The Red Sox will apparently look to upgrade their troublesome pitching staff with 33-year-old right hander Aaron Cook. Cook will be promoted and join the big-league club Wednesday, reports WEEI.com. Beckett has been scratched from his scheduled Saturday start against the Orioles and manager Bobby Valentine announced that Cook will join the team in time to make that start in place of Beckett.
Pssssh it's ok we signed Mark Prior today.... And I fully expect Cook to get lit up like the 4th of July in the AL East.
Sucks, quality starting pitching is so tough to find during the season. Hmm, wait a minute, they probably still have San Diego on speed dial..
Why? Hoyer, Mcleod and Theo are in Chicago now. Cherington would call them first. But hey if San Diego wants to trade us Casey Kelly back, I'd be more than happy to take him off their hands.
Heh, why not? I'm not being charitable when I say that, not sure if he still is allowing lots of baserunners again this year but suspect he is. As for why SD would make another trade with Boston, I'd think the SD scouting department has a good view of who is who in the Boston farm system from the AG trade.
All accounts from scouts is Kelly is a different pitcher this year. He changed positions on where he's setting up on the mound and he's getting much more movement on his pitches and he's throwing harder. Also 14 Ks and 0 walks in 12 innings pitched as a 22 year old in Triple A.
Because the MLB team sucks, here's a look at some of the prospects and how they're doing in the minors: Matt Barnes first start in High A Salem: 6 innings, 12 Ks, 1 BB, 4 hits, 1 run. Total stats so far this year: 32.2 innings, 54 Ks, 5 BB, 16 hits, 2 runs. Jackie Bradley, Jr. (currently in High A): Total between all 3 A ball teams: 36 games, 165 PA, 43 runs, 33 hits, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HRs, 19 RBI, 11 SB, 25 K, 26 BB, .333/.448/.488, .937 OPS Xander Bogaerts (High A) 26 games, 110 PA, 9 runs, 26 hits, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 3 HRs, 14 RBI, 2 SB, 18 K, 8 BB, .260/.327/.450, .777 OPS
Not to pile on Valentine because this team is bad anyway but I hate it when managers take out their best hitters for pinch runners. Not saying the Sox wouldn't have lost anyway but it sure would have been better to have Ortiz up 3 more times than Darnell McDonald. But yesterday's loss as the low point of the season, they just don't have the front line pitching to be a good team. They're not as bad as they have played but they're not a playoff team by any means.
They like NY are hit pretty hard with injuries however....as much as you dont think they are a great team right now, lets wait to these guys come back, and see...
Eh. Id have to agree with Finkle. The Sox have a very good lineup when healthy. But their pitching is just not good enough at this point.
I think the point is that the AL, while having several good teams in it, don't have a dominate team in it....every team has some pretty big flaws....
Nope to either. Sometimes it takes awhile for pitchers to finally develop or "get it". Don't forget he's only 22 years old (he's young for Triple A) and has only been a full time pitcher for a few years. When the Sox drafted him he was splitting time between SP and SS. Not everyone is good or great right away, it takes time to develop.
It won't matter when Crawford, Ellsbury, Youkilis and Bailey come back if Clay Buchholz is giving up 5+ runs a game or Beckett and Lester aren't pitching like they should. The best starters have actually been Daniel Bard and Felix Doubront (I haven't checked in a few days but he was leading the AL in K per 9 innings). Yup, it's just not. It sucks that we haven't had a healthy Crawford, Ellsbury and Youkilis all year or even Bailey because it changes the way Aceves is used but that doesn't change the fact they have gotten nothing out of Buchholz (yet he's 2-1 with an ERA of over 8 which just proves that pitcher's W/L records are meaningless/misleading) and Beckett and Lester have been up and down and their declining K rates scare me too, makes me wonder about the pitch calling from the catcher and the bench as the pitching staff is way too cutter happy for whatever reason. Who ever wins the AL East is going to be the team that's the healthest. I don't think there's really one dominate team in the MLB (I guess you can say Texas is the closest).
Youkilis might not be getting his job back. Middlebrooks keeps raking like he is, wouldn't suprise me if youkilis is on DL for a long long time.
Nor should he. It's way too early to write Youkilis off. Anyone remember when the Sox were planning Big Papi's funeral in 2009? I like Middlebrooks as much as any Sox fan but the kid still has things he needs to work on, such as patience at the plate.
Youk is an extremely good hitter. Not sure why anyone that knows anything about baseball would just write him off at such a young age
Well I can somewhat understand it, a little bit. He's 33 years old, isn't in great shape and has been hurt the last 2 years (and this year once already). He's looked pretty lost at the plate so far this year, granted extremely small sample size and it's natural for people wanting to see the younger guy take over. But yes it would be extremely silly to write him off on less than a month of games and only 5 or 6 games from Middlebrooks. People forget just how good Youkilis was, when healthy.
I can definiately understand it, watching Youk for the past 2 years he isnt the same guy..... That guy 3 years ago was a pain in the ***, that you dreaded seeing coming up to the plate, not so much anymore...his glove is still good but not AS good as it used to be....I dont know if it s the injuries, but at his age, you wonder if he could ever get that back again... It is a testament to him, who is a dirt-dog and plays the game the right way...but his style of play plus age, doesn't equal to good results... To me it all depends on the contract status, is he in a walk year? If so I would explore it...Middlebrooks has all the tools, and could man 3rd, he just needs time to develop into a marque player.....time better served in the MLB than in MILB....especially because he can hang up in the show....unlike a guy say like Igelias who is nothing more than a backup....
I am a Youk fan just stating that it looks like injuries might be finally catching up to him. middlebrooks does give them an option if he can keep playing like he is plus when is Youks contract up. Finkle you are right about big papi his turn around the last 3 years has been great.
Youkilis is a big overachiever. I don't think anyone in the Sox system thought he would ever turn into the player he was from 2006 to 2009. I think his decline is a combination of his body type, his age, and the injuries mounding up (thumb, hip and back) and I think the move to 3B really hurts his defense as he's nowhere near as good there as he was at 1st. I don't think he'll ever be the player he was in his peak years but I still think he can be an above average MLB player. As for his contract status, the Sox hold a $13 million option for next year so it all depends on how he performs between now and the end of the year. But I would be surprised if he's back with the team. The Sox want to cut their payroll, have an in-house replacement in Middlebrooks already and with the way Ortiz is swinging the bat he's probably their DH next year.
I have always liked Beckett and the trade for him (worst trade in history FinHeaven). Media eats up stuff like this and regardless of what really happened, its another black eye.