Category: MLB

David Price’s start tonight just got a whole lot more interesting

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MLB: Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

USA Today – Red Sox pitcher David Price is not on good terms with the media in Boston.

Price plans to only speak to news reporters on days he pitches and no longer give personal interviews…

On Wednesday night, following Boston’s 8-0 loss to the Yankees, Price took [it] a step further, barking at the Boston Herald, “Write whatever the (expletive) you want. Just write it. Whatever the (expletive) you want.”

Then on his way out, he was reported to have yelled, “(Expletive) them! (Expletive) them all. All of (the media).”

An oldie but a goodie – blaming your problems in Boston on the media. I don’t think Price has a real argument here. I could name plenty of other athletes who had it/have it tougher in Boston than him. But do whatever works for you, man.

What this episode all but confirms is that David Price will be opting out of his contract after next season. There’s no way that this can go on for another five-and-a-half years. But as foolish as it is to blame your struggles on everyone else, blowing up on the media can definitely provide a spark. So go for it, David. If it gets you to pitch lights out for two months, I’m all for it. The Red Sox will win more games, and you’ll make more money in a year and a half. Everyone wins.

I won’t lie though. Part of me wants to see Price get drubbed tonight. It would suck to see the Sox lose more ground to the Yankees, but it might be worth it to get another all-time meltdown out of it.

Again, either the Red Sox win more games or we get another epic meltdown. Win-win!

Red Sox Have Up and Down Memorial Day: Price Looks Good, Pedroia Gets Hurt

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Yesterday was a shitty loss for the Red Sox that can be pinned pretty much on anyone in the bullpen not named Craig Kimbrel. But the point of this post is to talk about the return of one David Price. In his first major league start of the season Price’s line looked like this: 5 IP, 2 Hits, 3 Runs, 2 Walks, and 4 K’s

After getting smacked around in Pawtucket and getting chirped by fans *in Pawtucket* I think we all weren’t expecting such a solid start. Now did Price look dominant? No. But for a guy who hasn’t pitched in a major league game in about 8 months, not too shabby.

Remember, Price missed all of spring training so this is basically still his version of that. And of course I have no idea what to expect out of his health, I still am pretty pessimistic about a guy in his 30s who opted to skip surgery and let it heal naturally because that rarely works in the long run.

But, for a guy with a shaky elbow, Price was juicing his fastball consistently at 94 mph and even hit 97 on the gun. Not bad at all. So while the Sox shit the bed in the last few frames…

And Price did serve up an absolute batting practice ball to x for a 3 run dinger. But with it being his first start of the year, all in all I’ll take it. Hey, at least he seems like he cares, which is more than some other guys.

Now onto the bad shit.

Dustin Pedroia got tabletopped by Jose Abreu who was sliding into first to try and beat Pedey to the bag. With the 6’3″ 255 pounder basically diving into Pedroia’s path, he banged into Abreu and flipped over landing awkwardly on his wrist.

Initially it looked like Abreu took the brunt of the hit, but Pedroia was slow to get up and left the game. Dustin’s headed back to Boston to get an MRI on his wrist, which concerns the shit out of me. As a 5’8″ second baseman, Pedroia is diving all over the place every single day, but now he lands on his wrist and can’t finish the game. I. am. concerned. These little bumps and bruises like the Machado knee injury are starting to stack up for him, so hopefully its nothing, but flying back to Boston mid-series to get an MRI is obviously a red flag.

But hey guys, don’t worry, with all the injuries piling up it might force the Red Sox hand and leave them no choice but to call up the $95 million disaster, the kung fu fucking panda.

Sandoval, who by the way is healthy now, is currently playing down in Pawtucket and went 1/4 with another error last night. So thats good. Him and Rusney Castillo are probably laughing their balls off at the money they’re making to play baseball in fucking Rhode Island.

Even Price was down in Pawtucket for like a week and a half before saying get me the fuck out of here.

At least Chris Sale takes the mound tonight.

Hanley Ramirez Was HUNTING Guerin Austin After Red Sox Win

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So Brian Johnson threw a complete game shutout in his Fenway debut, the first pitcher to do that since a guy named Pedro Martinez. Anyways, BJ got the customary Gatorade bath, and per usual Guerin Austin suffered the collateral damage. At this point I feel like that’s got to be in her contract that she accepts frequent Gatorade baths and has to pretend its funny that a Sox player ruined another one of her coats.

*Yes in my excitement I accidentally called Brian Johnson Brian Anderson. Hand up, that ones on me.

John Farrell Bolsters Manager of the Year Campaign in Wednesday’s Win

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WEEI – With the Chris Sale surprisingly allowing the Rangers to grab the lead with a two-run fifth inning… [Texas starting pitcher Martin] Perez was finally driven from the game thanks to one-out singles from Andrew Benintendi and Sam Travis.

Texas manager Jeff Banister replaced Perez with righty Sam Dyson, paving the way to two straight pinch-hitting moves by Farrell. The first came in the form of Mitch Moreland, who replaced Sandy Leon, the switch-hitter who was hitting just .209 from the left side. That led to an RBI single. The next was Josh Rutledge for Marrero, both right-handed hitters. That led to another base-hit, tying the game at 3-3.

After the two pinch-hit singles, the Red Sox officially jumped to the top of the heap in the majors when it came to pinch-hitting efficiency, having gone 8-for-19 (.421).

Just when you least expect it, John Farrell’s three-dimensional chess moves start to pay dividends. I’m not Farrell’s biggest fan, so I will admit that I was shocked to see that the Red Sox lead the majors in pinch hitting.

After a couple of weeks of treading water – going 5-7 between May 9 and May 21 – the Red Sox have scored a total of 20 runs in back-to-back wins against the Rangers. They’ve also made up some ground on the Baltimore Orioles, who are currently the top wild card team. The Orioles go on the road tomorrow after a 2-4 homestand that included a sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Twins.

And for all the talk about the quiet Red Sox bats, the Red Sox have scored more runs than the Orioles this season and have also given up fewer runs than the Orioles. Almost a third of the way through the season, the Red Sox run differential is fourth best in the American League. It’s not a perfect indicator, but it does seem to indicate that they are on the right side of the playoff bubble, and that things are starting to trend in the right direction.

So John Farrell should relax. It looks like he’s going to be in a job at least through mid-June.

Derek Jeter Just Crushed His Nephew’s Dreams

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So Jeter’s little nephew Jalen, who is internet famous for adorably tipping his cap at Jeter’s last game, asked Uncle Derek if he could wear his No. 2 when he plays for the Yankees one day. And Jeter shut that shit down REAL quick.

I think Derek probably has to work on the little kid communication a bit since he’s got one on the way. I give Jeets props for not lying to the kid but a hard NOPE in his face, probably isn’t the best way to handle that question. But hey, alpha males gotta let everyone know what belongs to them right off the bat so no one challenges them. Little kids are no exception. #Re2pect

PS – I didn’t want to include this but I had to. Any time there is a directly relevant Simpsons clip, my hands are tied. The internet gods would strike me down if I didn’t post it.

Tim Tebow About to Get Promoted by the Mets?

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Yahoo – Tebow has gotten fairly hot lately down in the Sally League of late. Overall, he’s hitting .250/.330/.370 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 28 games for Columbia, but in his past 16 games he has an .849 OPS. It has the Mets thinking: According to a club source, there has been discussion about moving the former Heisman Trophy winner to a higher level within the minors, but such a jump likely won’t occur until after the All-Star Game in midseason. The next level up from where Tebow is now would be St. Lucie, which is high-A, but I bet if they promote him they’d send him to Double-A Binghamton. Partially to get him closer to New York geographically, but partially as a sink-or-swim proposition.

CHOO CHOO! GET OFF THE TRACKS! TEBOW IS COMING TO DOUBLE A!

At least, according to sources, the Mets are considering giving Timmy a promotion after a recent hot streak has him slapping the ball all over the yard. Is he “technically” only batting .250 in Single A ball? Sure. But maybe getting him up to Double A will really get the competitive juices flowing. Throw in a couple miracle walk off type plays and he’s a Met before you know it.

You know ESPN is already aroused at the thought of Tebow playing professional baseball in the Northeast. They’re gonna really wish they didn’t axe all those reporters when they need someone on Tebow’s lawn day and night this summer.

Red Sox Weekend Recap

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After a tough loss on Friday night, the Red Sox bounced back to take two of three from the Minnesota Twins over the weekend in Minneapolis.

The bats were quiet for the Red Sox most of Friday night. They managed only one run off of six hits through eight innings, before getting three hits and two runs to tie the game in the top of the ninth. But with two outs in the bottom half of the inning Joe Mauer ended it with a solo shot to center. Mauer’s first career walk-off home run gave the Twins the 4-3 win.

After heating up in the ninth inning Friday night, the Sox bats stayed hot Saturday. Chris Young, who pinch hit for Jackie Bradley Jr. in the ninth inning Friday night and drove in the game-tying runs, went 2-for-5 on Saturday with two solo home runs. Dustin Pedroia drove in three runs, while Xander Bogaerts, Andrew Benintendi and Sandy Leon collected three hits each in the 11-1 Sox win.

The Sox hitters continued to pound the baseball on Sunday, but it was actually a lot closer than the 17-6 final score would indicate. Chris Sale struck out 10, but allowed four runs on four hits and three walks. The Sox led 7-6 with just one out and a runner on third in the bottom of the eighth when John Farrell went to his closer. Craig Kimbrel came in to strike out Joe Mauer and Max Kepler and get the Sox out of the jam.

The 10-run ninth inning overshadowed Farrell’s decision to go to Kimbrel with the tying run at third base in the bottom of the eighth inning. What was evident at the time and obvious in hindsight is that the last two outs of the eighth inning were the two most important outs of the game for the Red Sox. Good for Farrell to recognize that. If the Sox blow that lead, maybe the ninth inning plays out differently. A big win for the sabermetricians, too.

It was also good to see Farrell play the hot hands for the most part. With Bradley Jr. struggling, now batting just .175 on the season, it was good to see him stick with Chris Young and get rewarded. Sandy Leon also looked like a beast over the weekend, upping his average 50 points in two days with five hits, three home runs and five runs batted in.

The Sox are off today. They’ll finish up their six-game road trip with three games at  Miller Park in Milwaukee this week.

Addison Russell is Using Pokemon Cards to Flip the Autograph Game On Its Head

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ESPN – When Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell asked those two All-Stars — and many others around the league — to autograph the back of his Pokémon cards, he knew he would get some puzzled reactions. And he most certainly did. Yes, Russell is sending clubhouse attendants to opposing locker rooms armed with Pokémon cards for some of Russell’s favorite players to sign.

Did Addison Russell just become my new best friend? Yup. You see it all the time; professional athletes asking other pros to sign balls or even exchanging jerseys, but this, this is something. Busting out Pokemon cards and asking people to sign those instead is so awesome. Thats how you know Russell is a stud. He doesn’t need to front like he’s the baddest guy on the block and pretend Pokemon is only for kids. He loves Pokemon and he owns it.

If you’re in your 20’s and deny liking Pokemon then you are a walking, clinical definition of insecurity. We all loved the Pocket Monsters. Sure, maybe not all of us were illegally playing Pokemon Red emulators on our laptops in class back in college, but theres a reason Pokemon Go is one of the highest earning mobile apps of all time.

Did I spend hours upon hours playing Pokemon Go in traffic so I could snag the special edition Christmas Pikachu with a Santa hat? I mean, I didn’t not do that.

There is a method to his madness. He doesn’t just pick the cards randomly. He’s looking for a card that fits the player’s game or personality. “If there are flame balls on them, I’ll get a closer like Kenley Jansen to sign,” Russell said.

This isn’t just some gag from the 23-year-old, Russell is doing his research. You can’t just have anyone signing holographic or legendary cards. Thats bullshit. That would be stupid and childish. The autograph needs to fit the Pokemon.

So keep doing your thing Addison, hopefully you get Pablo Sandoval to sign that shiny Snorlax card. Get it? Because all he does is sleep and eat! Woof.

PS – Shoutout to my dude Kenley Jansen for dropping the Dragon Ball Z reference.

“I watched Pokémon a little bit. I was more of a Dragon Ball Z type of guy. I was watching more Dragon Ball Z growing up. So I get it,” Jansen said of Russell’s hobby. “Pokémon is his stuff, and everybody has their own unique way.

Now that is a goddamn show and if you’re not a fan, thats fine, but you’re wrong.