Category: Red Sox

The Latest News on Dustin Pedroia is the Darkest Yet

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ESPN – His name was written in pen on a sign over his locker. His Boston jerseys neatly dangled inside on hangers. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was back with the Red Sox — if only for a quick visit. He hobbled through the clubhouse Tuesday on crutches, his surgically repaired left knee on the mend.

Pedroia really doesn’t think about hitting so much these days as simply not hurting. He’s hoping the latest surgery on his troublesome knee allows him to throw batting practice with his kids pain-free one day. That’s really the extent of the plans for the 36-year-old Pedroia, who has been limited to nine games over the past two seasons.

Still, he wanted to drop by just to chat with his teammates as they opened a two-game interleague series at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies. Earlier this month, doctors removed bone spurs and performed a knee joint preservation procedure in Vail, Colorado.

Taking the field again? For now, that’s down the priority list.

“It would be nice to not hurt first,” said Pedroia, who has fond memories of Coors Field given that’s where the Red Sox clinched the 2007 World Series. “One step at a time. Hopefully, it works out.”

Before we get into the blog its my responsibility to remind everyone that Manny Machado is a dirtbag whenever discussing Dustin Pedroia. Moving on.

I don’t think many of us necessarily *expected* Dustin Pedroia to play baseball again, but this is probably the nail in the coffin. It sounds like he’s accepted the fact that he’s done and its probably time, but it doesn’t make it any less sad. I’ve held out hope that Pedroia would be able to return to at least a part-time role with the team. That is until I heard Jerry Remy (11 knee surgeries) talking earlier this year about a conversation he had with Pedroia and their shared knee issues.

He asked me, ‘Are there certain surfaces you have problems walking on?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, some hard surfaces.’ And he said, ‘Yeah, I’ve got a floor in my house that I have to have changed because it bothers me.’

Remy added, “At the end of my career, I couldn’t move any more. I knew going to spring training I was done.

‘’I haven’t seen that much of Pedroia in the field this year. I saw him dive for a ball the other day and he wasn’t even close to it. But he turned some double plays. So you can’t make that judgement yet.

“But this is discouraging. Mentally, it’s very difficult to go through. It’s all you think about.’’

Dave Dombrowski basically told us Pedroia was done way back in 2017 when he said this knee injury was something Pedroia would have to monitor “for the rest of his career.” Pedroia then got a knee surgery he was pretty hesitant to get and the Red Sox publicly said the second baseman would be back in 7 months. Pedey returned in May 2018 before going back on the DL in June after just 3 games. Then in July 2018 Pedroia started dropping some pretty startling quotes about how he simply cannot risk coming back too early. Here’s what I wrote at the time.

That is scary. That sounds like a guy who is seriously concerned about his ability to recover from an injury. Forget returning to previous form, that is a guy who sounds like he might be done entirely…the days of Dustin Pedroia as your starting second baseman may be gone. Because when healthy, Pedroia can still absolutely mash and is one of the toughest outs in baseball, but therein lies the problem; Pedroia is rarely healthy anymore.

Pedroia was back for Spring Training and we were all pretty excited here at The 300s as No. 15 was ready to go for Opening Day…but only played 6 games before going back on the IL. He publicly stated that his knee “will never heal” back in May and shut down his rehab in an emotional press conference. I was convinced he was going to announce his retirement, but it seems like he wanted to take some time off and give it one more go.

Things sound a lot more myopic now though as this pretty dark update on Pedey dropped the other day. Despite playing in just 9 games in his last 2 seasons, he’s due to make $13M in 2020 and $12M in 2021 before becoming a free agent at 37-years-old. Here’s to hoping Pedroia can at the very least get healthy enough to enjoy his life and then maybe think about playing some ball again, but it seems like that goal is a distant second at this point.

Red Sox Ticket Prices Are Now Comically Low

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Catch the fever! Tickets to September Red Sox games are going for $6 bucks online right now. That is mental. You can get in tonight for $6, tomorrow for $7 and you can even get into Red Sox Yankees Sunday Night Baseball for $18.

I remember being a kid in the early 2000s and you couldn’t get into a Sox Yanks game for less than a bill. The first thing I did every April was sign up for the Red Sox/Yankees ticket lottery just to get a shot at those tickets for a decent price. Granted the Red Sox are 15 games out of first place in the AL East and 5.5 back of the second Wild Card spot. So as I said to a couple New Yorkers busting my balls over the weekend, we’re getting to the point in the Red Sox season where its almost Patriots season.

What a difference a year makes. Last September the Sox were just crushing teams en route to the World Series and I had no problem staying up til 3 am watching a 7 hour 18-inning game. Hell, I was in freaking Buffalo for work during the ALDS so I had to watch the Sox-Yankees in some Buffalo dive bar and I was more than happy to do it. Now? I’m not exactly racing home to watch David Price give up 5 runs in 5 innings and then opine about how his stuff felt good.

But, if I’m being a glass half full guy, which I know so many of you look to me for my optimism, I could at least expand my bobblehead collection two-fold for less than $20 in the next week.

Just shut everyone down, punt on 2019, make some moves in the winter, and come back with your heads screwed on in 2020. We’re done here.

RIP 2019 Boston Red Sox

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Well, that was the worst stretch of baseball since the ol’ Bobby Valentine days. After 8 straight losses to the Yankees and Rays, the Sox season is effectively over. We’re now 14.5 games back of the Yankees and 6.5 games back of the Rays. Our only hope of making the playoffs would be to catch the Rays, but considering they just swept us for only the second time in their history and in doing so became the first team to win 8 games at Fenway in a single season since before the Apollo moon landing, that’s it. We’re finished.

A lot of people were surprised when the Sox didn’t make any moves at the deadline, and will hence blame Dave Dombrowski for this missed opportunity. For anyone with even the slightest interest in this team, it’s clear this pitching staff needs help. While everyone around us improved, Dombrowski stood pat. Although he is far from the genius he seems to fancy himself, I honestly don’t have much of a problem with it, and I’ll tell you why.

If your employees do something really well, you pay them for it. If, after you start paying them well, they suddenly stop doing the job well, do you just bail them out and bring in someone else? Do you continue to drive up your personal costs just because the people you know to be good at what they do suddenly stop being effective? No. You either fire them or make them clean up their own damn mess. And since I don’t expect anyone to be fired during the season, there’s only one option. This dumpster fire of a week only solidifies that mindset for me.

I like to imagine I’m Porcello and the Sox pitching staff is the TVs.


Before getting all riled up about how bad our pitching is, let’s first talk about something positive. I’ve seen many people, including some here at The 300s, talking about how this season has been awful. It really hasn’t been ALL bad. Our offense is fantastic. We currently rank first in all of baseball in Runs, Hits, Doubles, Batting Average and RBI’s, second in Total Bases and On-Base Percentage, fourth in Slugging and OPS, and eighth in Home Runs. That’s pretty damn impressive. Just ask Rick Porcello, who’s been getting record run support over the last month or so.

Image result for chris sale swearing at ump
Chris Sale wasn’t happy with the umps against the Yankees yesterday, but he has bigger problems to worry about.

Now for the bad….I don’t buy the notion submitted by Boston sports radio that our bullpen is the biggest problem. The bullpen sucks, don’t get me wrong. But our current rotation of Sale (4.68 ERA), Price (4.36), Porcello (5.74), Rodriguez (4.19) and Cashner (6.94 with Boston) is making $80 million this year, Eovaldi (6.66) is making $17 million, and…oh yeah, Sale signed a $145 million contract extension to start the season. The salaries of those six pitchers is more than the entire payroll of the Athletics, Orioles, Pirates, White Sox, Marlins, and Rays. Two of those teams are ahead of us in the Wild Card race right now.

For further proof that our starters are the issue, look no further than this week. Starting with the Rays series, the starters allowed 4, 6, 7, 4, 8, 3 and 7 runs. They didn’t make it out of the fifth during five of those starts, and the dude who gave up that lowly 3 number only pitched 3 innings. That means during this 8-game stretch, our starters have a combined ERA of over 10!!! That’s beyond atrocious. It’s hard to win games when you’re constantly coming from behind, and it’s even harder when the people getting paid to be the best are the ones digging you those holes. No offense in the history of the league could keep up with that level of terrible.

Sounding optimistic, Dombrowski still believes…or so he says.

So when it all comes down to it, I’m with Dombrowski, if not necessarily with the reasoning he gave in his post-deadline press conferences. Either pitch better or miss the playoffs, but we’re not sacrificing future talent for only a minor piece to the puzzle. After all, Andrew Cashner was pitching quite well before coming here and look what he’s done. We don’t need to win every year, and since I know this team is capable of playing championship ball they can figure it out themselves. If that doesn’t happen, I’d expect Dana LeVangie to be looking for a job come winter time and a major shakeup of the pitching staff. If we do miss the playoffs, fine. It’ll be Patriots season by then anyway…..ugh. I need a drink.

Rick Porcello Hulk Smashed a Couple TVs Last Night

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So I was minding my business, half heartedly watching the Red Sox game last night. I stepped away for a few minutes and I come back to see the Sox down 5-0 as Eck and Dave O’Brien are discussing how Rick Porcello just Hulk Smashed two TVs in the dugout.

If thats not a microcosm for this entire letdown of a season then I don’t know what is.

I also had a similar reaction to Porcello when I heard that Dave Dombrowski didn’t do a goddamn thing at the trade deadline AND had the balls to say teams were calling HIM about Red Sox relievers.

I said the same exact thing after last year’s incredible run to the World Series, while this is all great, I worry it will embolden Dombrowksi to make zero improvements to the bullpen again in 2019. And thats exactly what he did. Let Kimbrel walk, let Joe Kelly walk, basically hoped Matt Barnes (6 blown saves and 4+ ERA), Steven Wright (injured again), Tyler Thornburg (released), or Ryan Braser (demoted to Pawtucket) would somehow morph into a major league closer. With the backup plan currently being to take the guy you just gave an $67.5M contract to be a starter and throwing him in to join the Closer by Committee gang. Hey, it may work like it did last year or it may flame out spectacularly with the defending World Series champs outright missing the playoffs.

Smash away, Rick. Smash away.

Wade Boggs Sounds Off on David Price for Being Soft in the Ongoing Eckersley Feud

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WEEI – On Friday, Price surrendered six runs in a losing effort to the Orioles, the worst team in baseball.

Though Eckersley refrained from taking any shots at Price, his ex-Red Sox teammate and fellow Hall of Famer Wade Boggs went right in. “Everybody in the game loves Eck. He was a great teammate,” Boggs said to Shaughnessy. “And David Price? Please. He should ask me what it used to be like to play in Boston. These guys today don’t hear any noise compared to the stuff that was aimed at us. I mean, seriously.

“‘Yuck?’ Give me a break.’’

Lost in all the media noise around David Price pouring gasoline on the Dennis Eckersley feud last week was this quote from Hall of Famer Wade Boggs. After Price made this a gigantic story, he proceeded to get lit up by the Orioles on Friday, a team best described by Michael Felger as one that should be relegated. It was a PTSD flashback of sorts for Price who was faced with his first highly scrutinized start since getting lit up in Game 2 of the ALCS last year. Despite vehemently denying it,

“That doesn’t affect me at all,” Price told reporters after he allowed six runs, including two homers, in four innings in the Red Sox’ 11-2 loss in Baltimore on Friday night “I’m sure it’ll be used in Boston, but it doesn’t affect me. “If you think I’m thinking about that out there on the mound tonight, you’re 100 percent wrong,” Price said. “Or even last night or the night before or whatever the case may be. That’s not the case. No, it didn’t affect me.”

Price predictably let it get to him as he crumbled on the mount. Now granted this whole renewed feud is all the Boston media has talked about the last week and certain sports blogs have been hawking YUCK t-shirts for the better part of two years, Wade Boggs came off the top rope to basically call David Price soft.

“And David Price? Please. He should ask me what it used to be like to play in Boston. These guys today don’t hear any noise compared to the stuff that was aimed at us. I mean, seriously.

“‘Yuck?’ Give me a break.’’

Get your YUCK shirt today!

Depending on where you stand on the Eck vs Price feud you could take this as a laugh out loud funny quote like I did or you could compare Wade Boggs to the old man yelling at a cloud. Either way, it sounds like Price touched a nerve going after not just Eck’s work as a broadcaster, but his character. Eck may not want to get into the mud and talk about this anymore, but his former teammates like Boss Hogg are more than willing to do so. May he Rest in Peace.

Joey B CounterBlog: Dennis Eckersley Needs To Take A Walk

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Editor’s note: This could be Joey B’s worst take ever, but in the interest of not being called a dictator here we go. My original blog defending Eck can be found here. 

Get off my lawn.

Turn your damn music down

When I was your age

In my day.

Anyone else sick of reading these cliched laments of the old and justly disenfranchised?

Well I am too, and thus I am sick and tired, and have been, of Dennis Eckersley.

You might read what “Eck” said in Red’s blog and say to yourself “well that’s fairly benign, all he’s saying is he doesn’t care.” And you are not entirely wrong. I can see that without context all “Eck” was saying was that he’s no longer bothered. But here’s the things.

No one fucking cares how you feel anymore, Dennis Eckersley. It’s no longer the 1970’s Eckersley. You are a bad commentator, and a bad one at that, not a ballplayer, anymore. You matter not. David Price on the other hand, is a highly paid pitcher. WHO I DON’T EVEN REMOTELY LIKE. But in this case I’m completely Team Price. Dennis Eckersley’s interactions with David Price are SOLELY contingent on David Price, not “Eck”. He doesn’t call these shots. His opinion doesn’t matter.

So keep yelling at the clouds, old man. They’re never going to thunder rain down on you all the same.

 

-Joey B.

David Price and Dennis Eckersley Just Renewed Their Feud. (Buy a YUCK Shirt!)

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Uhh what the fuck guys? I thought we had moved past this amicably? I’m sure Chad Finn asked Dennis Eckersley a very direct question and Eck being Eck he gave a very direct response.

“I didn’t know how to deal with that,” Eckersley said to Finn about the airplane verbal assault. “I don’t plan on saying a word to him, I don’t plan on seeing him, never. I don’t really give a (expletive) one way or another. I don’t think he really cares one way or the other.”

But for David Price to retweet this with the laughing emojis and basically give the story new life is just childish. Listen, I know Price “holds all the cards” now, but jesus christ be the bigger man and just ignore the story. You were a colossal asshole to a Hall of Famer for doing his job giving his opinion on TV and you got called out for it. Just accept the L and move on. Or don’t. As long as you buy a YUCK shirt I don’t care.

Farewell Eduardo Nunez. A Dirtdog On Your Best Day, Entertaining AF On Your Worst

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ESPN – The Boston Red Sox have designated infielder Eduardo Nunez for assignment, likely ending his tenure with the team he helped win the World Series last year.

Nunez was batting .228 in 60 games with Boston this season, his third with the organization. Last year, he hit .265 with 10 homers in 127 games, and also hit a three-run pinch-homer to help the Red Sox win Game 1 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After a pretty solid 2018 season, Red Sox utility man Eduardo Nunez was hitting just .228 in 60 games this year so it wasn’t necessarily a shock to see him go. That doesn’t change the fact that he was a key role player for a World Series winning team though and a pretty entertaining guy to watch.

Eduardo Nunez immediately after winning the title last year is one of my favorite GIFs of all time so for that he will always hold a special place in my heart.

His body probably still hasn’t recovered from last season and the World Series in particular, but Eduardo Nunez was a true dirtdog when he was playing well.

Nunez definitely had injury troubles though as documented through my flurry of half in the bag tweets while watching Sox games over the last two years.

Although that leg injury derailed the end of his 2017 season, Nunez did hit .321 in 38 games for the Sox that year. Between Boston and San Francisco he hit .313 in 2017, which was his best season ever. While nobody expected Nunez to compete for a batting title in 2018, he was a very solid bench guy for Alex Cora. Culminating with his pinch hit home run to seal Game 1 of the World Series.

So while not many fans will shed a tear for the Sox cutting a guy hitting .228, lets not forget the good times, the huge smile on the diamond, and him batting .300 in the World Series. Oh and he also did all that after playing for the Yankees for four years so its even sweeter. Best of luck in your future endeavors, Eduardo.

Dave Dombrowski Threw a Tantrum Because Nobody Likes His Bullpen “Additions”

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So Dave Dombrowski threw a temper tantrum over the weekend because nobody lauded his ingenious “additions” to the bullpen. I mean, by all accounts, he’s not wrong. Nathan Eovaldi can be a very effective reliever when healthy. We saw him do just that in the playoffs last year so why aren’t people falling all over themselves to pat Dombrowski on the back?

Oh yea, thats right because this isn’t an addition you disingenuous dummy. This is a guy the Sox paid big bucks to anchor their rotation down who was IMMEDIATELY injured and has missed all but 4 games this season. So forgive me if I’m not super excited for an injured starter coming back being hailed as the savior of the bullpen.

For Dombrowski to get all pissy because “people seem to, not, like grasp” this is hilarious. This is exactly what I said would happen last year after the Sox won the World Series too. I know this will come off as peak whiny Boston fan, but that doesn’t mean its not true. Last year Dombrowksi punted on making real additions to the bullpen and pulled Nathan Eovaldi and Ryan Brasier out of his ass while David Price pitched out of the pen, and Joe Kelly went on an all-time postseason run.

All that did was embolden Dombrowski to again make no real additions to the bullpen, let Joe Kelly go to the Dodgers, AND let their closer walk all in one offseason. “Hey I did it last year, why can’t I patch this thing together on the fly again?” Because thats not how baseball usually works. Thats why they call it lightning in a bottle.

If Nathan Eovaldi goes on to record 20 saves in the second half of the season then please disregard this blog.

I Don’t Think the Red Sox Can Pay Mookie Betts After Seeing This Outfit

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As the great Andy Stitzer once said:

Granted I was on an island all week long so maybe I already missed the news cycle, but why is nobody talking about this?

Mookie, love ya mean, but what the hell are we doing here? This is a straight up fashion crime. He is the MVP of Major League Baseball, he is a professional bowler, he is an absurdly proficient jack of all trades, but a tastemaker in the fashion world he is not.

I gotta be honest, after seeing this outfit I am seriously, seriously hesitant to give a man with this judgement $400 Million dollars. I suppose you can attempt this look when you’re hitting .346 with 32 home runs, but not when you’re hitting .272 with 13 dingers.

All I’m saying is there has got to be someone at the Betts household that sees him on his way out the door wearing a tuxedo without a shirt like he’s Seal and says hold the phone Mook we need to make some tweaks here.

Stop trying to bring back the Lou Bega look, MLB.