Random Thoughts

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends.  It was hot here in Iowa, 90’s for the past three days.  It’s storming now, but this weekend was nice enough to spend the majority of it outside.  I swam both Saturday and Sunday (and have a nice pinkish-brown tan to show for it), played some tennis, watched the Bruins lose Saturday, and celebrated a friend’s birthday yesterday.  I also got 4 hours of sleep last night due to various reasons.  Because of that, I thought I’d do a “Random Thoughts” post today.

• It’s a good thing the Red Sox have an off-day today.  They need to regroup and rest up.  The starting pitching was decent this past series to the Tigers, but you could tell the bullpen has been taxed lately.  Having a full-day’s rest for everyone is a good thing.

• It’s strange that I feel more comfortable with Lackey on the mound than with Lester.  Lackey has a 3.03 ERA for the season and seems to be getting better with each start, while Lester has a 4.57 ERA and seems to be getting worse each start.

• It would appear that Morales (pain in his left pectoral muscle) is heading for the disabled list.  Victorino (lower back injury) may be joining him.  This team needs to get healthy (again, the off-day today should help).  With Buchholz on the disabled list and Webster as his replacement, this team isn’t the same team who dominated over a month ago.

• The Red Sox are still in first place in the division and 2.0 games up of the Orioles.  However, the last place Jays are only 5.0 games out, and the Sox have a 4 game series with the Jays this weekend.

• I don’t usually vote for the All-Star Game; I haven’t voted for years.  The voting’s all done by popularity, not by who actually deserves to be on the team.  With that said, I may have to vote just to write-in Daniel Nava (he’s not listed as one of the Red Sox’s outfielders, as the roster is set before the teams really get into their seasons).  Nava’s played 69 games and is hitting .274 with 10 HRs, 45 RBIs, and 11 doubles.  Out of all the outfields on the Red Sox, Nava is the one I feel deserves to go to the All-Star Game.

• Though a lot hasn’t been said in the media thus far, I think Jose Iglesias has a chance of winning Rookie of the Year, if his numbers don’t drop off dramatically.  He’s played in 33 games, is hitting .426, and has 1 HR, 2 Triples, and 8 Doubles.  His defense is one of the best in the game, and he’s shown versatility by playing shortstop, third base, and second base.

• Uehara was named the closer for the Red Sox by Farrell on Friday.  Uehara has become my favorite reliever to watch this season because he’s so dynamic!  If you haven’t seen the video of #highfivecity Uehara slapping Victorino when he wasn’t ready for a high five from a couple weeks ago, you need to check out this gif.  And yes, I will be using the hashtag for Uehara, thanks to Pete Abraham’s tweet last week.

Well, that’s about it from me today.  Just a heads up, look for a pretty big announcement coming from me in the next couple weeks that will impact this blog.