Tag: Masahiro Tanaka

The 300s Red Sox Yankees ALDS Preview

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It’s been FOURTEEN YEARS since these teams faced off in the postseason when the Red Sox broke a curse and kicked off an entire generation of young massholes coming up in the world (not to mention completing the greatest comeback in the history of sports). It seems like these two teams used to go at it in the playoffs all the time back in the day, but in reality they’ve only ever faced off four times. That just goes to show you how sports will never be more important to your every day life than when you’re 15.

I wrote the other day about how despite winning a franchise record 108 games, most Red Sox fans don’t seem exactly brimming with confidence. The Yankees, also having won 100 games, have come to town though so it’s time to play for keeps. Lets break down some key things to watch for before making our pick.

  • Game 1
    • Friday, Oct. 5th – 7:32 pm (Fenway)
      • Chris Sale vs J.A. Happ
  • Game 2
    • Saturday, Oct. 6th – 8:15 pm (Fenway)
      • David Price vs Masahiro Tanaka
  • Game 3
    • Monday, Oct. 8th – TBD (Yankee Stadium)
      • ??? vs Rick Porcello
  • Game 4
    • Tuesday, Oct. 9th – TBD (Yankee Stadium) *if necessary
  • Game 5
    • Thursday, Oct. 11th – TBD (Fenway) *if necessary

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  • He’s not even on the team, but Trot Nixon is throwing out the first pitch for Game 1 so I’m listing that as a strength. Don’t even argue with me on that one.
  • Red Sox Offense – Boston led all of baseball with 876 runs this year (NY was second with 851) and have 2 guys in JD Martinez and Mookie Betts who are a coin flip to win AL MVP. Aside from those two they have a pretty, pretty, pretty good lineup:
    • Andrew Benintendi .290/16/87
    • Xander Bogaerts .288/23/103
    • Rafael Devers .240/21/66
    • Eduardo Nunez .265/10/44
    • Brock Holt .277/7/46
    • Mitch Moreland .245/15/68
  • Not to mention we have newly crowned Yankee killer Steve Pearce waiting to pounce. He hits J.A. Happ extremely well (.344 average, 1.419 OPS, six homers and 16 RBIs in 32 career at-bats) so don’t be surprised to see him in the starting lineup tonight.
  • Chris Sale (if healthy)
    • It’s impossible to know what to expect from Chris Sale tonight. I went into my concerns about Sale the other day and I still don’t feel great about it.
      I’ll be honest though, the No. 1 reason I’m less than confident heading into Friday night is 100% Chris Sale’s health. The guy is just not right. According to Felger and Mazz yesterday, his average fastball velocity went down every single start over his last four starts. That is BAD. He was throwing off of flat ground earlier this week, just days before he’s supposed to take the ball in Game 1. Thats something a rehabbing pitcher does, not a guy who is ready to open the ALDS. Maybe he comes out and he’s totally fine, but I’m not counting on it. Even if he does, I’d be concerned about how he bounces back. Remember when he came off the DL and struck out 12 Orioles and was hitting 99 on the gun? Yea well that was on August 12th and he’s thrown a grand total of 12 innings since then.
  • Craig Kimbrel had a down year when compared to his stellar standard, but this guy coming out of the pen throwing absolute gas is about as good of a weapon you can have. Now if the Sox can somehow bridge the gap to him…
  • Red Sox Bullpen: It’s terrible. Despite the advanced analytics saying the Sox bullpen actually has a great WAR, if you’ve watched even one game this season you know it’s anxiety inducing. Hell, it’s been this way all the way since Game 1.
  • So help me god if Alex Cora throws Steven Wright out there in a late situation only to give up a bomb on a knuckleball while Boone sits in the dugout and smirks.
  • Red Sox Starters 2-5: Consistency is the problem here. Rick Porcello won the Cy Young in 2016 for christ’s sake, but I’m not super confident in him. He did throw a complete game shutout against the Yankees in about 90 minutes earlier this season though.
  • Even Tim Kurkjian doesn’t know what to think. I feeeel like they’ll be good, but they’ve also ALL been bad in the playoffs their entire careers….

“The gut feeling here is, despite lots of evidence to the contrary, he is going to be great this October. He will have to be if the Red Sox are to win this series. [Chris Sale] David Price and Rick Porcello also need to be good. Together, those three are 0-11 with a 6.18 ERA in 14 postseason starts.”

  • David Price’s Psyche: He’s gotta break through in the playoffs at some point right? Right??
  • Yankees Home Run Power: These guys can hit the shit out of the ball and half their lineup can hit it to the moon. The Yankees set the single season home run record this year with 267 home runs, which I feel like is somehow getting overlooked here. Stanton led the Yanks with 38 dingers, but Miguel Andujar, Didi Gregorius, Aaron Hicks, and Aaron Judge each hit 27. Oh and Gleyber Torres chipped in with 24 of his own. Yikes.
  • I think more than anything I just want to beat Aaron Boone’s brains in. It’s bad enough what he did to me and my family back in 2003, but for him to saunter out of the ESPN broadcast booth down into the dugout and think he’s just going to manage the Yankees past the Red Sox? Straight up disrespectful.

  • I would rather listen to Michael McDonald for 8 hours a day then hear that obnoxious, awful, victory chant from John Sterling one more time. THAaAaAaAaAaAa YANKEES WIN is the most obnoxious shit in all of sports and is literally the exact opposite of what they teach you in journalism school. So yea, listen to your teachers and stay in school kids.

Official Prediction

Red Sox in 5

I think the best home field advantage in baseball comes into play as the Red Sox are dominant at home (57-24 at Fenway this year) and the Yankees are 1-6 in their last 7 playoff road games. The Sox bullpen will struggle to keep these games in check, but I think some combo of Sale/Kimbrel/Eovaldi/E-Rod get it done with some help from Price. We know this team can hit, it’s just going to be a matter of keeping the Yanks in check and I think the Sox do it by the skin of their teeth as New York pushes them to the brink.

Red Sox vs Yankees IV: Pomeranz Battles a Broken Fingernail but Giancarlo Goes Yard Twice in a Yanks Win

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Giancarlo smoked two solo dingers to lead the Yankees to a 3-2 win over the Red Sox and Drew Pomeranz avoided a nail filing disaster to finish with a solid stat line: 6 IP, 2 Runs, 6 Strikeouts. As predicted, Luis Severino was not going to implode against the Sox twice in a row though as he went 6 IP while surrendering 2 Runs and striking out 11.

I gotta give props to Pomeranz though, I was legitimately typing the tweet getting ready to blast him for bailing on a start in the 2nd inning 2 hours after David Price got scratched. But after calling over the trainers and doing a little nail filing maintenance he was able to get back out there and pitch well. Trying to throw junk with a broken fingernail cannot be fun.

Down 2-1 the new best player on the planet Mookie Betts dragged the Sox back into a tie with a triple in the 7th to knock in a run, but that lead wasn’t meant to be.

Despite the two mistakes served up by Pomeranz to Giancarlo:

This game was more on the bullpen than anything else as Alex Cora figured the first guy out of the pen after an off day should be Heath Hembree! He got the first guy out but then gave up a double and then walked Gleyber Torres. After a mound visit Hembree immediately is called for a balk so now theres runners on 2nd and 3rd. He then proceeds to walk Brett Gardner before getting yanked for Joe Kelly, who gave up a single to put the Yanks on top for good.

Wednesday night’s projected starter *was* David Price but he was sent back to Boston yesterday because the numbness in his fingers returned so I’m in full blown panic mode.

We’ll have more on that later this morning.

So instead tonight we get Frederick Alfred Porcello (5-0) 2.14 vs  Masahiro Tanaka (4-2) 4.39 and Porcello has been on a roll to start the year so I’m picking the Sox to right the ship and regain their lead in the AL East.

Red Sox vs Yankees II: THE RIVALRY IS OFFICIALLY BACK

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It took yearrs, but the Red Sox Yankees rivalry is officially back after last night. That game had everything. A ton of hits, a few four baggers, wild momentum swings, oh and Joe Kelly inciting a legitimate benches clearing brawl after nailing that dickhead Tyler Austin. The benches cleared once earlier in the game after Austin spiked Brock Holt on a takeout slide at second. That was really more guys arguing than anything else.

But, Joe Kelly don’t play that shit. After nearly hitting Austin in the top of the 7th, Kelly went right back to it and nailed him two pitches later. Austin smashed his bat in his rage and after taking a few steps towards Kelly he charged the mound. But Kelly, this man goes into the GIF Hall of Fame with an all-time reaction.

Before we move on, I have to just touch on this guy Tyler Austin. A motherfucking star was born last night. Just look at this guy.

Incredibly hatable. This guy is destined to be the next great dickhead Yankee that we all love to hate. In the same roid rage filled vein as Jason Giambi and Gary Sheffield. The dude clearly and deliberately spikes Holt breaking up a double play and then flips out when Holt calls him out for it.

Then rather than taking his medicine like a man after getting beaned, he smashes his bat and charges the mound before getting body bagged by Joe Kelly. This kid may only be a career .239 hitter, but if he can stay in the lineup I will take great joy in booing him all year long.

Back to the actual game!

I gotta give the Sox credit for not only physically assaulting the Yankees, but for fighting back from an early 8-1 hole to make a game out of it.

Andddd David Price might be hurt. He got hammered for 4 runs in the first inning, getting slapped around like he was Fredo going against the family. After getting out of the inning he immediately walked down the tunnel and the Sox trainers raced after him. Still no idea what actually happened, but he left the game apparently after experiencing “sensation in his left hand.”

So what was supposed to be another pitching duel was yet again derailed in Game 2 of this series. After Price left the game the Sox trotted out basically everyone in the pen: Bobby Poyner, Heath Hembree, Matt Barnes, Joe Kelly (my man), Brian Johnson, and Carson Smith.

(This is what I wrote during the game BEFORE Kelly beaned Austin): For the first time in what seems like years there appears to be some genuine dislike between these two teams and that is awesome to see. It was bound to happen as both teams have been up and down, but now both are starting to get really good at the same time with a core of young players that came up in each team’s farm system. This is what this rivalry needs. Both teams being good helps, but both teams legitimately disliking each other is what will ultimately light the fuse.

After the Austin/Holt slide you could tell Pedroia was just itching to get out there and scrap it up as cameras caught him giving an absolute death stare to the entire Yankees bench since ya know his knee is still fucked after being on the receiving end of a very similar play last year.

El Gary was beating the Sox brains in all night with 2 dingers including a 2-run HR in the first and another 2-run HR in the 4th to put the Sox in an 8-1 hole, but luckily for us Masahiro Tanaka imploded in the 5th giving up 5 runs.

How about JD Just Dingers Martinez breaking out in a big way too? 24 hours after missing his first grand slam as a member of the Sox by the length of a hotdog, he crushed one to center field to claim what was rightfully his.

The Sox then proceeded to throw the ball around like a bunch of assholes though. Vazquez chucked a ball into CF on a steal attempt and then a pass ball that smoked the ump in the facemask trickled away, which gave the Yankees a free pass to third base twice. Those immediately came back to bite the Sox in the ass for 2 easy runs, and that 10-6 lead was ultimately what put the nail in their coffin.

I know its early, but if the first two games of this series are any indication this year of Red Sox vs Yankees is going to be a lot more fun than its been in a long time. And for that I am thankful.

Red Sox vs Yankees I: A Beatdown in Boston

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The first of 19 matchups between the Red Sox and the Yankees kicked off last night and it was a coming out party for the Boston offense. The Sox dropped two touchdowns on the Yanks in their first meeting. Thats 14 runs for those that don’t partake in American football. Going into the game it seemed like it would be a pitchers duel between two guys in Chris Sale and Luis Severino who had allowed 3 runs combined and a total of 29 K’s between the two to start the year. Chris Sale continued his excellent start to the year going 6 innings, giving up 1 run and striking out 8 while FINALLY getting his first win of the year. We all know its an arbitrary stat, but I’d love to see Sale get the 20+ wins he deserves, assuming the bullpen and the offense does their job this year.

Meanwhile Severino got curb stomped for 5 runs in 5 innings and that was before the Red Sox *really* broke it open later in the game. How the hell did Severino get hit so hard? Well the ESPN broadcast booth noticed that he might have actually been tipping his pitches, showing replays with his hands being closer to his belt or farther away depending on if he was throwing a fastball or an offspeed pitch. So while I would love to dance on Severino’s grave, I’m sure that’ll be the first thing the Yankees fix and he’ll be spinning zeroes next time he takes the mound.

Giancarlo Stanton continued his historic strikeout pace with another pair of Ks courtesy of Chris Sale. This guy looks lost out there. He looks like he’s trying to crush everything out of the park so he’s swinging out of his shoes. I’m no hitting coach, but even I noticed last night how he looks halfway out of the box before he’s even through his swing like he’s goddamn Ichiro.

I must admit this is immensely gratifying to watch as a Sox fan who was pretty bullshit the Yankees swooped in and stole another megastar home run masher in his prime when the Sox could have [and should have] had him (i.e. A-Rod).

To make it even more satisfying, our statistically similar, for a third of the price, power hitter JD Martinez broke out in a big way with a towering double that if it was hit literally 2 feet to the right would have been a grand slam. Either way it broke the game open as the Sox piled it on, including an actual grand slam later on from Mookie Betts, who was rewarded for his efforts with an awkward interview with his best friend!

Farrell has been decent in the booth, but I have to give him credit for not losing his shit on Steve Levy last night.

After getting crushed all day on the radio, specifically by Tony Mazz who went out of his way to say the guy sucked defensively, the Brock Star was flashing the leather rather impressively last night.

The Sox were firing on all cylinders though with 8 different players crossing the plate, Mookie went 4-for-4, JD had a huge double, Sale was lights out, Hanley was even stealing bases like it was 2006 for christ’s sake.

Red Sox vs Yankees II is tonight and this one might be the pitching duel we had hoped for last night as Masahiro Tanaka comes in with a 1-1 record to go along with a 2.92 ERA and 15 K’s. He’s taking on a seemingly rejuvenated David Price who has yet to allow a run this season to go along with his 10 K’s and he looks to have really built on the momentum from his dominant run as the most expensive relief pitcher in MLB history during the playoffs.

Japanese Super Prospect Shohei Ohtani is Leaving $200 Million On the Table by Coming to the MLB Early

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Yahoo – Baseball super agent Scott Boras is, in no uncertain terms, upset about the process that’s lead up to Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani’s arrival in Major League Baseball. Ohtani, after a posting agreement was finalized last week, is set to hit the open market Friday. The catch is: Since he’s an international free agent under 25, the market isn’t as open as it could be. MLB rules put a hard cap on how much teams can spend on international free agents under 25, so the most money Ohtani could possibly get is $3.5 million from the Texas Rangers. Some teams have as little as $10,000 to offer Ohtani. This isn’t about the money for Ohtani, who has long expressed his desire to play on baseball’s most competitive stage. To do so, he’s willing to leave upward of $200 million on the table. Were he over 25, Ohtani could be a true free agent and sign with any team for any amount. Since he’s a two-way star who can throw 100 mph and hit long home runs, getting upward of $200 million on the open market would be entirely plausible.

This guy is INSANE. He is leaving, literally, tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars on the table by coming to the MLB early. Because he is under 25 years old the international rules in place by MLB cap his earning potential $3.5 million. MAX. But if he had waited until he was 25 he could have entered the MLB as a true free agent and would have been free to go to the highest bidder.

Why the arbitrary age of 25?

“picking 25 years old as the cut-off means that a player like Ohtani will hit free agency around the same time as a player from the U.S. who went through the normal draft procedures.”

Just to put this into perspective, the most recent big name Japanese free agents coming MLB earned HUGE pay days. The Yankees signed Masahiro Tanaka for $155 Million. The Rangers signed Yu Darvish for $60 Million. The Red Sox even signed old friend Daisuke Matsuzaka for $51 Million and that was 10 years ago.

So this guy better hope he has the juice and actually performs well in the United States or he just sold low on a winning lottery ticket. Thats half the appeal with international players. You just never know how good (or bad) they’re gonna be. It’s impossible to project how their talent will translate to playing in the MLB. Thats how absolute bums like Rusney Castillo swindled $72 Million out of the Red Sox. Imagine if that guy had come over the US and played for peanuts in hopes of getting a big pay day later? That guy would be working at the Burger King off I-95 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island instead of earning $10+ Million a year to play 2 miles down the road for the PawSox.

Remember the last guy who wanted to pitch and hit in the major leagues? Red Sox super prospect Casey Kelly? Yea, turns out he couldn’t do either one well in the pros. Godspeed, Shohei.