Road Bump
Is it safe to say this is a slump? Perhaps just a rut? I don't know. On the one hand, we've lost four out of six games, which is never good. On the other hand, those games were against two good teams: the Blue Jays are on track to win 90 games, and have played a very tough schedule so far, and the Indians, even though they're only at .500 in the standings, have a run differential (285 runs, 224 runs against) that says their record should be more or less just like Toronto's. Furthermore, when you consider the 3-game sweep of the A's that preceded these two series, it doesn't look all that bad. If the Sox can win tonight and salvage a series split, I'll feel ok. If they lose again tonight, well, then perhaps it's time to start worrying.
In other news, Ozzie finally came out and said that Anderson and Mackowiak will platoon in center field. It has become more and more obvious in recent weeks that Anderson no longer held the job exclusively, especially since Mackowiak hit .344/.425/.500 in May. While this makes sense on one end - Macko has hit righties to the tune of .296/.390/.465 this season - I'm not so sure about the other. Anderson has been atrocious against lefties this year (.115/.242/.212), even worse than against righties (.207/.299/.362), and I think perhaps he needs some time at AAA. Sure, you worry about damaging his confidence by sending him down, but I think letting him continue to get manhandled by major league pitchers is potentially much worse.
I like the idea, now being floated around, of having Pablo Ozuna play center field against lefites, as he's torched them at a .382/.432/.676 clip this year in limited action. However, I'm skeptical about his defense; he's barely able to handle left field yet, let alone center. If they went that route, I'd prefer that they sent him to AAA to play center every day for a week or so, to learn the position a bit without risking it in actual Sox games. I get the feeling the team would never do that, though, as Ozzie values Ozuna too much to give him up for a bit (not to mention that I think Ozuna might be out of transaction options). Of course, if Ozuna played center against lefties, then we'd be stuck playing Pods against them too, so perhaps the Sox are right to give Anderson another chance. Brian's actually displayed a fair amout of patience at the plate this year - .124 walks per plate appearance, as compared to the AL average of .085 - so if he can get a few more hits to fall in, he'll at least be servicable.
Lastly, it appears the the lefties in our 'pen have finally found their groove. During May, Neal Cotts had an ERA of 2.53 and a WHIP of 0.84 in 10 and two-thirds innings, while Matt Thornton had an ERA of 3.27 and a 0.91 WHIP in 11 innings. If Jeff Nelson can throw strikes (7 walks in 7 and two-thirds innings this year between Charlotte and Chicago), and Brandon McCarthy can regain some of his early-season form, we'll have a nice righty tandem to compliment the lefties in settting up Jenks. You'll notice I didn't include Cliff Politte in that group; that's because I think this is just going to be a really rough year for him, and that the Sox should send him to AAA to work on some things. In exchange, they could call up Jeff Farnsworth, who has been nasty for the Knights this year: a 2.13 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 20 strikeouts against just three walks in 25 and one-third innings.
In other news, Ozzie finally came out and said that Anderson and Mackowiak will platoon in center field. It has become more and more obvious in recent weeks that Anderson no longer held the job exclusively, especially since Mackowiak hit .344/.425/.500 in May. While this makes sense on one end - Macko has hit righties to the tune of .296/.390/.465 this season - I'm not so sure about the other. Anderson has been atrocious against lefties this year (.115/.242/.212), even worse than against righties (.207/.299/.362), and I think perhaps he needs some time at AAA. Sure, you worry about damaging his confidence by sending him down, but I think letting him continue to get manhandled by major league pitchers is potentially much worse.
I like the idea, now being floated around, of having Pablo Ozuna play center field against lefites, as he's torched them at a .382/.432/.676 clip this year in limited action. However, I'm skeptical about his defense; he's barely able to handle left field yet, let alone center. If they went that route, I'd prefer that they sent him to AAA to play center every day for a week or so, to learn the position a bit without risking it in actual Sox games. I get the feeling the team would never do that, though, as Ozzie values Ozuna too much to give him up for a bit (not to mention that I think Ozuna might be out of transaction options). Of course, if Ozuna played center against lefties, then we'd be stuck playing Pods against them too, so perhaps the Sox are right to give Anderson another chance. Brian's actually displayed a fair amout of patience at the plate this year - .124 walks per plate appearance, as compared to the AL average of .085 - so if he can get a few more hits to fall in, he'll at least be servicable.
Lastly, it appears the the lefties in our 'pen have finally found their groove. During May, Neal Cotts had an ERA of 2.53 and a WHIP of 0.84 in 10 and two-thirds innings, while Matt Thornton had an ERA of 3.27 and a 0.91 WHIP in 11 innings. If Jeff Nelson can throw strikes (7 walks in 7 and two-thirds innings this year between Charlotte and Chicago), and Brandon McCarthy can regain some of his early-season form, we'll have a nice righty tandem to compliment the lefties in settting up Jenks. You'll notice I didn't include Cliff Politte in that group; that's because I think this is just going to be a really rough year for him, and that the Sox should send him to AAA to work on some things. In exchange, they could call up Jeff Farnsworth, who has been nasty for the Knights this year: a 2.13 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 20 strikeouts against just three walks in 25 and one-third innings.
posted by Jake Berlin | 11:06 AM
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