Bobby, I kind of feel bad for you. As a native New Englander, you jumped at the chance to manage the Red Sox. You knew the team had just had one of the greatest September folds in baseball history. You knew that some players had acted irresponsibly. But you could not have been ready for all that has happened this season.
Jacoby Ellsbury, one of the best all-around players in the league, dislocated his shoulder and is still weeks away from returning. Projected closer Andrew Bailey has a thumb injury and is still on the DL, as is outfielder Carl Crawford. Longtime team leader Kevin Youkilis is out with a lower back sprain.
I hate to always bring up the “big three” starters, but I have to say they have been horrible. As of Sunday, they read: 115 2/3 innings pitched, 131 hits, 66 earned runs, 51 walks, 68 strikeouts, and a 5.13 ERA. These are the same guys we thought were among the best starters in baseball. Josh Beckett also continues to act like a jerk off the field. Even Dustin Pedroia is making comments about Valentine’s time in Japan. A game story last week mentioned the fact that Valentine is looking older and older by the day. Sometimes he seems like an old man standing in the dugout with a puzzled look on his face.
Young players like Felix Doubront, Will Middlebrooks, and Daniel Nava provide some hope for the season. But the pitching staff is on their third coach in three years; from what I have read, Curt Young contributed next to nothing last year. Bob McClure seems to have more on the ball, but he has a tough job ahead. An amazing statistic is that Sox pitchers have walked 13 batters after 0-2 counts. Many of these walks seem to have led to big innings, as happened to Jon Lester last week in Kansas City. If this continues, the team is headed for its first sub-.500 season since 1997.
The Sox better hope that the Celtics go deep into the playoffs. Otherwise it will be a long, long summer.
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