*Official* 5/22 Seeing "Red"; Red Sox-6 White Sox-2

[thomas35forever]

Wish we could have gotten a sweep.

[Tragg]

Our back of the bullpen is questionable. It's hard to get sweeps when we go to them en masse every 3rd or 4th game.
Santiago is really getting good. Tonight, off of 3 days rest.

We're going to have to hit against the Marlins. They won't score much, but we need to hit them.

[Lip Man 1]

Random Musings:

These guys just can't get back to a game under can they?

Nice to see Paul get the home run but the fact is right now, he and Dunn are killing the club in the middle of the order. Left seven on base tonight. Dunn, the cleanup hitter is batting .163, Konerko at #5 is hitting .224

I'm amazed at how bad Nate Jones looks. I honestly thought this kid was going to be a pretty solid bullpen guy for a long time. Maybe it's the sophomore jinx...maybe he's tipping his pitches but he looks completely clueless.

Speaking of clueless, I give you Brian Omogrosso and Donnie Veal. Brutal, just brtual...have no business being on the roster. I suspect when Danks gets activated, Santiago goes to the bullpen (they have to have a second lefty) and one of these guys is sent back to Charlotte. (Both should be released but that's just my opinion...)

Sox have won seven of the last 11 (which is good) but the offense still isn't close to being even average. In six of those 11 games they've scored three runs or less. The starting pitching has been giving them a chance but the offense still can't seem to consistently produce. Could Beckham make any kind of difference?

Lip

[Mohoney]

Is there any worse feeling in baseball than watching a bad bullpen give up runs? IMO it's a thousand times worse than watching an offense that can't hit.

[tstrike2000]

Omogrosso, Jones, and Veal probably shouldn't even be on an MLB roster, but we need the pitching. TFlo is not ready to be a starting catcher.

[Lip Man 1]

Great point about Flowers.

They let A.J. go and all Flowers has done so far is hit the occasional home run, strike out a ton, hit less than the Mendoza line AND is probably leading the league in passed balls.

Another great move eh?

Lip

[LoveYourSuit]

Another Don Cooper bullpen implosion in the making here.
It feels like the same story every year. A ton of promise from the pen early and then the train wreck happens.

The guy who almost started the season on the DL and subject of trade rumors is the only shut down arm in the pen (Crain). The rest of them give you fingernail biting every time out. Reed has been good so far too, but there's still a little bit of un-easy feeling for me when he's out there. And his numbers are impressive so far.

[shingo10]

Originally Posted by tstrike2000

Omogrosso, Jones, and Veal probably shouldn't even be on an MLB roster, but we need the pitching. TFlo is not ready to be a starting catcher.

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

Great point about Flowers.

They let A.J. go and all Flowers has done so far is hit the occasional home run, strike out a ton, hit less than the Mendoza line AND is probably leading the league in passed balls.

Another great move eh?

Lip

And on top of that he was touted as a much better defensive catcher than AJ (definitely throws better) but the past two nights he has tried to backhand balls and they have wound up going to the screen. Cost a run tonight. And I don't even know our backups name. Giminez I think? Not a good situation.

[shingo10]

Originally Posted by LoveYourSuit

Another Don Cooper bullpen implosion in the making here.
It feels like the same story every year. A ton of promise from the pen early and then the train wreck happens.

The guy who almost started the season on the DL and subject of trade rumors is the only shut down arm in the pen (Crain). The rest of them give you fingernail biting every time out. Reed has been good so far too, but there's still a little bit of un-easy feeling for me when he's out there. And his numbers are impressive so far.

And it seems like Crain has been used in about all of our games so far so you wonder how long he can keep it up...last night he looked like he was hanging a lot of pitches and he was fortunate to get away with it.

This bullpen and this team are an enigma.

[TDog]

The Red Sox had their best pitcher going, unbeaten with an ERA under 2, a well rested closer, who has been successful this season, and the White Sox had a bullpen pitcher who replace an injured starter in the rotation who in his last start reminded the Angels that they have a pretty good offense AND he was going on short rest because the staff ace couldn't go tonight.

I can't complain that the White Sox took two of three from the Red Sox this week.

[Brian26]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

Great point about Flowers.

They let A.J. go and all Flowers has done so far is hit the occasional home run, strike out a ton, hit less than the Mendoza line AND is probably leading the league in passed balls.

Another great move eh?

Lip

Come on now. I loved AJ, but the Sox were in no position to hand out another bad contract to a veteran. If you are going to complain about Dunn, then you are not allowed to complain they let AJ go.

[JB98]

Originally Posted by Brian26

Come on now. I loved AJ, but the Sox were in no position to hand out another bad contract to a veteran. If you are going to complain about Dunn, then you are not allowed to complain they let AJ go.

They wouldn't have had to give out a bad contract to keep Pierzynski though. He only got one year from Texas. The Sox could have matched that deal. I wasn't necessarily opposed to moving on from A.J. What I don't like is they let him go without replacing him. Anyone with an IQ over 15 knew Flowers would not be an adequate replacement. Holes in his swing like swiss cheese, and all that "improved defense" talk was just that -- nothing more than talk.

Getting back to tonight's game, the Sox bullpen is looking thinner and thinner by the day. Once you get past Reed and Crain, there are problems. This was a winnable game until Omogrosso, Jones and Veal came on to commit arson. Santiago pitched a decent ballgame. Just didn't get much help.

[Winningugly23]

I Agee 125% ur right on the money with all that bro.

[SI1020]

Originally Posted by JB98

They wouldn't have had to give out a bad contract to keep Pierzynski though. He only got one year from Texas. The Sox could have matched that deal. I wasn't necessarily opposed to moving on from A.J. What I don't like is they let him go without replacing him. Anyone with an IQ over 15 knew Flowers would not be an adequate replacement. Holes in his swing like swiss cheese, and all that "improved defense" talk was just that -- nothing more than talk.

I agreed with you then and now but IIRC correctly that was not a popular thing to post in the off season. He'll do all right, or give him a chance seemed to be the consensus. That and good riddance to AJ.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by SI1020

That and good riddance to AJ.

I'm pretty sure if you look at the "AJ signs with Texas" thread, you'll see a number of people were surprised and dismayed the Sox let him leave for such a small offer from Texas. Yes, most everyone here, I believe, was resigned to see AJ off after they thought his spectacular 2012 season had bought him one last, large multiyear payday, but when the Rangers signed him to 1 year and only a few million bucks, that was surprising.

I'll admit I was wrong about Flowers; I thought Tyler would be fine, at least as a short-term stopgap if not reveal himself to be an OK MLB catcher, but this is going to need to be addressed soon. Whether or not you think the Sox are actually capable of doing anything this season, his level of play has been inexcusably bad.