Monthly Report Card: April

Record: 17-12
AL East: Up 1 gm
Longest win streak: 6 games
Longest losing streak: 5 games
Largest win: 11-3 (Tex, 4/18)
Largest loss: 10-2 (Tor, 4/5)
Home rec: 11-4
Road rec: 6-8

Sox stats for the month of April:
(AL rank in parenthesis)
BATTING:
Runs: 136 (3)
Hits: 278 (1)
Walks: 104 (6)
Avg: .282 (1)
HRs: 24 (t5)

PITCHING:
ERA: 4.32 (10)
Ks: 207 (1)
Walks: 121 (3)
Runs: 130 (4)
Saves: 14 (t2)

The first month of the season is over, so it's time to introduce my new, ground-breaking feature here on CBS, my monthly report card/status report for the team.

The first month of the season was full of a lot of ups and downs, too much travel, too many injuries and plenty of memorable moments. But at least the team has weathered the storm of going halfway around the world, losing a top pitcher and hitter to the DL, and spending 19 straight days away from home.

Hoeppfully the second month will be even better.

BTW, no plusses and minuese here, just straight letters, homie.

HITTERS:

A -Manny Ramirez .343/6HR/20BI/
18R/36H/.410OBP/.619SLG
As I predicted in my 2008 MLB Preview post on my other blog, Ramirez was destined to have a big year this season. Why? Because he's got a $20 million team option riding on it. Sure enough Manny came into camp early, in shape, and ready to mash. He's ranked in the Top 10 in the league in all of the above categories, including 3rd in avg & homers and 2nd in hits & slugging. MVP material.

A - Dustin Pedroia .303/14R/36H/11-2B/13RBI/50TB (29 gms)
The Little Big Man has disproved the notion of the sophomore slump by juming out to a scorsching start, both at the plate and in the field. His diving stop of a Vernon Wells grounder the other night, a play in which he says his shoulder came out of its socket, epitomizes what the scrapper brings to this team - heart, desire and hustle. He's tied with Manny for 2nd in the AL in hits, and he's 10th in total bases.

A - Kevin Youkilis .304/16R/31H/15RBI/7-2B/2-3B/2HR/48TB (27 gms)
Although he has tailed off lately, Youk is still one of the most clutch hitters on the team and in the league, and his defense at both 3rd and 1st base is consistently Gold Glove-caliber. Set the ML mark for consecutive errorless games at first (194) earlier this month and had the game-winning hit off Roy Halladay Tuesday night. That's a true 2-way threat.

A - Coco Crisp .293/6R/5-2B/5BI/4SB (19 gms)
Not exactly eye-popping stats, but considering he was relegated to second banana status by the emergence of Jacoby Ellsbury, making him the subject of trade speculation all spring, his numbers and play in center have been a pleasant surprise. Recently missed 8 games with a hammy problem, but has started 5 of last 6 with Ellsbury suffering a groin strain.

A - Sean Casey .346/6R/6-2B/8RBI/.424OBP (17 gms)
The Mayor has turned out to be the key off season acquisiton for the Sox. He's provided excellent defense at first base and timely hits after Lowell went down with his thumb injury and Youk moved to third. Although he just went on the DL with a strained hip, it was more a roster-related move and he should be fine when he gets back.

B - Jason Varitek .243/6R/5-2B/3HR/7BI (23 gms)
The Captain hasn't been great at the plate, but the hits he's had have been big ones. He missed a week recently with the damn flu bug that bit the team, but he still has two game-winning hits this month, including last night's against Toronto. As ususal, his prescense behind the plate is immeasureable.

B - Jacoby Ellsbury .280/20R/3HR/11RBI/ 13BB/8SB/.396OBP (25 gms)
He didn't get off to the sparkling start at the plate the Nation thought he would, but a recent 9-game hit streak (14-38) raised his average from .229 to .296. Still, he was getting on base at a steady clip before being sidelined with this groin problem, putting him 3rd in the AL in runs and steals and 13th in OBP.

B - Kevin Cash .323/3-2B/3BI/.371OBP (11 gms)
Another valuable off season addition, Cash has proved to be a more than adequate replacement for Mirabelli as Wake's personal caddy. Had three hits Friday against the Rays, started 6 straight games while Tek was out, and has only 4 passed balls all year, or one more than Josh Bard in his first game catching Wake in 2006

B - Jed Lowrie .323/4R/3-2B/5BI/3BB/.371OBP (13 gms)
It's a bit too early to judge this kid, but so far the reults have been good. Like Ellsbury and Brandon Moss before him, Lowrie has made a smooth transition from the PawSox to the big club, playing solid D (0 errors at 3 positions) and providing a few big hits along the way.

B - David Ortiz .184/17R/2-2B/5HR/21RBI/15BB
Tough to grade Big Papi because he's been hurt and not hitting like he normally would. But you gotta give a guy who's playing with a bum knee props for being 5th in the league in RBI and tied for 3rd in homers despite all the injuries and low average. We know he'll come around, but at least he's still productive.

C - JD Drew .269/18R/2-2B/3HR/13RBI/14BB/.376OBP (23 gms)
He started out scorsching hot, batting .362 with 3 homers and 12 RBI through April 17th, but then the slumping started, along with the nagging injuries, and suddenly he's in a 4-31 skid (.129) and has just 1 RBI in the last 10 games. Currently sidelined with a bad quad, which also caused him to miss the first 3 games of the season.

C - Julio Lugo .281/7R/3-2B/7RBI/3SB/6E (27 gms)
His defense had been D-worthy (he leads the majors in errors), but his offense has been decent enough to raise his grade to a C. Had a 4-hit game earlier this month, but makes viewers cringe every time he fields a routine ground ball, plus he's only 3-5 in steals after getting caught just 6 times all last year

I- Mike Lowell, Joe Thurston, Brandon Moss, Alex Cora
None of these guys can get a fair grade because they've all played in only a handful of games: Lowell just came back after missing 18 games with a sprained thumb, but he hasn't hit a lick when he's been in there; Cora has only played in 3 games and is on the DL with an elbow injury; Thurston was mainly a pinch runner in his 4 games, played nice defense when he got a start for manny, but was 0-8 before being sent back down; and Moss provided a memorable hit in the opener in Japan, then was sent to Pawtucket before being recalled last week to replace Mayor Casey.

PITCHING:
Starters

A - Daisuke Matsuzaka 4-0/2.52ERA/20H/ 10ER/19BB/32K/1.09WHIP
Dice-K has been shaky at times in his 2nd season in the majors, but the numbers speak for themselves. He's in the Top 10 in the league in all the above categories, including 2nd in wins and 4th in strikeouts, and you get the feeling every time he takes the mound he's gonna give the team a chance to win.

B - Clay Buchholz 1-2/4.08ERA/26H/13ER/ 10BB/27K/1.26WHIP
In his five starts this season he has allowed 2 earned runs or less in three of them. he was shelled once (7ER in 3.2IP on the 16th against NY), but last time out he gave up just 2 hits in 8 innings while fanning 9 vs. the Rays. Showing signs of being a solid member of the rotation.

B - Tim Wakefield 2-0/4.06ERA/29H/14ER /17BB/19K/1.48WHIP
Wake has pitched pretty well in his five starts, allowing 3 ER or less four times, but the multitude of bases on balls have caused him to get into more jams than necessary. Still, the longest tenured Sox and one of the oldest players in the league is still productive at this stage of his career, so he's got that going for him.

B - Josh Beckett 2-2/4.10ERA/18H/12ER/7BB/29K/0.95 WHIP
The numbers are deceiving because the bullpen inflated his stats in two of his starts. He's 7th in the AL in strikeouts and his WHIP is outstanding. Still, injury and illness has limited his effectiveness, and the Nation expects more of the guy who dominated the league last year.

C - Jon Lester 1-2/4.31/38H/19ER/23BB/22K/1.54WHIP
The good news with the lefty is no one talks about him being a cancer survivor anymore. The bad news is now we can focus on what a mediocre pitcher he has become. He has pitched a couple of gems this year, especially his 1-hit, 0 run outing against the Jays on Tuesday, but we need more games like that from a guy who's being counted on to be the future of the staff.

Bullpen

A - Jonathan Papelbon 2-0/2.08ERA/8SV/ 10H/3ER/1BB/20K/0.85WHIP
Not as unhittable as past seasons, but his next best stuff is better than most top shelf closers. Has picked up wins in each of the last two games, and watching him strike out batters, save games and pump his fist when the game is over is one of the most enjoyable experiences in the Nation.

A - Hideki Okajima 1-0/0.87ERA/1SV/3Holds/ 7H/1ER/4BB/11K/1.06 WHIP
He's been nearly unhittable again this season, but Oki has allowed a couple of big hits in situation where we've expected him to get outs (last night's double by Greg Zaun quickly comes to mind.) Still, he's the best the setup man in the pen by far, and he doesn't make you nervous when he comes in the game, unlike the majority of the rest of them.

B - David Aardsma 1-1/3.29ERA/1Hold/ 10H/5ER/11BB/13K/1.54WHIP
Although he's faltered a bit lately (3 ER in his last 2.2IP), the righty has been a pleasant surprise for the team since dealing for him in the offseason.

C - Javier Lopez 1-0/4.50ERA/2Holds/ 10H/5ER/6BB/7K/1.60WHIP
The sidearming lefty has had an up & down season, and he can't get righties out for nothing (.333BAA), which sucks for a lefty, but he's had his decent stretches and overall has done an adequate job

C - Julian Tavarez 0-1/5.23ERA/13H/ 6ER/7BB/5K/1.94WHIP
Julie has actually been a pleasant surprise this season, not because he's pitched terrifically but mainly because he hasn't been awful. Followed up an exceelelnt outing vs. Cleveland (2.2IP, 2H, 0BB, 4K) with a dreadful one agsint the Stanks (3H, 3ER in 1.1IP), but aall in all he's performed pretty much as expected.

D - Manny Delcarmen 0-1/6.17ERA/2Holds/ 13H/8ER/4BB/11K/1.46WHIP
I think Tito summed up the Nation's frustration with the "closer in waiting" when he yanked him last night after one batter, a move that apapreantly irked Delcarmen so much he tossed a container onto the field from the dugout. Hey Manny, if you didn't allow a baserunner almost every time you took the mound, especially in key situations, Francona wouldn't have the early hook waiting for you.

D - Mike Timlin 2-2/13.50ERA/ 14H/9ER/3BB/2K/2.83WHIP
Look, I love what this warrior has done for the club over the years, but let's face it, at this stage his arm is attached to his body with Monkey glue, pine tar and stickum, and he's one blown game and blown shoulder away from the cow pasture.

I - Justin Masterson, David Pauley, Kyle Snyder, Bryan Corey, Craig Hansen
Not enough to go on for these guys: Masterson looked awesome (2H, 1ER in 6IP) in his lone start; Pauley (7H, 5ER, 4.1IP) not so much; Corey has been up and down more than Amy Winehouse; and Snyder was sent packing after 2 horrid outings to begin the season

I think that's about everything. If I left anything out let me know, and if you disagree with any of the grades, feel free to comment about it.

Go Sox!

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Monthly Recap: May

With the off day, the end of another month, and the start of another Sox/Stanks series set to get underway tonight at Fenway, I realized now would be a great time to give a State of the Sox update.

Olus it's raining here in FLA for the first time in nearly a month, so...

Record for May: 20-8 (36-16)
Lead in AL East: +6 1/2 (+10)
Series record: 7-1-1, 2 sweeps (13-3-2, 5)
AVG: .277 (3rd)
ERA: 3.71 (2nd)
HRs: 56 (6th)
RUNS: 280 (3rd)
WALKS: 222 (1st)

Batters Box: *season tots. in ()

• Kevin Youkilis (.354/8/30/.427OBP)-- batted .402 (45-112) with 13 doubles, 6 homers and 22 RBIs in 26 games and has had at least one hit in every game since May 10th; is currently 3rd in AL in batting, and oh, there was that little inside-the-park thingy
• David Ortiz (.315/9/38)-- Papi hit a productive .333 in may but his power numbers were WAY down- just 2 homers and 16 RBIs- although he did smack 12 doubles; currently 10th in AL in ribbies; hammy woes, or something more?
• Mike Lowell (.330/10/41)-- he and Youk formed the 1-2 power punch in May as Lowell hit a scalding .343 with 6 homers and 21 ribbs; his 11 RBIs in last 12 games vaulted him to 7th in the league
• Dustin Pedroia (.308/17R/11BI)-- Boston's hottest hitter in the month, Dusty batted a Williams-esque .415 to raise his avg. 136 points; ended the month on a 10-game hitting streak (15-33, .455) and belted 6 doubles with a .472 OBP and .600 SLG% in May-whew!
• Manny Ramirez (.269/8/31)-- ManRam came on late in May (he started the month batting .2o2) and ripped the ball in 8 of the last 9 games: 13-34, 5 doubles, triple, 2 homers & 6 ribbies; hit .327 with 5 homers and 18 RBIs for month
• Jason Varitek (.277/5/26)-- the Captain came on strong late in May, batting .296 in the last 10 games with 1 double, 2 triples, 2 homers and 10 RBIs; finished May batting .311 with 3 homers and 17 ribbies
• J.D. Drew (.226/2/17)-- Drew batted an anemic .171 (13-76) for the month with no homers & 9 RBIs, dropping his avg. 107 pts; adding injury to insult, he busted his back on the Fenway bullpen wall & had a ball hit off his face -ouch, babe! (10th in AL in walks)
• Coco Crisp (.229/27R/15BB/10SB)-- although his avg. barely strayed from where he ended April (.235), Coco contributed in may ways this month, namely with terrific defense in center, four bunt hits, 12 walks and 7 thefts; only hit .224, though
• Julio Lugo (.230/27R/30RBI/15SB)--Lugo is harder to figure out than a Rubik's cube. He hit .209 in May with a horrendous (esp. for a leadoff hitter) .241OBP, but mashed 21 ribbies and stole 7 bases, rising to 4th in AL; he's NOT a leadoff hitter
• Alex Cora (.316/9R/13RBI)-- after a sizzling April, Cora came back to Earth in May, but part of that was due to how hot Pedroia got. Alex played in only 17 games in May and just 2 of the last 8; still, he batted a very respectable .294 in limited duty
• Doug Mirabelli (.190/2/4)-- talk about freefallin'; Doug dropped 163 points in May with a putrid 2-25 showing in 7 games; he did catch back-to-back games for the first time, but his hot April (.353) turned into a morbid May
• Wily Mo Pena (.237/3/6)-- oh, Wily Mo, will we ever see what you can be, or is this all you got? Although he batted .300 in May (9-30), he had almost as many Ks (8) as hits and he played defense like Willie McGinest-brutally. Now fanned 23 times in 59 ABs-yikes!
• Eric Hinske (.173/1/5)--batted just .114 in 12 games, but his four hits included 2 doubles and a homer; okay, so he whiffed 11 times too, but it's tough to judge him because of limited PT

Pitcher's Box:

• Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-3, 4.83)-- started May 4-0, then shit the bed Wed. against CLE; still, tied-2nd in wins, he got 8 1/2 runs per game but allowed 44 hits and 23 ERs in 39.2 innings for an ERA of 5.22
• Curt Schilling (5-2, 3.68)-- Schill had a solid win against the Twins, his worst loss of the year against the Stanks, followed by his best outing (7IP, 6H, 1R, 0BB, 10Ks) on Mon. vs the Tribe for a 2-1/4.03 month
• Tim Wakefield (5-5, 3.36)-- went 3-2 with a 4.09 ERA in May after leading the league in ERA for a portion of April; had a couple of stinkers against NY & DET, but he shut down MIN & TOR to start month; 13th in ERA, 10th in wins
• Julian Tavarez (3-4, 5.40)-- Julie had a nice month in the 5-hole, posting a 2-2 record with a 3.99 ERA, bringing his mark down from 7.58; he'll probably head back to the pen if Lester debuts in June as expected
• Josh Beckett (8-0, 2.65)-- although he spent 15 days on the DL , he still went 3-0 with a 2.88 ERA. currently 1st in AL in wins, 2nd in WHIP (0.97), 2nd in Win% and 5th in ERA; fingers crossed that avulsion stays away in June
• Jon Papelbon (13SV, 1.86)-- faltered a bit in May (5-6 in saves, 3.60 ERA), but when you're near-perfect in April (8-8, 0.00), there's nowhere to go but down; has all'd only 12 hits & 4 runs with 28 Ks in 19IP, and he is ranked 5th in the AL in saves
• Hideki Okajima (4SV, 10H, 1.08)-- like Paps he had a little bit of a tough May-he actually allowed a run, breaking a 20.2IP scoreless streak-but his numbers, versatility, and devastating Oki-Doke make him the staff's surprise star; 10th in AL in holds
• Kyle Snyder (1-0, 1.53)-- who would thunk the former KC castoff would become the pen's most valuable middle reliever? Dropped his ERA from 2.84 in April, and lefties are batting a microscopic .038 against him-awesome
• Brendan Donnelly (2-1, 3.71)-- he and Romero are the Forrest Gumps of the pen; ERA ballooned from 0.00 in April and batters hitting .344 off him @ Fenway, but he does have 2 wins & 7 holds...
• Javier Lopez (1-0, 3.38)-- had a rough outing against ATL on the 19th (3ER in 1IP) that jumped his ERA from 0.00 to 3.68, but he has become a one-batter specialist, especially against lefties, who are hitting .182 against him; also has 7 holds
• J.C. Romero (1-0, 1SV. 3.86)-- see Donnelly; all'd 3 ERs in last 2 apps. shooting his ERA from 2.35 to 3.86; has given up 13 walks against just 9 Ks in 16.1IP-not good.
• Joel Pineiro (1-0, 5.14)-- has come on strong recently (1ER in last 4.2IP) to lower his ERA 92 pts; still, lefties batting an eye-popping .368 off him and he gets hammered at Fenway (.395)

Others: Mike Timlin made one app before going on the DL; Kason Gabbard (5IP, 6H, 2ER,BB, 7Ks, W) and Devern Hansack (4IP, 6H, 3ER, BB, 2Ks, 2HRs) both made starts in place of Beckett; and Manny Delcarmen (1IP, no stats) made a brief appearance with the big club

There you have it, a mixed May for many players that all totaled out to mean a 10-game lead over Baltimore for 2nd place in the AL East and a 13.5 bulge on the Stanks, who come to Fenway tonight.

Let's hope the Sox start June like they ended May-scorching hot and ready to drop-kick the Feeble Empire right out of the playoff picture for good.

Bring on the Stankees!

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Monthly Recap: April

April Record: 16-8
Overall Record: 16-8
HOME: 7-3 ROAD: 9-5 DIV: 9-4 (thanks, Stanks!)
Division Standings: Up by 3.5 games on TOR, 5 on BAL, 5.5 on TB, 6.5 on NYY

Dice-K's Fenway debut was one of the many big moments in the month of April for Boston

TEAM STATS:
BATTING-
RUNS: 125 (5th in AL)
AVG: .262 (7th)
HRs: 27 (t4th)
2B: 40 (8th)
3B: 5 (2nd)
SLG%: .426 (3rd)
OBP%: .353 (1st)
BB: 111 (1st)
K: 142 (11th)
SB: 12 (9th)
E: 21 (2nd)

PITCHING-
IP: 211 (10th)
HITS: 183 (12th)
HRs: 18 (12th)
RUNS: 84 (14th)
ERs: 77 (14th)
BBs: 69 (12th)
Ks: 169 (5th)
SVs: 9 (12nd)
ERA: 3.28 (t2nd)

The first month of the 2007 baseball season is in the books, and what a month it was for Boston.

Besides owning the best record (percentage-wise) in baseball and a 3 1/2 game division lead, there were quite a few interesting things that happened with our beloved team in the opening month:

• Daisuke Matsuzaka made his MLB debut, as did fellow Japanese import Hideki Okijima, who may be outshining his countryman on the field right now


• Boston won 5-of-6 from the arch rival Stanks, and pushed them to the bottom of the AL East in the process


• J.D. Drew quieted the off-season boo birds who questioned his talent & durability by getting off to a blistering start before cooling off recently


• Jonathan Papelbon's decision to go back to the pen proved to be a godsend; the flamethrowing righty has allowed only 2 hits and no runs, going a perfect 9-9 in save opps.


• The offense got off to a slow start (April showers), but heated up late to average 5.2 runs/game while the pitching staff is giving up just 3.5/game


• Who knew that sure-handed Gold Glover Mike Lowell would lead the majors in errors with 8, raise your hands?


• Who didn't know that Big Papi would be leading the team in homers? Anyone, anyone, Bueller?

Yes it was some kind of month for the boys from Beantown, with everything going better than we could have hoped for (keep fingers & toes crossed.)

The lineup is looking like a formidable machine, because as soon as Manny heats up (which you know he will) and Cora takes Pedroia's spot (ditto) they could have one of the best top-to-bottom lineups in the game. Here's a link to what they've done so far, so I don't have to type all that shit out.

You've got a great mix of guys with speed (Lugo, Cora) and power (Manny, Papi, Lowell), who can hit for average (Drew, Youk) and can do the little things needed to win (Cora, Coco). Then you've got the Captain, who can always come through with a clutch hit, no matter what he's batting, and a solid bench with Hinske, Willy Mo, Mirabelli and (eventually) Pedroia.

The hitters may be holding their own but the pitching staff has been the big surprise thus far. Sure everyone knew that if the four horses lived up to their potential this could be a special starting rotation, but nobody expected Josh Beckett to be a ML-best 5-0, ageless knuckleballer Tim Wakefield to briefly lead the AL in ERA and the starters to have 14 of the team's 16 wins overall.

The fact that the rotation has been so good has allowed the bullpen to be that much better. Okijima, who was ostensibly brought to the team just to give Dice-K a familiar companion, has emerged to be one of the best setup men in the league, and that Jonathan Papelbon has recovered from his shoulder ailment to return to the untouchable Paps of last year. While the rest of the lot has been basically untested, with that kind of solid foundation you can afford a few cracks.

Put the starters and relievers together and what you've got is a top-notch staff, the kind that wins divisions and forces imposing matchups in October. Add a potent, versatile lineup and what you've got is a championship-caliber team.

So the first month is history and now they head into May facing a tough schedule (more games against NY, Toronto and B-More, plus dates with Atlanta, Minny and the 1st place Indians) and carrying a ginourmous bulls eye on their backs.

The Sox are sitting pretty in first place, back to being the hunted, while the Stanks languish in last, tripping all over themselves just to climb past the Rays.

And all seems right with the world.

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