The Red Sox 1st to 30 wins (pitchers, pitcher, win, games)

[aardvarks]

and they're blowing out the Royals today. Couple that with the Yanks being in last place and all is right in the baseball world.

[CHS89]

The pen's gonna need some tweaking, though. Eight run leads late in the game cannot be allowed to evaporate into save situations. We dumped Gagne specifically to keep this from happening anymore.

[case44]

That's Boston doing what they're supposed to do. But you'll see a different race this year and I think that the Rays will be challenging the Red Sox for the division. If the Orioles keep their winning ways up, this could be the most interesting AL East race in years. I still believe the Sox will come out on top, but as you know, in baseball, strange things always happen.

[aardvarks]

Originally Posted by CHS89

The pen's gonna need some tweaking, though. Eight run leads late in the game cannot be allowed to evaporate into save situations. We dumped Gagne specifically to keep this from happening anymore.

I agree with you, but what I find most puzzling is this is the same unit that was close to the best in baseball last season.

[CHS89]

Okie's not the same. Remember he was the best Japanese rookie on the staff last year, almost unhittable? This year, they seem to have him figured out, and it seems to be affecting his confidence. His wrist injury might even be a little more than he's letting on, I bet. Timlin's another year older. Aardsma's gonna be huge, and once Masterson becomes regular, Wake can eat up innings middle relief and spot start. Same for Schilling if he comes back, but I really think his usefulness is coming to an end. Zink is getting high praise in AAA as the heir to Wake as a very effective knuckleballer. Once Colon settles in, Boston's pitching staff will be the envy of MLB, if they aren't already. Even better than last year. It'll all come together by the dog days. That's when the Sawx really start tearing it up.

Santana would have been a waste in Boston.

[ogre]

Originally Posted by aardvarks

I agree with you, but what I find most puzzling is this is the same unit that was close to the best in baseball last season.

Actually, you've just identified the problem. To maintain success, a team has to keep bringing in fresh blood from season to season. A professional athlete's prime is so brief that you don't stay on top carrying exactly the same team from one season to the next. This is especially true of pitchers. They're prone to arm trouble, and many have short careers. The durable, high-quality pitchers who have nice long careers still have a lot of ups and downs. A guy can have a great season one year, win fifteen games or more, then have arm trouble most of the next season and struggle along to a record like 9-12 or something.

The tricky thing is that you can't do a complete overhaul every year. Once you have a basically strong staff, you want to occasionally bring in another solid pitcher or two in order to keep the staff nice and deep, while maintaining the core of the staff. Tricky stuff, and I don't claim I'd know what to do as a major league exec, as in how to actually make the right moves happen. I've just been watching baseball long enough to appreciate the fact that it's hard to maintain top-notch pitching, and you've got to keep bringing in fresh blood in order to have any chance of doing so.

[Luke9686]

Our young talent is looking solid. The Sox are going to be a great team for years to come.