*official 2007 red sox thread*

[sublime]

also the red sox now lead the majors in runs scored and runs allowed. yes you read that correctly, the red sox, of the AL EAST lead the majors in runs allowed.

[Toro]

The more I see of Pedroia the more I like. The kid is supposed to be slow but damn he showed great range last night, first making a diving stop to his right and then left, both times making nice throws from his knees.

[kyro]

[ QUOTE ]
also the red sox now lead the majors in runs scored and runs allowed. yes you read that correctly, the red sox, of the AL EAST lead the majors in runs allowed.

[/ QUOTE ]

They've been leading the majors in runs allowed almost all year. Their rotation and bullpen have been great. Now the offense is starting to come around. I'm getting giddy.

[kyro]

[ QUOTE ]
i loved watching the offense tonight. and not in the eighth either, im talking 1-7 innings when they just make a pitcher work so god damn hard to get an out...it gives me goosebumps watching full count after full count, foul after foul etc.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes. I noticed this particularly last night, too. Tek just kept fouling balls that were definitely balls, but close enough to swing at. Then he finally hits a pitch about a foot outside for a double down the right field line.

I really like this team.

[Kneel B4 Zod]

they are on pace to win 114 games. Joe Sheehan is going to write about them today, which will be interesting. These are surely the good days.

[kyro]

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they are on pace to win 114 games. Joe Sheehan is going to write about them today, which will be interesting. These are surely the good days.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, I've been trying to ignore "on pace" and whatnot, because they were on pace to win 102 games at the end of June last year, and look what happened. I'm sure they will cool off by the summer, as usual, but I don't think we'll see a collapse like we're used to.

[zer0]

the aforementioned sheehan bit on the sox:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6232

subscriber content

basically, the red sox have had more "bad starts" from established players than "serious regression crash candidates". manny/drew/lugo/matsuzaka should heat up and add even more to the team, after considering regressions from lowell/cora/etc

[Kneel B4 Zod]

[ QUOTE ]
the aforementioned sheehan bit on the sox:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6232

subscriber content

basically, the red sox have had more "bad starts" from established players than "serious regression crash candidates". manny/drew/lugo/matsuzaka should heat up and add even more to the team, after considering regressions from lowell/cora/etc

[/ QUOTE ]

plus, as someone mentioned above, lots of the the offense is coming from walk driven OBP. this is not likely to decline, and is in fact likely to climb I think.

[kyleb]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the aforementioned sheehan bit on the sox:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/ar...articleid=6232

subscriber content

basically, the red sox have had more "bad starts" from established players than "serious regression crash candidates". manny/drew/lugo/matsuzaka should heat up and add even more to the team, after considering regressions from lowell/cora/etc

[/ QUOTE ]

plus, as someone mentioned above, lots of the the offense is coming from walk driven OBP. this is not likely to decline, and is in fact likely to climb I think.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sheehan's article is very good. I expect the Red Sox to win 93+ games this year, depending in large part on the health of Matsuzaka, Beckett, and Papelbon.

Varitek is what he is and will regress, but Manny is also Manny and not a random fourth outfielder. Even if I don't like the Red Sox, I gotta admit that this team is very, very good.

[NT!]

it's so hard to say with tek. he's just a hair under an .800 OPS this season. prior to his awful injury-plagued 06, he had put up three consecutive seasons in the .860 range, including an .855 in his age 33 year. like most people, after watching him last year i figured he was close to being done.

but he wouldn't be the first catcher to bounce back from a 100 point drop in OPS on the wrong side of 30. in 05, jorge posada put up a .782, his worst since 1999, then bounced back in 06 with another .866 season. and he's sitting just shy of 1 so far this year. he's the same age as tek (35).

so it wouldn't really be a shock to see him keep doing pretty much what he's doing, although from just watching him he seems to be overachieving a bit. what really bugs me about tek is his pitch calling with matsuzaka on the mound. i can't say how many times he's called three consecutive fastballs on 0-2 or 1-2 counts instead of going to an out pitch, and dice-k gives up a hit on the second or third one.