Nothing terribly positive to write about last night.
At least at Professor Thom's, most of the Red Sox fans had a Bruins win to enjoy. (And I thought the Angels would put the Yankees away with a comeback win, but the rotten Angels pen--worst in the AL, even worse than New York--let that get away.)
On the baseball end, the Red Sox had plenty of opportunities, especially in the early innings, and left ten men on base. I knew it would come back and bite them.
Justin Masterson, who has been brilliant and picked up the struggling staff, was terrific for the first four innings, but the wheels came off in the fifth. He threw just 53 pitches the first four innings, but needed 40 for the fifth, and allowed a towering grand slam to Evan Longoria and a followup shot to Carlos Pena. It's clear Masterson belongs in the valuable middle relief role and hopefully he can return to it soon.
David Ortiz once again took the collar last night, and is now batting .220. Just 12 RBI and no home runs. April is now over, and so is the pass most folks have given him. April was the first month of his career he did not hit a home run. (Only George Kottaras and Julio Lugo are the only other regulars without a home run.) He looks almost feeble at the plate these days. And I really hate to write this: I am now almost expecting him to pop out or ground out whenever he comes up. I defended him vigorously over the winter whenever I heard his critics say he was washed up and his best days were behind him. And I've said that once the monkey is off his back and that first home run comes, that the old Papi will re-emerge and the numbers will start climbing.
I'm beginning to wonder about that.
Tim Wakefield takes the mound at The Trop tonight. BTW, will this game be a sellout? The attendance at the first two games in St. Pete has been nothing short of embarrassing, just 27,000 last night by the team who won the AL pennant against their division rival. No excuses here, like it's still the middle of the week, it's still in the school year, or the team and the park stinks (the team doesn't but the park does) and you can't blame it on $2600 seats they can't fill.
I have been wondering if Papi has ever truly recovered from his wrist injury last season.
ReplyDeleteI mentioned before that most of Papi's bat speed comes from the wrist flexion. It is is like a fulcrum. That "explosion to the ball." If the wrist is impaired and Papi cannot get that same bat speed, then he is on serious trouble.
Pitchers will lose a few MPH (or K/MH for Canadians), Dave Robers lost a bit of his on field, and bashers will lose bat speed.
It is sad to say wither Big Papi?
Regardless, still one of the best signings in club history. David Ortiz could run for Mayor in Boston.
The whispers are getting louder. I believe Papi should stay in the 3 hole, especially to keep harmony in the clubhouse. But if the production doesn't start to pick up, and soon...
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