The Red Sox weren’t favored to win this series, but they were favored to win Game 1. That didn’t happen, as they fell to the Astros 7-2 last night. Today they find themselves underdogs in the series and in Game 2. Here’s a quick look at the latest lines:
The Red Sox will send David Price to the mound as they attempt to even the series at one game apiece. There’s been much discussion in Red Sox Nation as to whether or not Price should get the nod in Game 2. But despite his playoff woes, Price has good numbers against the ‘stros.
In his career, Price is 6-2 against Houston with a 2.94 ERA. In 70.1 innings pitched Price has struck out 85 Houston batters, walked 15 and allowed 24 runs (23 earned). The current Astros roster has hit .231 against Price in the past, collectively. In his time in Boston, Price is 3-0 against Houston with a 3.09 ERA.
As I said earlier in the week, I don’t hate this move. It will be hard for the Red Sox to win this series or the World Series without contributions from Price. If he doesn’t have it tonight, it will definitely be time to move on, but the Sox won’t be done in the series. Starting him in Game 2 is better than starting him in a potential elimination game.
The Astros will counter with Gerrit Cole, who went 15-5 with a 2.88 ERA in his first season in Houston. He’s 2-1 in four career starts against Boston, with a 4.32 ERA.
I don’t expect a blowout either way, and as a Sox fan I’m hoping for the best from Price. Still, the Astros and the over seem like the safe plays tonight.
The Boston Red Sox are in the American League Championship Series for the 11th time, and for the first time since 2013. They will take on the defending champion Houston Astros, who are looking to become the first World Series champion this century to successfully defend its title. Before we go any further, here’s a quick look at where, when, and how to watch the game along with the latest lines:
Location: Fenway Park (Boston, Mass.)
First Pitch: Saturday, October 13, 8:09 PM EDT
TV: TBS
Odds (via Odds Shark): Red Sox -1.5 (runline) / Red Sox -120 (moneyline) / 7 (total)
The Red Sox went 3-4 against the Astros this season, 1-2 in Boston and 2-2 in Houston. The four-game series in Houston saw the Sox lose the first two games, but rally to win the last two and get a series split. The Sox dropped two of three in the series in Boston, but they already had 97 wins by the time Houston came to town and may have had their foot off the accelerator by that point.
Chris Sale will take the mound for the Red Sox in Game 1 after a solid ALDS against the Yankees. He faced the Astros only once in the regular season, taking a loss in Houston after allowing four runs on six hits and a walk in six innings of work. Justin Verlander will take the mound for Houston. Verlander received a no decision in his only start versus Boston in 2018. He allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in six innings of work in a game Houston eventually lost 5-4.
Even with the run total at 7, the under would be a wise play in Game 1. Red Sox hitters have a combined .211 average against Verlander in 171 at bats. Astros hitters have fared only slightly better against Sale, combing for a .237 average against him in 118 at bats. This will be a tight series between two evenly matched teams, and Game 1 could kick this series off with an old school pitchers’ duel.
LA Times – There is no better World Series tradition than the introduction of each player in uniform. If you work for the home team, you get a nice round of applause, even if you are an obscure reliever, a quality assurance coach or a soft tissue specialist. The fan favorites draw the loudest and most sustained applause. Adrian Gonzalez would get a warm ovation, but he is not expected to join the Dodgers for the World Series. It’s his choice. It’s too bad. Gonzalez has played more games without a World Series appearance than all but two active players: Ichiro Suzuki and Brandon Phillips. He would not have played in this World Series because of what the Dodgers said was a recurrence of a back injury, but he had earned a round of cheers from a large and loyal fan base that cherishes him.
I guess it just wasn’t in God’s plan for Adrian Gonzalez to be a part of the Dodgers first World Series in 29 years. Ever since Gonzo made that tone-deaf comment back in 2011 after the epic collapse by his Red Sox I knew he didn’t give a shit about baseball. He just happened to be good at it and was collecting a paycheck. But people would always argue no he does care, he’s just very religious, that quote was taken out of context blah, blah, blah. But now, now that shit has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. I get that the guy is hurt and wouldn’t have played, but you’re not even gonna SHOW UP?? You couldn’t push your vacation back 2 weeks? You just made a hair under $22 Million this year and are still on that 7-year $154 Million contract the Red Sox signed you to back in 2011, I’m pretty sure you can afford the airline fees to reschedule your flights.
Not to mention he’s not exactly Derek Jeter with countless World Series rings. This isn’t exactly a routine occurence for the Dodgers or Gonzo.
“Gonzalez has played more games without a World Series appearance than all but two active players: Ichiro Suzuki and Brandon Phillips.”
Played a game my entire life and I’m 35 now, nearing the end of my career and I *finally* reach the pinnacle of my sport??
Sounds like his teammates are thrilled with the no show too.
Justin Turner, who occupies the locker next to Gonzalez, declined to say whether he was disappointed that Gonzalez had chosen not to bask in World Series applause.
After that Carl Crawford bitchfest article that came out a few weeks ago it reignited my long dormant disdain for that whole 2011 Red Sox team. I almost forgot how much Gonzo was disliked after that whole debacle too. Sure he wasn’t pissing and moaning about Boston the same way his buddy Crawford was, but if there’s one thing Boston hates its a guy who just doesn’t give a shit. You can be the biggest cocksucker in the world, but if you produce, Boston will love you. Josh Beckett was a total asshole, but he was dominant in 2007 helping the Sox win a World Series. Same for John Lackey in 2013. We respect those guys because half of Boston readily admits, practically brags about being a dickhead. We call ourselves Massholes for christ sakes. But give us a guy who doesn’t care? Get the FUCK off my team. At least JD Drew had that grand slam in the ALCS in 2008; that one hit erased years of a disinterested, nonchalant corpse in right field. Theres a reason Trot Nixon, a career .274, is revered in New England and it ain’t his bat.
I love Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, that goes without saying. That guy is a legend and will never have to buy another beer in Boston until the day he dies. But I cannot root for a team that currently employs no show Adrian Gonzalez and “David Price before David Price” Carl Crawford. Sorry Dave, but the Houston Astros throwback jacket is coming out tonight.
There is A LOT to unpack here less than 24 hours after the Red Sox bowed out in the ALDS for the second year in a row. Granted they didn’t get swept again this year, the Sox lost in 4 games after they started off poorly as it was too little too late against a stacked Astros squad. Where do they go from here? We’ve got the future of Manager John in question, Dustin Pedroia’s health, the absolute enigma that is our starting rotation, as well as questions around Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Craig Kimbrel and more. Lets get it.
Has the John Farrell Era Come to an End?
If so it finally does so in a fitting way; getting ejected defending a player who never really seemed to be all-in on him.
I’m never the guy clamoring for a manager to be fired because I think with the few exceptions, an MLB manager isn’t going to make or break a team. Just don’t screw it up, put players in a position to succeed, and most of all be the clubhouse therapist. And while Farrell certainly has his limitations with in-game adjustments, and even filling out the scorecard (honestly how do you bench arguably your best hitter in Hanley Ramirez for Game 1 in favor of a guy with a shitty knee?), but I think his ultimate downfall is his inability to be that armchair psychologist.
Manager John is not the guy that will call someone into his office to lay down on his couch and just talk things through. One of my favorite stories of a manager excelling at this was one about how Terry Francona used to call players over to talk with him right behind home plate as the team took BP. So everyone in the world could see them, but no one could hear them. This is an area where Manager John is sorely lacking, which became painfully obvious on multiple occasions this year, none more so than David Price blowing up on Dennis Eckersley and then essentially defending Price and the situation was never really resolved. In a market like Boston, managing the clubhouse and all its personalities is the No. 1 job requirement, which is why I think Farrell is ultimately shown the door this offseason.
What Should We Expect Out of Dustin Pedroia Moving Forward?
I don’t want to immediately overreact less than 24 hours after their season came to an end, but I am very, very concerned about Dustin Pedroia. Similar to old friend Kevin Youkilis, as he continues to get older, Pedroia’s balls out playing style is starting to catch up to him as he is routinely dealing with nagging injuries. This year it was the knee, which limited Pedroia to 105 games this year, and Dave Dombrowski sent me in to full blown panic earlier this year when he said that Pedroia’s knee would be something he’d have to deal with for the rest of his career. At 34 years old, that is a terrifying thing to hear. Now facing a number of options on what to do about his balky knee, Pedroia himself intimated that going the surgery route could put him out for a long time.
So while I know its the health thats affecting his play more than anything else, Pedroia just batted .125 in the ALDS this year, .167 in the ALDS last year, .238 in the 2013 playoffs, .167 in 2009, .233 in 2008, and .283 in 2007. Overall, he’s hitting just .204 in his last 26 playoff games. That my friends, is a bad trend. Maybe the Red Sox can do what the Yankees should have done with Jeter years before he retired and either limit his games in an effort to keep him healthy or perhaps move him to a less demanding position. While he’s not an ideal height or power profile, perhaps mixing in some games at first base would help lessen the demand on Pedroia’s body. Rotate him in at DH, where Pedroia has actually thrived in his career, to keep him fresh. Limit the number of games he’s throwing his body around at second base and maybe you get a healthy (and productive) Pedroia in the playoffs. But with four years left on his current deal, the Red Sox don’t really have much of a choice. While I’ve heard a lot of people slamming Pedroia’s leadership this season, I think the reality of an aging body that isn’t bouncing back the way it used to, coupled with the scrutiny of having to police his own locker room to keep dickheads like David Price in check, is mentally draining the guy. Keep him healthy and you’ll have a more energetic, engaged and productive Pedroia. He did hit .293 this season when he was on the field so he’s still a very strong hitter when he’s upright. But, he’s not 25 anymore, so maybe a revived role for the longterm second baseman gets him back to his hey day of shit talking Jeff Francis and Brady Quinn. Can’t ask the guy to do everything, so while I don’t want to defend his poor playoff performance, I think its something the Sox can mitigate by taking a few steps. Again, put the players in a position to succeed.
What the Hell Do the Red Sox Do About Their Pitching
Chris Sale had his worst start of the year at the worst possible time in the playoffs. Sound familiar? Now that we’ve got that out of the way, its important to note how he bounced back and was downright dominant out of the bullpen (on short rest) to give the Red Sox a lifeline in Game 4. Despite the fact he gave up that solo HR to cough up the lead, its important to note that he was lights out. Given the fact that it was his first career postseason start, I’m willing to give Sale the benefit of the doubt. Combined with the fact that Sale seemingly ran out of gas down the stretch, I think the Sox would benefit by working in some rest throughout the year for him, similar to how they used to do for Pedro Martinez. Sale was incredible this year where he was the hands down Cy Young winner before a shaky final 2 months. And while it was exciting to watch him chase that single season strikeout record that Pedro set, whats the point? If it left the guy gassed in October then its doing the team a disservice. So I think he’ll be back and better than ever next season.
As for David Price its hard what to make of him. He was downright dominant out of the bullpen for the Red Sox, which was encouraging to see, especially to see a pissed off emotional David Price. Seriously, the guy was screaming coming off the mound at opposing batters. That David Price I need to see more of. But again the Red Sox aren’t paying $217 Million for a bullpen guy. Price needs to replicate that, or at least come close to that as a starter in 2018 or the team’s cooked again. Most big free agents seem to struggle in Boston in Year 1 and Year 2 was a bit of a wash for Price due to his elbow injury. So maybe Year 3 he’s finally got that comfort level and makes a John Lackey type redemption with a bounce back year. That elbow is still a concern though so its tough to predict.
Rick Porcello followed up his 2016 Cy Young season with a terrible 2017 season going 11-17 with a 4.65 ERA and once again failing to go very far in the playoffs. He went 3 innings yesterday and only 4 1/3 in his ALDS start last year. Not a great trend. Maybe its a mechanical issue he can fix over the winter, but the back to back playoff shellackings are less than ideal.
Steven Wright, remember him? The knuckleballer who was an All-Star that John Farrell broke by having him run the fucking bases. He should be back next year, as well as Eduardo Rodriguez unless he has another knee injury doing nothing before the season starts. Drew Pomeranz had a really solid year going 17-6 with a 3.32 ERA, but another guy who got shelled in the playoffs. Doug Fister pitched admirabily in the regular season after being a guy Dombrowski picked up off the scrap heap in July, but he also shit the bed in the playoffs getting yanked in the second inning of Game 3 and finishing with an ERA over 20! He’s probably the odd man out next year assuming everyone else is healthy. So there’s not really a lot the Sox can do other than have the starting rotation get their shit together. Barring a huge trade, this is going to be the 2018 starting rotation.
The Rest of the Rest
Craig Kimbrel drives me fucking bananas. A two-pitch flamethrower with questionable control is a prescription for Tums. Kimbrel was incredible this season going 5-0 with a 1.43 ERA and 35 saves plus 126 Ks in just 69 innings. But like a lot of other guys with the ball in their hands, he shit the bed when it counted most. Kimbrel had a 4.50 ERA in the playoffs this year, more than triple his regular season ERA. And for a guy who is completely lights out with 3 outs to go in the game, he craters when asked to get a couple of extra outs.
Kimbrel came into yesterday’s game in the 8th inning with a man on first and two outs. Just get the final out of the 8th and the Sox are still tied heading into the bottom of the frame. Kimbrel proceeds to go: Wild Pitch (advancing runner to second) Walk, and RBI Single to give the Astros a 1-run lead before getting the third out. He then hits a guy in the 9th before giving up an RBI Double to put the Sox in a 2-run hole before getting yanked for Closer B Addison Russell. Can’t have that from a guy that everyone praises all year long for his dominance.
If we can get Playoff Hanley Ramirez and not store brand Manny Ramirez, then the Red Sox are golden. But as we all know, Hanley is off more often than he is on, which is a problem. Maybe he had a “Come to Jesus” moment in the ALDS this year. Maybe Big Papi got in his ear. I don’t know, but if he can actually give a shit for an entire season then the Sox are cooking with gas. But, it would be fool’s gold to bank on that for 2018.
Xander Bogaerts needs to start drinking his protein shakes or something after struggling badly down the stretch for the second consecutive season and then hitting .059 in the playoffs this year. Before the All-Star break this year X hit .303 and after the All-Star break X hit .235. Last year his splits were .329/.253. Granted two years ago he actually hit 30 points higher in the second half, but Xander needs to figure out how to stay fresh or he could quickly find himself on the way out of town.
2018 Silver Linings
Despite some hit or miss defense, Rafael Devers looks like the real fucking deal. Devers was called up on July 24th and was the youngest player in the league at 20 years old. Ya know, after a whole NINE GAMES in Triple-A. All he did was proceed to hit .284 with 10 HR’s and 30 RBIs. Then he became the youngest player in Red Sox history to hit a postseason HR and then he hit another one; and inside the park job in the 9th inning of Game 4 as he nearly kept the Red Sox alive singlehandedly. Unreal. After the disaster that was Pablo Sandoval and trading away Travis Shaw, who hit 30 dingers himself this season, it seems like the Sox have found another young budding star. Thank god Dombrowski didn’t trade him too.
Not a ton else to look forward to as I don’t see a team thats already pressed up against the Luxury Tax making too many additions. Barring a huge trade, this will be the same squad trotting out there in 2018. So maybe another year of playoff experience, a new manager, and maybe a new bench player acting as the glue guy (i.e. Kevin Millar, David Ross, Jonny Gomes) gets this team over the hump next year. Thats it.
To go along with Players Weekend and the nicknames jerseys, MLB is also rolling out some new wacky hats to match. This is some straight up acid trip apparel that I am unfamiliar with. Are the managers going to be required to wear Kramer’s technicolor dreamcoat?
But seriously, these are some wacky color combos. I’m 100% a jaded man and see this is a blatant marketing cash grab, disguised as a fun, quirky gimmick to show how fun baseball is. Now unsurprisingly you’ve got your usual suspects of teams that did the bare minimum like the Yankees, the Giants, and the Angels.
The Giants and the Angels basically just rolled out their normal hats. Good job, good effort guys.
Then you’ve got teams who said, “Acid? Why not make it 2 tabs, lets fucking go!”
Now theres actually a few pretty sharp hats in here too that take advantage of the wild color schemes and use it to create something fun and eye catching:
This is a choice hat by the Rockies going with their secondary logo, that is a great goddamn hat.
Doesn’t matter if you’re the worst team in baseball if you look slick in a new cap and the Liberty Bell logo here does that as both bold yet minimalist.
Really solid hat here for Minnesota, combining the state outline with the Twin Cities logo.
Unfortunately the Red Sox were not one of those teams, which hurts to say coming from a HUGE hat guy like myself. The Sox Players Weekend hat is a decidedly mediocre “meh.”
The other contenders for “hats I would potentially buy.”
You can never go wrong with a sexy throwback A’s hat. Pair this with a bushy mustache and a YUCK t-shirt to go full Dennis Eckersley and David Price legitimately may fight you on Yawkey Way.
Pirates usually have some pretty solid caps as I am the proud owner of the throwback striped pillbox hat.
This is a solid effort from the Pirates for Players Weekend, probably could’ve used a black brim though to even things out a bit.
Despite the fact I just deducted points from Pittsburgh for going too yellow, the Rays embrace it with the still ridiculous sunburst logo to make an exceptionally loud hat.
Now THAT is how you break down the apparel of professional sports teams. Your move, Uni Watch.
ESPN Uni Watch – If you’ve ever looked at the rainbow uni and wondered who dreamed it up, the answer is the advertising firm McCann Erickson, which was hired by the Astros to redesign the team’s look for the 1975 season.
It would be fascinating to see the company’s original files and to know the identities of the people who worked on the project, right? The good news in that regard is that McCann Erickson still exists (it’s now known simply as McCann). The bad news is that a company spokesman said the firm no longer has any original sketches or other archival paperwork. The Astros haven’t saved any original documents, either. Sigh.
I can imagine the Don Draper pitch to the Houston Astros…
In your first 13 seasons you’ve never reached the playoffs, never won more than 84 games in a season, and never finished higher than third place. Now, you’re not even the only game in town. You’ve got to deal with the Texas Rangers in Arlington siphoning fans away from you. It’s time to change the conversation.
The Astros play in the state-of-the-art Astrodome. The Eighth Wonder of the World. Isn’t it time for the Astros to wear uniforms as ground breaking as their stadium? I give you the uniform of the future.
Baseball has never seen anything like this, and neither have your fans. People will flock to the Astrodome just to get a glimpse of these uniforms. They will get people talking. They will get people to forget whether or not you’re in the pennant race. And most importantly, these uniforms will get people to forget about your rivals in North Texas.
They said the Yankees never used to lose because the other teams were too busy staring at the pinstripes. Imagine playing the Astros, and staring at these.
BUY BUY BUY!
This uniform is audacious even by today’s standards. I’d love to have seen the reaction of the Old Time Baseball Guys when they got this pitch from McCann Erickson in 1975. But it has aged quite well and is almost universally revered to this day. It has to be the most popular throwback out there. Some looks are dated and stale, but this look is still fresh.
The Astros took a step in the right direction the last time they updated their uniforms in 2013. Hopefully the next time they make a change it’s a little bit further in this direction.
ESPN Uni Watch
The 300s 