Thursday, May 04, 2006
Tom Verducci Says: Red Sox No Longer Offensive:
"You know something is up in Boston when the Red Sox get outscored in April -- a month in which they played 22 of their 25 games against teams that had losing records last year. The last time Boston was outscored in April was a decade ago, in 1996, when Jeff Frye, Tim Naehring and Lee Tinsley were getting regular at-bats. After leading the league in runs for three consecutive seasons -- and finishing second the year before that three-peat -- Boston ended April ranked ninth in runs. The Red Sox' runs per game for April dropped 17 percent from last year."
"You know something is up in Boston when the Red Sox get outscored in April -- a month in which they played 22 of their 25 games against teams that had losing records last year. The last time Boston was outscored in April was a decade ago, in 1996, when Jeff Frye, Tim Naehring and Lee Tinsley were getting regular at-bats. After leading the league in runs for three consecutive seasons -- and finishing second the year before that three-peat -- Boston ended April ranked ninth in runs. The Red Sox' runs per game for April dropped 17 percent from last year."
Hit and run expert Loretta has been a car crash so far...
THE PULSE OF THE NATION
The Red Sox stumbled upon the right formula in 2004: No, not offense, but 3 stud starting pitchers, a deep bullpen, timely hitting, and strong defense. The Sox were sans Pedro and Lowe in 2005, and thus couldn't hang with the pitching and defense White Sox. The Sox have rebuilt the bullpen, the defense, and the starting rotation is 2/3 completed with Schilling, Beckett and Roger? as a 1-2-3 postseason force. The Red Sox will make a move for a stud third piece to the rotation, be it the Rocket or an internal shuffle that moves Papelbon into the rotation, installs a rejuvinated Foulkey as closer, and a minor league man among boys in Hansen as the setup man. A healthy Coco will give them just enough offense to carry weakest link Alex Gonzalez. On the worrying front: The Sox just have to hope that they didn't make a huge blunder in giving a now 34 year old catcher a massive 4-year deal, as nagging injuries seem to be affecting his bat speed and overall production; His physique is also noticably slightened. Let's also hope that the much slimmer Trot has been dieting, rather than giving up "supplements", as he is also slimmer and missing his usual pop. If the Red Sox can get that final piece to the rotation, whether it be Rocket, Papelbon, or a Barry Zito, then 2006 could bury the jealous Yankee fans unclever "Once every 86 years" line with another tired slogan: "2 out of 3 ain't bad".
-Red Sox Nation
# posted by Boston Nation @ 5:49 PM 
