The Boston Red Sox went through some major changes over the last year. Some good, some bad and some just… meh. They unloaded some dead weight — Josh Beckett and his bad attitude, Carl Crawford and his bad contract and Adrian Gonzalez and his bad luck (as collateral damage.) Needless to say, the 2013 Opening Day line up is going to look a lot different from 2012 with only four players returning for the starting nine.

1. Jacoby Ellsbury, CF: He will most likely bat lead off as his did last year. That’s only if he doesn’t sprain his earlobe in spring training or catch a hangnail during warmups.
2. Shane Victorino, RF: Newly signed Victorino makes the most sense for the #2 spot. Dustin Pedroia held this spot last year, but with the addition of the speedy “flyin’ Hawaiian,” he may be better suited further down in the order.
3. Dustin Pedroia, 2B: He’s proved himself to be an offensive asset and has surprising power for a guy of his stature. He has a career .303 batting average with a .830 OPS. Last year, the #3 spot belonged to the departed Adrian Gonzalez.
4. David Ortiz, DH: Big Papi will once again commandeer the clean up spot. Let’s just hope that achilles can hold up and David can pick up where he left off last season before he went down with the bum heel.
5. Will Middlebrooks, 3B: The position stays the same, just the personel has changed. Middlebrooks takes over full time at the hot corner after the somewhat rancorous departure of Kevin Youkilis.
6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C: Salty takes over the #6 spot from Ryan Sweeney who was allowed to go to free agency following an unspectacular year.
7. First Base?: With the Mike Napoli deal in limbo, could Mauro Gomez start the season at first base? Or will they continue to search for a more seasoned first baseman if the Napoli contract crumbles. If Napoli does end up in Boston, I imagine he’ll bat a little higher up in the order — probably 5th. In 2012, the recently departed Cody Ross held this spot in the line up.
8. Left Field?: Do the Sox see Jonny Gomes starting the season guarding the Green Monster? Or Ryan Kalish? This one baffles me. Salty batted #8 to start last season.
9. Stephen Drew, SS: Drew replaces last year’s shortstop Mike Aviles at the end of the order. Needless to say, my excitement level for this position is very low. I’m begging this guy to prove me wrong.

Well, 2013 should be an interesting year. There were some big holes to fill over the off season in this line up and I’m not feeling too confident that the new acquisitions are going to get them where they need to be. I’m not sure I can handle a “rebuilding year” so someone needs to do something really sparkly or that’s exactly what we’re going to get.

The 2012 season, may it rest in peace, was by far the worst I can remember being a witness to in a very long time. I’m sort of really tired of talking about just how much it did suck so this will be my last post about the miserableness of the last six months. I hope. I vow to now look forward to 2013 and what kind of magical rabbits the Sox brass will pull out of the hat to make sure “last place” are words I never have to utter (or type, for that matter) next season.

So here’s my short recap, Clint-style:

The Good

• Not much.
• Big Papi’s resurgence pre-injury. He was by far the most consistent force on the team for the 90 games he participated in. Playing for a contract will do that for you.
• The Red Sox pulling a fast one on the LA Dodgers and unloading $250 million in payroll.
• Not having to worry about Theo being there to spend that extra $250 million all in one place.
• The introduction of Will Middlebrooks. Hi, Will!

The Bad

• Everything.
• Injuries, injuries, injuries. The Sox used a record 56 players over the season.
• Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse — having a September almost identical to the colossal collapse of September of 2011.
• Bobby Valentine’s mismanagement of every aspect of the team and the player’s lack of respect for him.
• The injury ending Will Middlebrooks’ promising season. Bye, Will!

The Ugly

• Finishing last place in the division with a 69-93.
• The players’ whiny bitch attitude over the decisions of their new manager.
• Struggling starting rotation with not one pitcher having more than 11 wins.
• Will Middlebrooks going down with an injury just six weeks after Kevin Youkilis is traded leaving the team floundering for a third baseman.
• Bobby Valentine being a total fruitcake… enough said.

And that, my friends, concludes my recap of the 2012 Boston Red Sox season — one which makes me long for short-term memory loss so I never have to think about it again.

Last night was not pretty. Put on your earmuffs if you need to because I might say a bad word or two in this recap (my apologies for it being so very late) so if you’re easily offended by colorful language…well, earmuffs.

In short, Jon Lester sucks. And frankly he has sucked since last September. Sure, we’ve seen glimpses of the pitcher he once was but right now he deserves neither the #1 spot in the rotation, nor the “ace” label. And while I’m at it, Josh Beckett sucks too. Between these two fried chicken lovers, they have a combined 34 games started; they also have a combined record of 10-14. Now that’s just plain bad.

And not that you didn’t know this already, but last night was no exception as the Sox of White beat the Sox of Red 7-5. Lester lasted just four innings where he gave up six earned runs on seven hits. One of those hits a three-run shot by former teammate, Kevin Youkilis, to put the White Sox ahead for good. Lester seems confuzzled by the whole situation, lamenting to reporters after the game.

“It’s been a frustrating year, frustrating night, just keeps adding on and I’m getting tired of it,” Lester said. “I try to make adjustments, try to do the things I need to do and I’m just not getting results.”

No shit, Sherlock.

Under the heading of I-don’t-freaking-believe-it, Carl Crawford, in his third game back from a lengthy stretch on the DL, went three for four with two runs scored and three stolen bases. He credits his success to playing for a new manager, not one that didn’t give him a chance. Crawford told WEEI.com that Terry Francona was the cause of last season’s major slump-o-rama (my word, not his.)

“I didn’t feel like I had the manager’s confidence. I don’t know about the organization, but I don’t try and look past the manager, so I feel like I didn’t have the manager’s confidence, therefore I started to think something was wrong with me, and it just snowballed after that. It had a trickle-down effect, and it just got worse and worse as the days went by.”

The only other highlight in my book was Kelly Shoppach’s pinch hit two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th to bring the Sox of Red to within two. But that’s it. *fizzle*

Click here for the low highlight box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. Tonight the two teams wrap up their series with Felix Doubront (who, at 9-4 should be the new “ace” of this staff. Just sayin’.)

And I thought I’d save the even worse news for last. David Ortiz has officially been placed on the 15-day DL. Crap, crap, CRAP! This makes me want to cry. Even if there is no crying in baseball. Ortiz has been the one consistent force in this line up so let’s hope this injured Achilles tendon is nothing big. *crosses fingers*

Who was that playing left field and getting a first-inning single last night?  Could it have been Carl Crawford?  It was, actually, Carl Crawford, making his heralded return from a raft of injuries to attempt to live up to his huge contract.  He had a decent night – he went 1 for 2 with a walk, and scored twice, including on Adrian Gonzalez’s eighth-inning, three-run home run.  The Red Sox won, 5-1, care of Gonzalez’s late-inning heroics and a strong start by Aaron Cook, who went seven strong and only allowed one run on five hits but still only earned the no-decision.

It’s nice to have Crawford back.  We all love the plucky Red Sox bench players, but there’s no denying that it’s comforting to see Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury in the outfield as the Sox continue to try to work their way into the playoffs.  I just hope, for the organization’s sake, that Ellsbury and Crawford’s injury-ridden first half was the reason for the sustained losing streak.  It’s going to be hard to sell yet another bill of goods to the fan base citing another reason for losing, so let’s hope the injuries were the real reason (see: lackluster starting pitching…).

Also back in Fenway last night – Kevin Youkilis, making his Boston debut for the White Sox.  The crowd showed Youk some love – he got a big cheer before his first at-bat – a single up the middle that ended up with him scoring when he stole third and home against the shift.  Even after he got a hit off the Red Sox, you could hear a smattering of the traditional “Yoouuuukkk” call as he stood on first base.

So, a perfect night at Fenway?  Not so much.  David Ortiz, the only totally dependable member of the Red Sox to date, hurt his ankle rounding second base on Gonzalez’s home run.  By the time he got home, he was limping.  He’ll go for an MRI today, and the team expects him to sit a couple of days.  Hmm.  Hmm.  Well, we’ll see.

Here’s the box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. Tonight, Jon Lester (5-6, 4.49 ERA) takes on Philip Humber (3-4, 6.01 ERA).  Lester’s trying to right his ship – the guy just cannot get it done this year – and Humber, who pitched a perfect game earlier this year, is returning from a month on the DL.

Jacoby Ellsbury – 6 for 14 in his return to the line up. (Photo by Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

For the better part of this weekend, I was in enemy territory… the Empire State. Our trip started at 8:30am on Saturday and ended at 3:30pm on Sunday. In total, we spent about 15 hours in the car and about three hours at my sister-in-law’s 40th birthday party! We had fun… even if I did have the misfortune of overhearing some party goers discussing another baseball team… it was all “blah, blah, Yankees…blah, blah 20-something games over .500″ — enough to make me want to vomit into my wine glass. *sigh* Yes, I’m a disgruntled Red Sox fan. I’m not afraid to admit it.

I was pretty excited when we made it home in time to catch the end of the Red Sox game on the MLB Network… Yay! Ooooh, looks like they’re losing. Booo-hiss! From the looks of things, I didn’t miss much of a game. Here are the highlights, or I guess I should call them lowlights since we did take the L.

The good news — Jacoby Ellsbury had two more hits. And Clay Buchholz, just off the DL for a life threatening internal bleed, struck out eight! The bad news — Buchholz also gave up four earned runs which turns out was just enough for the Rays. The Sox bats had a difficult time figuring out David Price and could manage just three runs Saturday night. Rays won 5-3.

Today was a much better day. If you stopped watching after the first inning, you might not agree with me. The Sox put up a run in the first when James Shields walked Daniel Nava and David Ortiz and Adrian Gonzalez smacked a single to drive in Nava.
» Continue reading “Red Sox Take Two of Three From Those Pesky Rays”

Oh, Felix Doubront, why have you forsaken us?

The phenom from the back end of the Red Sox rotation gave up a career-high seven runs against the Toronto Blue Jays last night.  Doubront went six innings in the 9-6 loss, which was punctuated by a two-hour rain delay and a four-run first inning for Toronto.  With the loss, the Red Sox fell back into a tie with Toronto for fourth place – a.k.a., last place – in the AL East.

Fenway Park (Amanda Laws)

The runs piled up quickly for Doubront in the first inning – Brett Lawrie singled and Cody Rasmus hit a home run to right field to kick things off.  The Will Middlebrooks Era began with a fielding error from its namesake that let another Toronto runner on (a “Yyyyooouuuukkkk” cheer came up from the crowd – welcome to the spotlight, Will!) before a double, a single, and a muffed double play scored two more Toronto runs.

The Red Sox got two of those runs back in the bottom of the first: Dustin Pedroia got on and got himself to third base, and David Ortiz cleared the right-field fence to bring the deficit to two.  Toronto tacked on another run in the top of the second, before the Sox scored two more to stay within one in the bottom of the third inning (Middlebrooks flew out to right with runners on first and third, drawing more “Youk” cheers – jeez, how quickly the tide turns in Boston).

Boston tied the game up at five in the fourth inning, but that didn’t last – Toronto’s J.P. Arencibia, the ninth hitter in the order, hit a huge two-out two-run home run over the Monster and into the Sports Authority sign to give the Blue Jays a 7-5 lead.  Toronto extended that lead to 9-5, before the skies opened up and the rain, thunder and lightning took over for a good hour and a half (yours truly had to walk the dog during this time, which was a blast for both of us).

After the rain delay ended close to midnight, Ortiz hit a solo home run to bring the score to 9-6.  But that’s as close as the Sox would get to a late-night/early morning comeback.

So, that was kind of a disappointing game, with a disappointing box score, courtesy of the Red Sox.  Doubront had a night he’d probably like to forget, and Middlebrooks didn’t exactly start his big league starter career with the best output.  The Sox will try again tonight, when Daisuke Matsuzaka (0-2, 6.06 ERA) takes on Aaron Laffey (0-0, 3.00 ERA), who is making his first start of the season.

Today marked the last day Kevin Youkilis would put on a Red Sox uniform — now his Sox are White. After the Red Sox beat the Braves this afternoon 9-4, it was announced that Youk had been traded to the White Sox for two players I’ve never heard – 25-year-old righthander Zach Stewart and utility player Brent Lillibridge. We knew it was coming. There’s been trade chatter for the past couple of weeks, it was just a matter of when and who.

I won't miss this silly stance, Youk! (Photo by: Chip Griffin, c/o Flickr.com)

According to the Boston Globe, the Red Sox will also be picking up $5.5 million of the $6.6 million Youkilis has remaining on his contract for this season. Well that’s a given, isn’t it? When haven’t the Red Sox been responsible for paying salaries for players that don’t actually play for them. Shocker.

Fans at Fenway, some how, some way, knew that today could very well be Youk’s final home game. The cheers were louder, more enthusiastic than they’ve ever been. And when Youk bashed an RBI triple in his final at bat, and was lifted for a pinch runner, you just had a feeling this was it. The crowd and his teammates both showed their appreciation with a standing ovation as he exited the field. A teary Youk then emerged from the dugout for his curtain call to a resounding chorus of Yoooouuuukkkk coming from the fans.

Kevin Youkilis is one of just two players (David Ortiz is the other) left from the 2004 World Series Championship team, having made his major league debut in May of that year. He was drafted by the Red Sox in 2001 and worked his way up through the Sox system. I remember when Youk landed in Portland and played for the Sea Dogs in 2003. The three-time All-Star also won a Gold Glove at first base in 2007.

This season hasn’t been easy for Youk. He has struggled with injuries as well as his bat, and has appeared to be agitated for the better part of the past few months. I’m sure Bobby Valentine’s comments about Youk’s commitment to the game earlier in the season had a little something to do with his malcontent. Maybe if he never went on the DL, if we never got a taste of Will Middlebrooks, maybe there never would’ve been talks of a Youkilis trade. But that’s the way the ball bounces (literally) and look what happened in 2004 after Nomar Garciaparra was traded. I wouldn’t take that one back for the world. Let’s hope only good comes from this move.

In actual game news… Cody Ross kicked some major ass today belting two home runs and knocking in five runs to fuel the Sox win over the Braves this afternoon. Daniel Nava, Adrian Gonzalez and Kevin Youkilis all contributed with two hits and an RBI of their own.

After a rough first outing in early May, Aaron Cook finally scored his first win with the Sox. He pitched five solid innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs. Glad to see no lingering effects of the nasty leg laceration that landed him on the DL.

Clicky here for Youk’s farewell box score, courtesy of the Sox. With the win today, Boston moves officially one game ahead of the last place Blue Jays who lost today. And temporarily five games out of first pending the results of the Yankees/Mets game tonight. The Yankees have their hands full facing R.A. Dickey who has been nothing short of spectacular this season. *whispers* Go Mets!

The Red Sox welcome the Blue Jays to Fenway for a three game series. Here’s to continuing their winning ways and putting more real estate between them and last place. Felix Doubront will go for his team-leading ninth win on Monday night.

Is Middlebrooks waving bye-bye? (Photo by Keith Allison, c/o Flickr.com)

I love booming thunderstorms brought on by the heat and humidity — mostly because it usually means the end of the humidity. I don’t live in Boston, but I do live a couple hours north, and let’s just say, my old dog was shaking in his fur for a good part of yesterday afternoon and evening with all the crazy weather. He’s not a fan. Of thunderstorms, that is. He is a Red Sox fan. Just don’t tell my Yankee-loving husband.

But I digress…

The Red Sox probably wished it just kept on raining last night after their 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. It was tough to see after the last three games agains the Marlins where the offense kicked ass. Jair Jurrjens (how do you even pronounce that?) allowed that high-flying Sox line up just one run on three hits in 7.2 innings. Boo-hiss… the winning streak is over. And oh, hello again basement. Don’t get too comfortable with the company, Blue Jays. We don’t plan to be here for long.

I can’t decide if I think Jon Lester had a crappy game or an ok game. On the one hand, he did only give up three runs which would have given him a win any other night this past week. But he allowed 10 hits. Geez. That’s not good.

Click here for the un-Red-Sox-offense-like box, courtesy of the Sox. Franklin Morales takes the hill for his second start of the season against the Braves tonight at 7:15pm. He’ll try for his first win in a starting role.

On the Kevin Youkilis front, according to an ESPN Boston article, Bobby Valentine has told Youk that he should expect to play a smaller role with the team. Like Becca said yesterday, you can’t expect (Gold Glove first baseman) Adrian Gonzalez to spend too much more time in right field, and how the hell do you sit a kid like Will Middlebrooks. Since being promoted to Boston, he has played 38 games — he’s batting .316 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs. In the month of June, Youk is hitting just .174 with no home runs and 10 strike outs. What would you do?

Apologies for the lack of posts the past few days – we’re having technical difficulties that have kept us from keeping Fenway Fatales breathlessly updated.

But, what an update we have: the Red Sox maybe, sort of, kind of appear to almost be… getting on a roll?  They lit up the fireworks for a 15-5 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night, and then pulled out a hard-fought 6-5 win over Miami last night.

With the two wins, the Sox finally pulled out of last place (like I said last time – take THAT, Toronto Blue Jays!), and over .500 again.  Hopefully, this time it will last.

David Ortiz has made some news the last few days – first, with a grand slam on Wednesday night, the 396th home run of Papi’s career.  The Sox hit four home runs that night, chasing Marlins starter Ricky Nolasco in just 3 1/3 innings.  Off the field, Ortiz caused an even bigger explosion, when he went off on the Boston media and its strange obsession with why one of the most talented and highly-paid teams in baseball has trouble staying above .500 (funny, that):

It seems every day there is something new about players. People need to leave us alone and let us play ball. It’s becoming the [expletive] hole it used to be.  Look around, bro. Playing here used to be so much fun. Now every day it’s something new not related with baseball. People need to leave us alone, man. Play ball and do what we know how to do.

Ortiz was responding to an ESPN report that described an absolutely toxic atmosphere, and relayed that a lot of staff was already shipping their resumes to other organizations.  I understand Ortiz’s frustration, but still: the media SHOULD be questioning why the Sox are mired in such a prolonged slump this year.  It’s not fair to expect the media to sit back and applaud the good, while not asking about the bad.  Part of the deal of playing in Boston is that the fan base here is very involved and very invested – the media needs to answer questions for the fans, and Ortiz getting annoyed at that doesn’t make him look any better.

The other big news the last few days: it looks like Kevin Youkilis is on his way out of Boston.  The aging corner infielder is clearly being Wally Pipped by the young, dynamic, impressive third baseman Will Middlebrooks, and there’s no way Adrian Gonzalez and his contract are going to play right field for too long.  No substantiated rumors have crossed my Twitter feed yet, but here’s a question: what do the Red Sox need, and what can the Red Sox realistically expect to get for Youkilis?  I say, trade him for two legit pitching prospects and (maybe) a bench player, and call it a day.

Currently, the Red Sox are supposed to be opening up a series against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway.  But, I can tell you with utmost confidence that the game won’t start anytime soon – it’s currently raining in Boston, one of those booming thunderstorms that always follows a three-day heat wave.

The Red Sox put away the Miami Marlins 7-5 last night — their fifth win in their last six games. Granted, the teams they’ve beaten (the Marlins and the Cubs) have sub .500 records, but hey, a win’s a win, right? At this point in the season I’m not going to be picky. I just want wins. I want this team to show some life and get their butts out of that dreaded last place spot. Watch out Toronto! Here we come. Maybe.

Clay Buchholz won his eighth… huh? Let me try that again. Clay Buchholz won his eighth. I’m sorry, after the start he had to this season, I never expected to ever be typing those words. Not only that, but Clay also leads the team in wins. My head is spinning.

Buchholz wasn’t as sharp last night as his previous June outings. He did surrender five earned runs on nine hits during his six-inning stint. All five Marlins’ runs were knocked in by DH Logan Morrison who hit a 2-run home run in the first and RBI doubles in the second and fifth innings. But the bullpen was once again spot on with Matt Albers, Andrew Miller, Vicente Padilla and Alfredo Aceves pitching a scoreless seven-eight-nine. Aceves struck out two in the ninth for his 17th save.

The Red Sox got home runs from David Ortiz (his 17th), Kelly Shoppach and Cody Ross (who is fresh off the DL) and doubles from Dustin Pedroia, Mike Aviles, Kevin Youkilis, Will Middlebrooks and Daniel Nava to power the offense. It’s nice to see this hard hitting line up when it clicks like that. And Buchholz needed all the help he could get from the offense. After the game, Cody Ross spoke to reporters about his home run:

“It’s big to get that first one out of the way,” said Red Sox outfielder Cody Ross. “I can’t really explain it — the way we’ve played at home this year is really weird. We all love playing here, obviously. This is a great place to play, and to get that first one on a long home stand is really encouraging. Hopefully we can just go out and get on a good winning streak.”

Click on over to here for the winning box score, courtesy of the Red Sox. The Sox and Fish are back at it tonight in what promises to be a steamy Fenway with temps in the 90′s today. Felix Doubront will shoot for his eighth win of the season. I hope he likes the heat. I’ll be at Fenway tonight, most likely sitting in a puddle of my own sweat. Gross.