Nationals Sweep Sox

The good news is the Sox only have 9 more games against teams from the Maryland/DC part of the country (they're 3-9 against the Orioles and Nationals). The bad news is, the Sox are below .500 again, their offense has cooled off, their bullpen looks shaky again, they can't seem to win at home (14-19 in Fenway), they're 6 games behind the Rays, 5 games out of the Wild Cards (with three teams to leapfrog over), and the Yankees are red hot.

At least the weather's been nice lately.

There is one other piece of good news, and that's the starting pitching. Jon Lester struck out 9 yesterday in a very typical Jon Lester start. He went 7 innings, allowed 3 runs, and gave the Sox a very good chance to win the game. If only they could get a hit with runners in scoring position. Which they didn't. The Sox were 0 for 8 with RISP.

David Ortiz provided the only real offense. He was 3 for 4 with a double and a homerun. The other 2 Sox runs came from groundouts. Dustin Pedroia grounded into a fielder's choice in the 3rd and Scott Podsednik had an RBI groundout in the 7th to tie the game at 3-3. Podsednik has been decent with the Sox, who lately seem to be able to find productive outfielders with their eyes closed. He's hitting .368.

Unfortunately, Alfredo Aceves blew another game. He gave up a 2 out RBI double to Roger Bernadina. Aceves went on a nice run in the middle of May, but since blowing a save against Tampa Bay on May 27th, he's 0-3, and has allowed 7 runs in 9 innings. He does not appear to be a steady, reliable Major League closer.

Jonathan Papelbon has converted 16 of 16 save opportunities and has a 2.22 ERA.

When David Ortiz called a player's meeting a month ago, part of what was discussed was that the starting pitchers need to pull their weight. They've been doing that. Lester was good yesterday. Daisuke wasn't bad (especially for a rehab start) on Saturday. Buchholz was brilliant last Thursday. Beckett was great last Wednesday. The Sox only won 1 of these games.

Now it's the lineup's turn to pull some weight. Ortiz can't do it all. Pedroia is in a 3 for 24 (.125) slump since returning from his thumb injury. Adrian Gonzalez is slugging .419, about .100 lower than he should be expected to slug. Kevin Youkilis did well when he first returned from the DL, now he's in a 4 for 25 (.160) drought. Will Middlebrooks hasn't had an extra-base hit since May.

Hopefully a trip to Miami can help turn things around. The Marlins are in 4th place, and Beckett is on the mound for the Sox tonight. He might need to hit a few homeruns to give himself a reasonable amount of run support. He faces 3-4 Josh Johnson. Adrian Gonzalez is 4 for 11 in his career against Johnson, so maybe he'll get a few hits tonight.

-The Captain

Nationals Scouting Red Sox Catchers

"The Nationals have a scout in Boston with an eye on the Red Sox's catchers, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. The Nats will be without starting catcher Wilson Ramos for most, if not all, of the 2012 season (MLBTradeRumors)."

Obviously the Red Sox wouldn't get a lot back, but I am already hearing from fans to do a trade ASAP so the Red Sox can bring Lavarnway. To a point I get it, but it does need to be pointed out that Salty is actually having a pretty good season so far. He is batting .250 with 5 HRs and 15 RBIs, and is on pace for 23 HRs and 69 RBIs.

I am not a big Salty guy, so I think I might be in favor of dealing him. Even though he is just 27 years old, he seems to be what he is. He has a low batting average, and never walks (last season 24 walks, 119 strikeouts). Sure he can hit the occasional long ball, but what I like about Lavarnway is that he is a patient hitter (currently .370 OBP in AAA, and .376 last season). I guess you never know how that will translate to the majors, but I think it's worth the risk.

It was said in spring training that Bobby V was a big fan of Lavarnway, and I'd love to see him get a shot. What a better outlook for the season if Lavarnway can come through for the Red Sox and Middlebrooks looking like he is the real deal.

The other deal I guess would be to trade Shoppach, but it's probably not worth bringing up Lavarnway if he is only going to play 1 out of 5 games, since he can get more work in down in the minors.

2012 Top 25 Under 25: #10 Stephen Strasburg

Born: July 20, 1988 (age 23)
Team: Washington Nationals
Position: Pitcher

If it wasn't for Strasburg needing Tommy John surgery in 2010 he would probably be in the top 5. He has made only 23 starting in his major league career, but they have already shown that he is one of the best pitchers in baseball and as long as he stay healthy will be dominant for years. In those 23 starts Strasburg is 8-4 with a 2.28 ERA with 154 Ks in just 130 innings. The only reason he probably won't win the NL Cy Young is because he is going to be on an innings count this season, but so far this year he is 2-0 in 6 starts with a 1.66 ERA.

The guy is a stud, and the only concern is health. Not matter what team you are a fan of you have to hope that he is able to stay healthy, because we could be watching the best pitcher on our generation.

"I was trying to hit him"

So last night when I was watching the Phillies/ Nationals game, when Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels first went against Rookie Phenom Bryce Harper, he pretty blatantly hit him in the square of his back, and then in the post game, when asked about it Hamels said, "I was trying to hit him, I'm not going to deny it." Although the MLB will frown upon this and most likely suspend him (rightfully so), I love it.

I love when pitchers do these things, we saw it with Pedro all the time, and so seeing it with a pitcher like Hamels is great(Let it be known Hamels got his and got pegged, rightfully so, later in the game). But I love the message that was sent by Hamels, "listen meat, I'm a World Series winning pitcher, you aren't shit yet, welcome to the MLB asshole." Phillies also most importantly won the game 9-3.

I waiver back and forth on Bryce Harper, but so far I'm really impressed. He's 19 years old, he's batting 3rd for the Nationals, he's batting .300, and he has an absolute cannon in the OF. It will be fun seeing the Nationals getting better with Harper and Steven Strasburg.

P.S.
For those confused on why I'm defending Philly, I don't really hate their sports teams, I just hate the people that live in that drug ridden, dirty, gross, city.