Twitter Friday

Another Friday is upon us, which means another Twitter Friday.  Enjoy this week's tweets!

7/12

7/13

7/14

7/15

7/16

7/17

7/18

And this week's Tweet of the Week, a flashback to when some members of the 2004 Red Sox team were on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy!

All-Star Break Awards

It’s the All-Star Break, which means the Home Run Derby tonight, the All-Star Game is tomorrow, and no baseball on Wednesday (and Thursday for the Red Sox).  It also marks the unofficial halfway point in the season, so I thought a glance at some “Red Sox Award Candidates” would do us well.  I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could use a little break myself after a busy weekend.

The Red Sox currently sit at 59-39, first place in the division, and 2.5 games up on the surging Rays.  They have the best record in the American League, third best record in the Majors (behind the Cardinals and Pirates), and the most wins in the game.  They faltered a bit on the West Coast, but that seems to be a common problem from year to year.  They’ll start the second half Friday with a series at Fenway Park against the Yankees.

Mid-Season MVP: Dustin Pedroia*

What doesn’t Pedroia do well?  He’s batting .316 with 6 home runs, 1 Triple, 25 doubles, 56 RBIs, and 13 steals.  He has walked 51 times while striking out 49.  His defense is impeccable.  While he more than likely won’t win the AL MVP this season, he should be in line to win the Red Sox MVP.

Mid-Season Cy Young:  Clay Buchholz*

He hasn’t pitched since June 8^th; but when he was pitching, Buchholz dominated.  He has a 9-0 record in 12 starts, and the team is 11-1 in those starts.  His ERA sits at 1.71, and his WHIP is 1.020.  He has 81 strikeouts for the season, gave away 29 walks, and 2 home runs.  If Buchholz can come back after the All-Star Break (sooner, rather than later we hope, since he has yet to make a rehab start) and dominate like he did before being injured, the rotation is looking mighty good.

Mid-Season Silver Slugger: David Ortiz**

David Ortiz has been ordinary Big Papi this season.  After missing most of the first month with injuries, he hasn’t looked back.  He’s hitting .317, has a .402 OBP, .and a .606 slugging percentage.  He leads the team in home runs (19) and RBIs (65).  Surprisingly, Ortiz has shown he has speed this season: he has 2 Triples (third highest on the team behind Ellsbury-7 and Drew-6), and he has 3 steals (fourth highest on the team behind Ellsbury-36, Pedroia-13, and Victorino-11).

Mid-Season Rookie of the Year: Jose Iglesias

Finally, we’re seeing the Jose Iglesias we were promised.  His defense has always been there; he seems to float at times.  But his bat!  In 52 games, he’s batting .367 with 66 hits, 10 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run, and 2 stolen bases.  He seems to pull infield singles out of his hat.  If this is the Iglesias we’ll get to watch for seasons to come, I can’t wait.

Mid-Season Comeback Player: John Lackey

I admit, I was very negative of Lackey for many years.  Really, how could a critic/fan not be?  2010 his ERA was 4.40.  2011 his ERA was 6.41, the highest ERA in Red Sox history for a starter.  2011 also brought a lot of ill from fans because of his demeanor, his divorce from his wife, and his inclusion in the “beer and chick brigade.”  In 2012, Lackey had Tommy John surgery and didn’t pitch, and I think some fans forgot he was even on the team.  2013 has been a wonderful season for Lackey though.

Lackey showed up to Spring Training looking noticeably trimmer, and the most athletic I’ve seen him look in… probably ever.  This season he has a 7-6 record, but don’t let that fool you.  His ERA is 2.78, and his WHIP is 1.136, the lowest of his career.  He’s struck out 93 while walking 23.  He appears to be a leader in the clubhouse, and we’ve even seen him smile at times.  Honestly, I don’t know if Lackey ever smiled for the public to see prior to this season.

I also have to hand it to John Farrell.  Not only has he managed this team to being the best in the American League, he has also repaired the Red Sox image.  After September of 2011 and the 2012 season, many people (critics, fans, former fans, etc.) didn’t think the Red Sox would amount to much this season and were tired of the prima donna attitudes some of the players seemed to have. 

Farrell fixed all that.  He appears to be on his way to winning the AL Manager of the Year Award.  This team is fun to watch again, they smile and joke with each other, and they are playing fantastic baseball.  Let’s hope this team can keep it up!

* Indicates made the AL All-Star Team

** Indicates made the team AL All-Star Team as a starter

Trades In The Making

Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe tweeted last night that Jacoby Ellsbury is supposed to be activated on Friday and Clay Buchholz on Saturday, and that the Sox are looking to trade an outfielder, preferably Sweeney. We all knew this would be happening, even with the rash of injuries that the Sox have accumulated. Darnell McDonald is now a Yankee, and Youkilis is with the White Sox. Change was going to happen, but how much change will happen is the question.

No doubt that Sweeney makes the most sense for a trade. He’s young, shown a lot of patience at the plate, though he doesn’t have much power. He’s a go-getter with fielding, having crashed into walls more than my liking. Though he’s been on the disabled list twice this year (once on the 7-day DL for a concussion and once on the 15-day DL for his broken toe), he’s remained durable for Sox standards, always returning and ready to play at full-force.

I like Sweeney; he’s an Iowa-boy, afterall. But, with the Sox on the borderline of mediocre and playoff-bound, things need to change. Would it make much sense to send Nava (who’s come back from oblivion) back to Triple-A? No. When Podsednik comes back, it wouldn’t make anymore sense to have him in Triple-A either. My guess is Sweeney and Podsednik will be traded, and possibly Nava too depending on how much faith the Sox have in Kalish.

I was on the MLB Trade Rumors earlier this week, and they were discussing teams in need of outfielders. The Reds were listed as one of these teams, with the Sox lining up nicely with them. (Maybe my uncle is a psychic and predicted a Sox trade with the Reds for Arroyo?) Matt Garza’s name has been floated around a lot to, in terms of potential trade targets for the Sox. The Sox need pitching, so they need to go with who’s available.

I fully admit that I don’t like change; I don’t like the unknown. However, I do know when change is needed, and these Red Sox need a change. The Red Sox bigwigs held a meeting on Monday to discuss the season thus far, and they’re supposed to be making some decisions (are they buyers or sellers?). There’s a team workout scheduled for Thursday, and roster moves could come down then.

There’s also been some chatter about the Sox trying to trade Lester and/or Beckett. I think the theme here is that these two, plus Lackey and Buchholz, seem to have formed an alliance and are still regarded as “card carrying members of the chicken and beer brigade.” Yes, I brought it up. Lester and Beckett are supposed to be the top of the rotation, but their pitching performance seems to be regarded more as mid-to-lower order of the rotation. Lester, without a doubt, is pitching way below his normal caliber; and while Beckett has also struggled, his pitching performance is better than his 4-7 record.

(On a side note, another thing to consider with Beckett is that this is an “even” year, as in 2012. If you look at Beckett’s stats, he seems to do better in “odd” years. Seriously, I don’t know why this is, but it’s true. Next year, he should be back to “normal” Beckett. So, do the Sox trade him? I think not, plus he’d have to approve any trade thanks to 10/5 rights.)

I’m sure there will be much more discussion about trades as the end of the month quickly approaches. My guess is the Sox trade 1-3 outfielders for a starting pitcher, relievers will be traded and traded for, Mark Prior will emerge from Triple-A for the first time since 2006, and the Sox will end the year with a winning record, though still a disappointing season.

So Close Yet So Far Away

It’s the All-Star Break, which is much needed for the .500 Red Sox. They are currently 9.5 games out of first place in the Division, and 5 games back for the Wild Card. Can they turn this season around for the second half? My guess is no.

If the Sox were 5 games out of the division, it would be one thing. They are not. They are tied for last place in the division, and you know the Yankees will be making moves before the end of July. The Red Sox will too, but who knows what this team will look like by the end of the week… let alone by the end of the month.

Yes, I’m still in my sour mood over the Red Sox and their frustrating season. How could I not? I successfully predicted the Red Sox would win 1 out of 4 games against the Yankees this weekend, and I successfully predicted that Lester and Beckett’s starts were the ones to worry about. Maybe I am a “Red Sox visionary,” as someone told me last week when I successfully predicted Matsuzaka would land on the DL during his start on Monday night.

I don’t want to be a “Red Sox visionary” though; I want to be proven wrong. I guess in terms of “good” things this weekend, Pedro Ciriaco was really fun to watch. He had this energy about him that we haven’t seen since Middlebrooks came up and started tearing it up. *Sigh* I miss Middlebrooks.

It was also “fun” to see Jeter making errors during the games. For the record, I like Derek Jeter, always have. I find him a very respectable player and a classy individual. However, he frustrated me because he has no range yet makes the All-Star team every year and wins Gold Gloves.

So, instead of dwelling on how horribly I thought the Sox looked this weekend, I thought I would do a few random thoughts regarding the team, this weekend, and where they need to go from here.

* I have a feeling two of the following three players will be traded soon: Nick Punto, Brent Lillibridge, and Pedro Ciriaco. I would love Pedro Ciriaco to be the bench player for the rest of the year, as I find his bat more reliable than the other two (though in limited playing time, obviously). It just seems very redundant to have that many bench players for the infield. Once Pedroia is back, two will be gone.

* My uncle informed my family that the Red Sox had acquired Arroyo via trade, and that it was announced during the broadcast before Saturday night’s Fox game (we weren’t receiving feed from DirecTV for some reason at that point). I quickly checked MLB Trade Rumors, The Boston Globe, and Wikipedia websites to confirm this without any luck. I have to admit, I was a bit crushed. I was ready to “un-retire” my Arroyo shirt, since he used to be one of my favorite players on the Sox.

* Adrian Gonzalez had his 18-game hitting streak snapped last night when he was pulled out of the game due to an illness; he was 0-1. It’s really a shame, but my thought was why did he even start if he was so ill? If he felt that ill, he shouldn’t have played, and his streak would still be active. Of course, that would be “selfish.”

* During our local news program Saturday night, the sports announcer called Youkilis “our Youkilis,” as in the White Sox. My brother had the best reaction: “He’s not your Youkilis; he’s our Youkilis.” I hope we always feel that way.

* My brother and I were having a discussion regarding who will be traded from the Sox and who won’t. My brother seems to think that Lester and Beckett are practically asking for a trade with their play this year; I don’t see that happening. Though, he did mention Lester’s performance is similar to Youkilis’s performance with our Sox, and Lester doesn’t appear to favor Valentine.

* “Thank Tek Day” is scheduled for July 21st. Well deserved. It would be great if they would offer him a position with the club at that point and announce it that day. Wishful thinking.

* Do people really put that much stock into the All-Star Game? I usually watch about two innings, then start switching back and forth between channels until I stop watching it all together. This year may be different, since players were not able to “opt out” of the game/honor unless they were injured or had another pressing matter (Yadier Molina being placed on the bereavement list comes to mind). Last year was the worst, since there were about 40 “All-Stars” for each team, as not many of the starters actually wanted to play.