2007 May: Hot, hot, hot

The month of May was good to the Red Sox. The Red Sox went 20-8 despite many people slumping. It’s quite impressive how well the team is playing despite those slumps. This month also saw several people come up from the minors to contribute: Javier Lopez, Kason Gabbard and Devern Hansack.
Through it all, the Sox dominated a month that I personally felt was our toughest stretch all year long. Now that June is upon us, we’ll take one final look at the month of May by looking at the Month to Month table below (this is best viewed in FireFox. If you’re using Internet Explorer … well, good luck) but before we do, what does June hold in store?
Well, today we kick off June hosting the Yankees for a three game set. Here’s what follows (numbers are through May 30):
4 @ OAK (26-26, 3rd, 6.0 GB) – I’m pessimistic about taking the opener of this game because the Sox will have to fly from Boston at about midnight on Sunday (the Sunday night game starts at 8:05) to Oakland, then play a night game in Oakland when it’s 10 PM on the East Coast.
3 @ ARI (32-23, 2nd, 0.5 GB) – Interleague play begins in full swing, and we’ll catch up with old friends Eric Byrnes, Randy Johnson, Brandon Lyon, Tony Clark and Orlando Hudson. The Diamondbacks GM is Josh Byrnes, former Sox assistant GM, leaving to Arizona about a month before Theo Epstein briefly resigned as GM.
3 v. COL after an off day (25-28, 5th, 6.5 GB) – Colorado comes to Boston, and we’ll get an up and close look at Todd Helton, who could have very well been manning first base for us this year. The question now becomes: Will Helton stay in Colorado the rest of the year or go to the Yankees?
3 v. SF (25-26, 4th, 5.5 GB) – Barry Bonds comes to town. Nuf ced.
3 @ ATL (30-23, 2nd, 4.0 GB) – As we found out earlier this year, the Braves can be pretty tough.
3 @ SD after an off day (30-22, 3rd, 1.0 GB) – Think Cla Meredith will be chomping at the bit to shut us down? Based on the brief time that I talked to him … YES. This is also the Sox’s second west coast trip of the year – both in the same month. That may be a drag.
3 @ SEA (25-24, 3rd, 5.5 GB) – The Mariners are somehow in second place, but we’re 2-1 against them on the year. As long as we avoid King Felix, we should be okay.
4 @ TEX after an off day, two of the games being in June (19-34, 4th, 13.5 GB) – The worst team in the majors. The Royals technically have one more loss, but I’d take the Royals over Rangers. Shame, too. The Rangers have been close to contention for a while.
There you have it. And now your month to month:

Boston Red Sox 2007 Month to Month: May
Batters Key: Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging/Other Stat.
Pitchers Key: W-L or SV/IP/ERA/WHIP.
Only includes players currently on the 25-man roster.

PLAYER	APRIL	MAY	NOTES
Josh Beckett	5-0 32.2/2.48/1.04	3-0 25.0/2.88/0.88	Has to be takent seriously as he’s showing no signs of slowing down, and his avulsion didn’t bother him against the Indians. All-Star Game starter?
Alex Cora	.360/.407/.800	.294/.339/.353	The hot start was clearly a mirage, but he’s still a very, very good backup second baseman that has helped the Sox rank among the top in No. 9 hitter effectiveness.
Coco Crisp	.235/.274/.338 3 SB	.224/.303/.308 7 SB	Crisp just simply isn’t impressing. His defense has been remarkable, but the games that lead off with Lugo and Crisp are terrible. It may be time to move on.
Brendan Donnelly	0-0 6.0/0.00/0.67	2-1 11.0/5.73/1.64	The flaws are starting to show, but he’s still a solid pitcher who has one awful game to his credit: the 14-0 loss to Braves that Javier Lopez struggled in too.
J.D. Drew	.278/.376/.392	.171/.315/.237	Oh, J.D. What’s going on? Please don’t tell me we’re dealing with this for the next four and a half years.
Eric Hinske	.294/.409/.471	.114/.205/.257	With all the people that turned cold in May (Crisp, Drew, Lugo, Hinske, etc.) … how is it possible we’re so good?
Javier Lopez	0-0 3.0/0.00/1.00	0-0 7.2/4.70/1.17	I’m starting to trust Lopez a lot more recently. He’s been quite the lefty specialist (that Romero was supposed to be…)
Mike Lowell	.314/.371/.547 4 HR	.343/.400/.596 6 HR	First half player or not, sign him to a two-year extension!
Julio Lugo	.256/.346/.344 8 SB	.209/.241/.336 7 SB	Lugo was doing just fine in April, but he stunk it up in May. I’m still standing behind him, but June is the make or break month.
Daisuke Matsuzaka	3-2 33.0/4.36/1.21	4-1 39.2/5.22/1.39	Dice-K was turning it around brilliantly, but his 4.07 ERA has risen to 4.83 with two straight "eh" starts. Learning curve, folks. Learning curve.
Doug Mirabelli	.353/.421/.706 2 HR	.080/.155/.120 0 HR	No comment.
Hideki Okajima	1 SV 12.2/0.71/0.63	3 SV 13.0/1.38/1.00	How good is Okajima? Well, when he has more total saves than future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera on the year…
David Ortiz	.297/.402/.615 7 HR	.333/.459/.540 2 HR	Quite the homerless drought, but he’s still hitting, the doubles are flowing (12 this month, 8 last) … I’m not worried.
Jonathan Papelbon	8 SV 9.1/0.00/0.75	5 SV 10.0/3.60/1.40	Is Papelbon actually human? All kidding aside, he’s looked a bit more human this month, and I’ll be watching him closely in June.
Dustin Pedroia	.182/.308/.236 55 AB	.415/.472/.600 65 AB	What a month! He can’t possibly remain this hot, but he assuaged a ton of concerns over his April start. Let’s see how he responds in June.
Wily Mo Pena	.172/.273/.414	.300/.382/.467	It’s good to see Wily Mo making contact with the ball, and his K/BB went from 3/15 to 4/8. With a strong June, he may push Crisp out of the lineup.
Joel Pineiro	0-0 9.2/2.79/1.66	1-0 11.1/7.15/1.59	He lowered his WHIP, and yet his ERA skyrocketed. He has a 5.14 ERA on the year, which is about right. He’s on the bubble, but I don’t want him gone just yet.
Manny Ramirez	.202/.314/.315 3 HR	.327/.393/.577 5 HR	Manny’s doing this every year. An awful April raises questions, a hot May silences them. Manny’s back.
J.C. Romero	0-0 7.1/4.91/2.05	1-0 9.0/3.00/2.11	Not a fan. Stop walking batters!
Curt Schilling	3-1 33.0/3.27/1.09	2-1 38.0/4.03/1.55	Schilling had a couple of blips, but still rounded out a solid year. He had a very good 10K effort his last start. Next up: shutting New York up!
Kyle Snyder	1-0 6.1/2.84/1.26	0-0 11.1/0.79/1.24	Can you believe he’s been one of the best middle relievers on the staff? He’s perfect in his longman role.
Julian Tavarez	1-2 19.0/7.58/1.58	2-2 29.1/3.99/1.33	The traffic cop probably won’t end June as a starter, but that’s no knock on Tavarez, as he turned in a May none of us really expected.
Jason Varitek	.239/.325/.358	.311/.416/.541	Thank you, Jason. Thank you. You’re back.
Tim Wakefield	2-3 31.1/2.59/1.28	3-2 33.0/4.09/1.21	Wakefield has easily been the most dependable starter aside from Beckett this year. It’s great to see him returning to form, and how about that low WHIP?
Kevin Youkilis	.291/.402/.407	.402/.447/.561	Youkilis has been the story of the month, and is working on a 22-game hit streak and tied the club record for nine straight multi-hit games. Youuuk!

Note: I want to welcome Josh Lacey to Fire Brand. Josh is a new writer, and knows a ton about the major and minor leagues of the Red Sox. He should bring some fantastic content. Mike Edelman has chosen to leave and start up a new blog that will “take things in a different direction.” I’ll have the link to it as soon as it’s up. I want to thank Mike for some fantastic content he put up during his time here at Fire Brand, and I thank him for all the time he devoted.
The results of the poll:

Now that two full months of Sox baseball has been played, what is your most pressing concern?

* Ousting Julian Tavarez and plugging in Jon Lester.
10% of all votes
* Ousting J.C. Romero/Joel Pineiro and plugging in Craig Breslow/Travis Hughes/Manny Delcarmen/Mike Timlin.
10% of all votes
* Ousting Coco Crisp and installing Jacoby Ellsbury/Wily Mo Pena.
3% of all votes
* Hoping the Red Sox can keep up this level of play.
69% of all votes
* Trying to figure out where to buy the champagne!
7% of all votes

There was some great discussion about the poll in an earlier article. I said that I voted for the Tavarez/Lester combo because that will make our starting rotation that much stronger. However, I’m wondering if we should be more concerned about Coco…
New one up!