Red Sox (John Smoltz)

[Pats2006]

When are the sox going to realize that Smoltz was a fucking mistake and drop him from the rotation?  Its a joke watching him pitch and the after the game him always saying I felt good.  Not that good you ass you lost!

[YoFuggedaboutit]

Great!!!!  It's about fucking time the Yankees won a game against the BoSox this year.

[Chopper]

That was horrific to watch...

He just looked so old, and so lost, and so predictable.

After seeing Perry ripped by the Rays the other night, what exactly are the Sox spending their pitching dollars on? (Apart from manure, obviously)

[SportsChick]

DL time

[CF DolFan]

As a Braves fan I really hate to see Smoltz ripped but it is true.  He appears to be done.

[MaineDolFan]

When are the sox going to realize that Smoltz was a fucking mistake and drop him from the rotation?  Its a joke watching him pitch and the after the game him always saying I felt good.  Not that good you ass you lost!

Great idea.  Who are they going to replace him with?

Wakefield might be done for the year.  The guy can barely move.

Dice-K won't be ready for at least another three weeks (and that's being kind).

Promote Bowden?  The kid can't get out of his own way lately in AAA.  He's walking a batter for every guy he strikes out.  Really want to toss him into the fire with his control problems?

Boston REALLY screwed themselves in the V-Mart deal.  Buchholz wasn't ready (and is showing that loud and proud).  Penny can't get out of the 6th.  Smoltz is a failed experiment.  

They had a kid that could EASILY have slid into the #4 slot and performed well in Justin Masterson but they traded him away for a C/1B.  Which is great seeing that Boston already has a starting catcher and 1B.  

Boston's only hope, pitching wise, is to get something out of Smoltz and Penny for another few weeks (1), Dice-K is able to come back and give them something for the last month of the season (2) and they are able to work a waiver wire deal for a decent #5 (3).  

Otherwise what you see is what you get.

They will probably call up Junichi Tazawa for a spot start but he won't be a long range answer this year.

[SportsChick]

They're playing for the wild card at this point I think. And that's a long shot. Their pitching, which was supposed to be their strong point, is falling apart

[MaineDolFan]

They're playing for the wild card at this point I think. And that's a long shot. Their pitching, which was supposed to be their strong point, is falling apart

At the risk of sounding rude...I really hate this stance.  I received a call last night around 11pm.  The morning guy at my old station is sick, they can't find anyone this last second, would I mind running the show today? 

I knew I should have said no and stayed "retired."  Because I knew the entire morning would be full of "the sky is falling" calls.  And, sure enough, this post above is exactly what the entire show was like.

Boston is 3.5 games out of 1st place with three more to go in New York this weekend.  They have two pretty damn good pitchers in Lester and Beckett going this weekend.  They'll split. 

There was NO WAY Boston was going into this series and sweeping.  None.  So why are people flipping out?  They didn't touch the bullpen last night.  Tabor and Saito is all they used.  They have two STUDS going this weekend.  The offense looks pretty darned good - they did put up six runs last night.

You give me Beckett and Lester every five days with Boston's bullpen, and then even "just okay" starts out of your #3 along the way...I'm more than fine with that.  If Dice-K can give them 5-6 starts when he comes back?  Bonus.  Patch together everything else.  Starting the last week of August into the end of the season they have a really light friendly schedule.

Stop pounding on the panic button.  This team will be fine.

[SportsChick]

The problem is while they're only 3 1/2 out, the pitching is a mess and they're not beating the teams in the East. That spells recipe for disaster. They Yanks are clicking on all cylinders right now, which is bad for Boston. I had predicted them losing 3 of 4 this weekend with the one win either Beckett's or Lester's, the other a tight loss.

[MaineDolFan]

^^So what?

It's August.

Remember 2004?  AFTER the trade Boston played under .500 for most of August.  They caught fire around the end of the month and played well into the playoffs.

I don't care if they are 6 games out.  It's August.  I would rather peak later than sooner.  Do you really think New York can play 9/10 baseball for another two months?  An all-star team couldn't keep this pace.

Relax.

It's August. 

[SportsChick]

If it were May I wouldn't worry. The later the month gets, the more worry there is. It's just a gut feeling this year

[SCFinfan]

Saw the line last night. Smoltz wasn't too bad the first time through the lineup. The second time? Not so much.

I don't think Smoltz is done. I think he's just 42 and coming back from an injury. Imagine if, in a month, his body is back to semi-normal. He could finish out the season strong for y'all.

And Maine's right. It's only August.

[Rick]

The Red Sox left 15 runners stranded last night.... if they keep doing this, it dosen't matter if they bring back Cy Young to pitch!

[MaineDolFan]

The Red Sox left 15 runners stranded last night.... if they keep doing this, it dosen't matter if they bring back Cy Young to pitch!

This couldn't be more true.

If you really want to be concerned about this team, be concerned about the 7, 8 and 9 hitters.  This could have (should have) been a 14-13 slug fest. 

[EDGECRUSHER]

Smoltz was DFA today by Boston. He was an amazing pitcher, and in my mind part of the "Trifecta of Clutch" with Curt Schilling and Mariano Rivera as the greatest postseason pitchers of all-time.

I agree that Buchholz is struggling, but he dominated AAA and had nothing left to prove. He just needs MLB time like Hughes and Joba do. It's a bad time for him to struggle, but is he worse than Smoltz?

I think the Yankees are better overall than Boston, but the team is hardly perfect. CC's ERA is 3.90, not to mention the same for Burnett and Joba. That's good for the AL East, but they don't have an ace like Beckett on their team. They should, but they aren't performing like it. The bullpen is still patch work despite some brilliant streaks in Hughes and Coke.

3.5 games is nice but with 10 more meetings, it's hardly insurmountable.