Category: Boston

After Last Night’s Win the Red Sox are Now 15-3 in Extra Innings Games

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So last night the Sox went into extra innings AGAIN, which I believe Dave O’Brien said was their 5th game with bonus cantos of this road trip. With last nights W, the Sox are now 15-3 in extra innings games, which is tied for the most wins in extra innings in franchise history. 18 extra innings games is insane. Thats gotta be at the top of the league if not the league leader for extra innings games played this season. For some reason this is not an easy stat to find so I’m gonna need the baseball nerds to hammer out that research for me.

But to go 15-3 in all those extra innings games is downright impressive. Resilience like you read about. Thats the kind of identity this team has been looking for all season. Seriously, look at this shit:

Still not sold on this team going very far in the playoffs unless they put Chris Sale on the Game 1, Game 3, and Game 7 Randy Johnson schedule, but this team battles can’t deny that.

UPDATE: It would appear the Red Sox are second in extra innings games played this season in the AL, according to Boston Sports Info, but LOOK AT THAT BULLPEN!

Celtics Prominently Featured in NBA 2K18 Trailer and it Looks FIRE

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As I mentioned on this very blog not too long ago, the Celtics basically backdoored their way onto the cover of the biggest basketball video game in the world with the Kyrie Irving trade. So it should come as no surprise, but its still awesome to see Celtics green prominently featured in another excellent 2K trailer. Seriously, is this the only league that knows how to market a video game with music? Anyways, some of the highlights:

And yea, this one definitely hurt. Gonna suck seeing IT check what time it is with fucking LeBron yucking it up next to him.

Full trailer below:

Sox Land $30M Mop-Up Man For Stretch Run

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CBS Boston – David Price is off of the disabled list and heading to the Boston bullpen.

The Red Sox activated the 32-year-old lefty on Thursday after a seven-week stay on the disabled list with left elbow inflammation. He threw a three-inning simulated game at Fenway Park on Wednesday, and Boston manager John Farrell hopes to have Price available out of the bullpen on Sunday or Monday.

David Price hasn’t made an appearance out of the bullpen in a regular season game since 2010, but the bullpen is actually where he’s found most of his success in the postseason. Price’s postseason woes are well known, but he’s actually been pretty good out of the bullpen in October. Both of his playoff wins were out of the bullpen.

Price pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in 2008 and was 1-0 with a save in five appearances. He posted a 1.59 ERA over 5.2 innings, struck out 8 of the 24 batters he faced, and allowed just two hits. His sole relief appearance as a Blue Jay in 2015 against the Rangers wasn’t as impressive, but he did manage to get a win out of it.

It’ll be interesting to see how John Farrell chooses to use Price going forward. Will he be used a lefty specialist, as an eighth-inning guy, or a as a general fireman? Also interesting  to see will be Price’s reaction to being placed in the bullpen. I know he’s coming back from an injury and has to work his arm strength back up, which is difficult to do this late in the season, but it still feels like a demotion. Even after his rough outing last night, I’d still rather give the ball to Doug Fister in game three or four of the playoffs than David Price.

Regardless of what happens down the stretch, it’s hard not view year two of David Price in Boston as a disappointment. A strong late-season run would help make this deal look less like the Pablo Sandoval disaster, but this is not the guy the Red Sox thought they were getting. The Red Sox thought they were getting a guy who could drive the bus, not a guy who would yell at the team broadcaster on the bus.

Bruins Resign David Pastrnak for 6 Years and $40 Million

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NBC Sports – The Boston Bruins have finally found a way to get restricted free agent David Pastrnak under contract, according to TSN hockey insider Darren Dreger. Pastranak new contract is reportedly for six years and $40 million (annual average value of $6.67 million).

BOO YAH! I’m not gonna lie, I was getting increasingly worried the Bruins were going to fuck it up with yet another young stud player. We saw it with Phil Kessel, then Tyler Seguin and then most recently with Dougie Hamilton. With all the talk going around the past couple of weeks about how far apart the Bruins and Pasta’s camp were on negotiations its great to see this deal finally get done. And at a reasonable average annual value too. $40 million over 6 years works out to about $6.6 million per year, which makes him the fourth highest paid player on the Bruins, according to Spotrac, ahead of Brad Marchand, but still behind David Krejci, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask. That should make everyone happy.

I’m just glad Peter Chiarelli didn’t fuck up this team’s cap salary from the other side of the country after setting the market with the absolutely absurd Leon Draisaitl contract of 8 years at $8.5 million per year. The Bruins clearly weren’t approaching that type of money nor should they have. I love Pastrnak, I’m a proud owner of a No. 88 t-shirt jersey and I think he’s gonna be a superstar in this league. But 8 years at $8.5 mil for a 21-year-old with one breakout season is crazy talk. Glad the Bruins were able to meet in the middle though and get a deal done. After months of the Red Sox, Pats, and Celtics stealing headlines, finally some shine for the Bruins.

PS – That $40 mil should buy a LOT of new tattoos at Boston Barber and Tattoo Co.

Today is the 10 Year Anniversary of the Clay Buchholz No Hitter

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Oh what could have been.

If you’re anything like me you’ll remember how AMPED you were that the Red Sox had this starting rotation signed and sealed for years:

  • Josh Beckett
  • Jon Lester
  • John Lackey
  • Clay Buchholz

Now obviously, like Clay’s career, things did not go as expected. Buchholz was going to be the next ace of the staff, throwing a no-hitter in his second career start, but his career was defined by maddening inconsistency and of course injuries. Clay currently has a 4.01 career ERA and is currently on the DL for the Phillies, which is a microcosm for him as a whole. The guy would routinely go on a 6-week run of dominance sporting a 2 ERA before going into the tank for the rest of the season. Like clockwork.

We’ll always have that no-hitter though, Clay.

Friday Morning Randomness – Allston Christmas

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Merry Allston Christmas! If you’re partaking, may the previous tenants of your new residence be long gone and may the meter maids mind their own business.

This video is evidence of a high-tech engineering success story. I strongly disagree with the guy who posted it calling it “red neck couch moving.” If MIT were in Allston, I know that Allston Christmas would be a little bit more orderly with all the engineering kids moving furniture more efficiently than Ross and Rachel.

I myself am not an engineer. That is why I a cracked a box spring in half one Allston Christmas, to prevent holding up the entire building. I am also not a great planner. That is why I once switched units on Allston Christmas between 10 PM on August 31 and 4:30 AM on September 1. Moving in the middle of the night like the Baltimore Colts baby.

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AL East on the Line in the Bronx This Weekend

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The Red Sox are in the Bronx this weekend with a chance to put the Yankees to bed in the AL East. It didn’t seem like that would be possible just 72 hours ago. As the Red Sox were getting swept by the Orioles last weekend, the Yankees were taking two out of three against the Mariners. On Monday morning, the Yankees were just 2 1/2 games behind the Red Sox.

Since Monday morning, though, the Red Sox got three solid starts from its pitching staff and won all three games against the Blue Jays in Toronto. Meanwhile in New York, the Yankees had their momentum come to a screeching halt as they got swept by the Cleveland Indians. Losing both ends of a doubleheader yesterday as the Red Sox won again in Toronto meant that the Yankees fell 1 1/2 games further behind the Red Sox in the AL East. The Red Sox now lead the Yankees by 5 1/2 games, their biggest lead in the division this season.

Despite the blip against the Orioles, August has been the best month of the season for the Red Sox. The Sox are 18-8 this month and 19-8 since stumbling out of the gate 7-10 after the All-Star break. That works out to 26-18 overall since the break, which is a higher winning percentage (.591) than the team posted in the first half (.562).

The Yankees have been trending in the opposite direction, as their best month was April. After going 30-20 in April and May, they got out to a 4 game lead in the division by June 12. But since the beginning of June the team is 40-42.

The Yankees really need to take at least three games this weekend to have any shot in the division race. [They could also use three wins to get some breathing room in the Wild Card race. They are just one game up on the second Wild Card team, the Twins, and just two games up on the third-place team in the Wild Card race, the Angels.] A split of this series would mean the Yankees would have only 26 games to make up 5 1/2 games on the Red Sox.

Clearly, it wouldn’t be impossible for the Yankees to catch the Red Sox if they were 5 1/2 games back on Labor Day but they would need to have their best month of the season. There have been no signs that the Yankees are ready to rip off six in a row, or 12 out of 15. And the Red Sox can only be caught if they stumble.

The Red Sox have a favorable schedule after Labor Day. Of their final 25 games, 16 will be at Fenway Park. The farthest the Red Sox will travel in September is to Cincinnati, and the Red Sox are 13-4 in interleague play this season. They’ll close out the season at home with four games against the Houston Astros who might have the top spot in their division, and the league, wrapped at that point.

The panic button is out, but it’s now in the hands of Yankees fans.

Dice-K 2.0 Watch is ON as the Red Sox are in on Japanese Phenom Prospect Shohei Otani

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NESN – It appears the Boston Red Sox want a seat at the table of the Shohei Otani sweepstakes. The Red Sox are one of many MLB teams to express interest in the highly-touted Japanese pitcher/outfielder, according to multiple reports. The Sox and New York Yankees have the most international allotment money in the majors — $8 million apiece — and thus are in the best position to pursue a player like Otani, per Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. And according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports and The Athletic, Boston and New York are among 13 teams who have requested to scout Otani in person.

Tomato/to-mah-toh. While some may see Dice-K 2.0 others may see a pitcher/outfielder who excels at both and think of the immortal Casey Kelley! Another can’t miss prospect who was so good at pitching and playing the field that he ended up being good at neither as a pro.

The Sox have been gearing up for a move like this though as they are tied for the most international allotment money in the majors at $8M. Tied with the goddamn Yankees to boot.

So you know the Red Sox are just itching to throw some money at a sexy foreign prospect because they have such a great track record with expensive international players like Dice-K and colossal bust Rusney Castillo. Boston tends to fare better with smaller deals when dipping its toe into the international pool with guys like Junichi Tazawa and Hideki Okajima. We did also get guys like Xander Bogaerts and Yoan Moncada (top prospect in MLB despite his early career struggles).

Obviously the Sox aren’t going to shun the international market, nor should they, because of a few (HUGE) swings and misses, but I am a little reluctant to give another gigantic payday to an unknown player because he’s mowing down 140 pound Japanese guys halfway across the world.

Either way Shohei Otani played in the WBC for Japan and currently plays in the Nippon Pro Baseball League (just like ya boy Dice-K) and is straight up DOMINATING.

“He started 20 games on the mound for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in 2016, tallying a 10-4 record and a 1.86 ERA. He also has thrown the fastest recorded pitch in NPB history, at 102 mph. Otani excelled as a hitter last season, as well, posting a .322 batting average with 22 home runs and 67 RBIs in 2014 games played.”

So definitely someone to keep an eye on, especially if David Price continues to circle the drain amidst his $217 DL stint. Shohei Otani watch is ON!

PS – Fun fact. A few years ago I made the pilgrimage to Queens to check out Citi Field as the Mets were playing the Red Sox. And who was on the mound? Yup, Dice-K. Didn’t even realize he was still in the league. How’d he do you ask? Left the game due to injury of course. What a career.

Don’t Panic, But Don’t Not Panic Either

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After Chris Sale got roughed up on Thursday night, I wrote that it was not the time to panic. After the Red Sox got swept by the Orioles I considered panicking, but remembered that the Orioles always play the Sox tough. The Red Sox are just 59-75 against the Orioles since Buck Showalter took over as O’s manager in 2010.

Monday night, Drew Pomeranz left the mound after the sixth inning with the Red Sox trailing the Blue Jays 3-2 and I started to dust off the old Bob Lobel panic button. But then the Red Sox offense sent nine men to the plate in the seventh and put four runs on the board to give Pomeranz a lead and a shot at a win. Everything looked good.

The bullpen got it to Craig Kimbrel who got the job done, but not before giving up a two-run blast to Justin Smoak to make things a lot more interesting. Instead of talking about the Red Sox come-from-behind win today, we’re talking about how they barely hung on to beat the last place Jays.

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Because they found a way to hang on and snap their four-game skid, I won’t plug in the panic button just yet. But I’m not putting it away either. Doug Fister has been solid in place of David Price over the last month, and the Sox have won 10 out of Pomeranz’s last 12 starts. But Eduardo Rodriguez is just 3-5 with a 5.08 ERA since coming off the DL and Rick Porcello’s up and down season hit a new low Friday night. It seems like Porcello just can’t catch a break some nights.

I focus on the pitching because it will likely be the pitching that has to carry this team. This offense is like the tide, as Johnny Drama would say. It comes and goes as it pleases.

This team doesn’t have a single hitter with more than 19 home runs and is still dead last in the American League in home runs with just 139. The next closest teams to the Sox in home runs in the AL (Angels, White Sox) have 147 each.

Chris Sale will look to get back on track tonight and Porcello will have a chance to close out his August on a better note tomorrow. Strong performances from those two would position this team well heading into September. The Sox start September in New York with a four-game set against the Yankees this weekend.