would be that plenty of players would have OPS splits that are pretty large to different fields. Obviously Pedroia’s splits are extreme, but who’s to say that he hasn’t adapted his swing to specially use the monster?
reality check: i think you are misunderstanding/misrepresenting what B N is saying. I dont feel like getting into the specifics, but I think that going into specifics about Cano is irrelevant to Pedroia’s value
SO LET S FINALLY SET TEH RECORD STRAIGHT. PEDROIA IS GARAGE AND ROBBIE IS PRETTY MUCH TOP 2 IN BASEBALL. CHECK THE AWAY STATS. SICK IN TRIED OF RED SUX FANS PRETENDING FENWAY DOESNT COUNT.
I used OPS because it was handy…and I think the slugging component bears out the impact of a flyball pull hitter on a park that can turn routine flyballs into doubles. wOBA, wRAA, BABIP, even conventional stats AVG, doubles are all well skewed toward home vs away, it’s not like I just selectively pulled a single stat (or cherrypicked a single year) which didn’t track with others.
I’m not saying all .115 of the OPS difference is a park specific thing, but lets get real here – when you look at his splits to different fields, watch his swing, consider he is a high ball hitter… I don’t see how park isn’t the primary factor for the delta and homecooking/comfortableness/routine is a secondary factor. While the impact willl obviously vary based on type of hitter, Pedroia is the type of hitter (like Jason Bay) who will gain the most benefit from that park – and that’s not just observation that’s evident in the stats.
While many players gain some benefit merely playing at home, folks need to look at the **magnitude** of the difference, not just the mere fact there is a difference.
As to who’s to say he hasn’t adapted his swing… well the stats bear that out – look at his year by year home OPS, and see if he has “evolved” his swing (to save you some time except for his first partial year, they haven’t changed a whole lot). Unless he adapted his swing in the minors, he hasn’t changed much – in fact 2010 is the only year that seems to be different (hard to say if this is just a sample size issue or real), Pedroia did say he was going to try to hit for more power this year so maybe that’s a part of it?. I think he was also fighting some knee issues so who knows how that impacted his swing.
The only reason I brought up Cano’s stats was to debunk the fallacy that Cano is as much a product of his home park based on 1 year of stats while choosing to ignore the other 3.5 years… I’m not even sure why Cano was brought up in the first place. I assume this was the typical RedSox fan mudslinging tactic – when someone questions a RedSox, the best bet is to attack a Yankee. Again I’m not even a Yankee fan so I have no horse in that race, but to try to paint Cano’s splits in a similar fashion to Pedroia’s is both a failure to understand peripheral statistics and what I can only assume is someone who doesn’t watch baseball (or at least watch Cano hit)
When I see how Pedroia hits on the road I see a top tier player (above average hitter +elite defender), but a .773 OPS just doesn’t cut it as one of the best. If you want to toss a little extra on top of that for the ‘normal’ home improvement fine… just don’t factor in +.115 (which means +0.057 overall). A 70 point home road split would still leave him below an ,800 OPS aggregate
Ironically BN acknowledge Fenway as a hitters park to play down Cano’s #’s – his away #’s are apparently inflated thanks to 9 games per year in Fenway and 9 games in Camden… Imagine what he could do with 81 games in Fenway… oh wait that’s kind of my point isn’t it? (Not to mention with those sample sizes I’m sure things like pitching quality or just simple variation could possibly impact those #’s)
I guess I should now argue that Pedroia’s already lower road stats should be even lower since he too gets games in Yankee stadium and Camden? So his .773 road # should be even lower and his home/road split even more pronounced?
Pedroia’s rank in road OPS (all of MLB)
2009:142nd (this was below Jacoby Ellsbury for some perspective)
2008: 64th (MVP year, tied with Johnny Damon – and again road so this is Damon AWAY from Yankee stadium)
2007: 152nd (you don’t want to know who this puts him near!)
Rank in home OPS
2009: 45th
2008: 40th
2007: 41st
Granted OPS is a limited statistic but look at where his rankings are at home vs on the road… At home he’s a top 50 hitter and an elite defender, on the road a top 100-150(?) and an elite defender
“I assume this was the typical RedSox fan mudslinging tactic – when someone questions a RedSox, the best bet is to attack a Yankee.”
I hate to draw attention to the bad part of your post, but this was really very bad.
Other than that though, nice post.
A couple things:
I still think wOBA would be better to use than OPS. It would more accurately reflect the difference in value between Pedroia’s home and away production.
Also I’m nitpicking (and maybe misunderstanding), but doesn’t a home bonus of 70 OPS points up from a .773 road number put his total at .808?
Anyway if you are arguing that Pedroia’s numbers are inflated by Fenway, I can only agree. If you are trying to pinpoint how much they are inflated, and how this equates to a player’s value, my stance would be that there is no way to judge this accurately. If you are trying to attack the statement that “Pedroia is one of the best players in all of baseball” – well, I’ve already given my opinion on that subject, and it hasn’t changed.
Wow, do you really need to add Lowell who had no role and Lowrie and Tazawa who were only insurance depth expected to play for Pawtucket? Lowells going on the DL is a blessing as it freed up a roster spot. He would have been DFA once Pedroia went down if not on the DL.
So filtering the list I have Beckett, Ellsbury and a back up in Hermida who might have been Wally Pipped by Nava.
Of course, Pedroia is a loss, but if you look at his numbers before he tee’ed off 10 games against NL pitching, from April 21 to June 9 he hit 222/318/346/664 and the Red Sox went 30-18 in that period.
If Clay is out for any length of time we can officially raise the pity me flag, but other teams before Pedroia went down have suffered some injuries too, even the Yankees.
Yankees fans are a funny bunch
I don’t think he’s a yankee’s fan… hide behind your hate though, it looks good on you.
Actually, you do have to include depth. Depth is what replaces the injured.
So his Homeruns against Colorado came against, Hammel(TB), Betancourt(CLE) and Street(OAK) all of whom had plenty of success in the AL enough of this weak NL Pitching is weak stuff
The Wally Pip reference earns you candy.
“Pedroia away from Fenway (career): .285/.353/.420
Orlando Hudson’s career #’s: .282/.348/.428
OK, he has his own Beyond Baseball commercial and he is VERY good defensively, but can we put an end to this one of the best in baseball garbage?”
I like how “VERY good defensively” is just a throwaway compliment here instead of a huge part of his value that makes him clearly one of the best players in baseball.
BTW, past 3 calendar years: Pedroia is 6th in baseball in WAR, 3rd in the AL. What a bunch of garbage!
you know, on a website that actually has those numbers available… you probably shouldn’t lie about them.
lie about what? hes right
Yankees fans are a funny bunch.
In defense of the Yankee fan, 6th amongst position players. 11th overall. Not that that matters much, 11th is damn good.
And if Fenway just happens to suit his swing perfectly, well I suppose that’s good for both parties.
Amazing.
18 WAR amassed through your age 26 season is pretty damn great. He’s averaged 5.26 WAR per 162 games for crying out loud.
“In defense of the Yankee fan, 6th amongst position players. 11th overall. Not that that matters much, 11th is damn good. ”
Except you can’t sort for both pitchers and position players, so no, that’s not what he meant.
THIS SITE HAS PRO RED SUX BAIS!!1. THERE TEAM HAS ALMOST NO INJUREYS. WHO CARES ABOUT PERDOIA?1! HE SUX SO DOES BUCKHOLTS. NOT MSSING THEM ATALL. TEH YANKEES AND METS HAVE BOTH HAD BIGER IJUREYS THIS YAER (POSADA, BELTRAN). TWO WORDS: THEYA ARE OVERRATED!
Um, RJ Anderson is a Rays fan
Let’s see, Ellsbury, our leadoff man and center fielder, Beckett, our ace, Buchholz, our most consistent pitcher, Pedroia, a big piece of our lineup, and Hermida our fourth outfielder who plays quite a bit. Not to mention Lowell who gives relief to both corner positions. And it doesn’t matter if he Yanks have an injured catcher, don’t they have two or three serviceable ones in the minors? Montero, Cervelli…
DUDE YOUR SO RITE, PEDROA IS SO OVERATED
Umm…pretty sure that was tongue-in-cheek. Simmer down, RSN.
OHH! THIS GUY! SOMEBODY PASS THE MOOZARELL!
Hahaha. Awesome. The snark is strong in this one.
JeffK! I should’ve guessed you were a Yankees fan!
Victor Martinez went down today. Apparently, the Red Sox are now going to lose an All-Star caliber player per day to injury.
One can only hope.
WAKE ME UP WHEN THEY HAVE AN ACTUAL INJURY. LOL. BESIDES VMART WASNT GOOD UNTIL RECETNLEY. HE WAS ONLY BATTING .250 UNTIL JUNE.
LMFAO @ one of the best players in baseball. He’s barely, if at all, one of the best second baseman. Getting an MVP in the most ridiculous vote in the history of pro sports does not make you a good player.
There was more than one viable candidate to win that MVP in 2008, but seriously? The guy was great that year.
Ok, before I begin ripping that line apart, I’ll state that I am, in fact, a Yankee fan. Now (following numbers obviously set to AL-only).
Pedroia was worth 6.6 WAR in 08. That was second to Grady Sizemore.
Average: .326, 2nd to Mauer, only .002 points behind.
Runs scored: 118, led league.
BB/K: 0.96, second to Mauer’s ridiculous 1.68.
K%: 8%, 3rd lowest in the league.
Clutch: 1.45, first in the league.
Led league in doubles, hits, fourth in total bases,
These are some numbers, and there are more. Now, before you go thinking you’ll be able to rip my argument apart, keep in mind these next few lines. i said that your comment was ridiculous. An argument can certainly be made for Joe Mauer. However, to say that the MVP was a ridiculous vote that year? No, not at all. That honor belongs to the ’06 AL MVP, where Justin Morneau somehow won the award over Derek Jeter and Grady Sizemore. Those two were FAR more deserving than Justin Morneau.
Justin Morneau was only the third-most deserving Twin that season. The funny thing is, he probably won’t get considered this season, because Miggy plays the same position and has the sexy counting stats, even if Morneau’s been better than him.
Morneau has only been better in AVE and OBP, but both have been fueled by a super high .400 plus BABIP. Cabera has been better, Morneau luckier…
Just to respond to a line in the article-matters could, in fact, get worse, with V-Mart’s injury.
Not a Red Sox fan here, but Pedroia is a damn fine baseball player. One of the best? Not top ten, but would you want him batting for you with 2 outs in the 9th inning when you’re down 4-3? Yes… like Jeter, he’s one of those guys who lives to break up no-hitters, or go 0-18 in a playoff series then get a 3 run homer to win it.
Boston is in trouble because Beckett and Buchholz are now hurt. With their wealth, it’s not like they won’t make a few more moves. It’s just like if the Yankees had Hughes and C.C. get hurt, then Cano… they’d find a way to make a huge trade.
If V-Mart is out for any significant amount of time, Varitek could probably hold the fort for a month or so.
I suspect V-Marts bat would cool off anyways given the amount of catching he has done this year. Last year his bat cooled off for about 6 weeks starting from mid-June, and he was only catching half as much. A rest might actually pay dividends come October.
It’s not clear Buchholz will miss more than one start, and with the off days, they can go with a 4 man rotation for 10 days. As long as Beckett and Daisuke are not on the DL at the same time, Beckett can take his time to get healthy (I suspect it is more than the back, maybe his labrum). Wakefield may be the best 6th starter in baseball, most teams do not even have 5.
With the Rays in free fall, the WC looks very achievable even with some injuries.
Despite the injury to Pedroia, the Red Sox are 2-0. Baseball is not like basketball, one man or even 3 men are not indispensable. The Yankees lost Gardner tonight and some replacement I never heard of delivered a key hit in the 9th. Teams with 150-200 million payrolls have no excuse not to have depth at every position.
Worse case, the Red Sox are very well positioned to make some moves after the ASB to fill any holes. Not so the Rays.
The Red Sox need to be smart and let Jacoby, Pedroia and V-Mart recover fully, and not rush anyone back and have them play at 70% the rest of the year. Pedroia played 3 weeks with bad knee during which he hit 178. Ellsbury came back too early and went 1-14 before reinjuring himself. Let them heal.
The Rays have depth down on the farm. Rookies are always a bit of a risk, but they are there.
pedroia is absolutley one of the games best. his defense has been worth 12.2 runs per 162 games since 2008(position adjusted). he’s averaging just over 6 WAR per 162 in that same time frame (what a bum!), second only to chase utley for 2b. he’s been the best AL 2B since then. compiled the most WAR in the AL other than mauer and longoria, both sure fire hall of famers if they stay healthy. He aint O-dawg. Dont tell me AROD is the games best (maybe when completely healthy). I’d like to think that analysis has come far enough that this isnt really a debate.
I also enjoyed the idea that his road numbers being Orlando Hudson is a bad thing, and pretending that the difference in his home numbers are 100% park related. Oh and ignoring his defense. You can’t even make an argument for him not being the 2nd best at his position since he came in the league.
Why would a cthulhu be “angst-filled”? Is it a depressed teenage cthulhu? Some Mi-go bullies beat him up after school?