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March 18, 2011

Lackey Will Follow Lester; Ellsbury's Spring Hitting Clinic

John Lackey will get the ball in Game #2, following Jon Lester in the Red Sox rotation. (That lines Lackey up to pitch the home opener against the Yankees on April 8.) After the man Terry Francona imaginatively refers to as "Lack"* will be Clay Buchholz, Josh Beckett, and Daisuke Matsuzaka.

* Tito can't go the Millsy/Pedey route with this one. Lackey-y?

The first three series:
At Rangers: Lester / Lackey / Buchholz
At Cleveland: Beckett / Matsuzaka / Lester
Vs Yankees: Lackey / Buchholz / Beckett
SoSHer Buzzkill Pauley posted this possible rotation three days ago:
2009-10 starts at least 6.0 IP:
81.25% - Lester
75.47% - Beckett
63.64% - Buchholz
80.00% - Lackey
48.65% - Matsuzaka

Sandwiching Matsuzaka between Lester and Lackey buttresses DiceK's obvious weakness going deep into games -- allowing Francona to have an early hook without Proctor-izing Bard or Wheeler with daily pitching.
Francona's rotation has Beckett and Lackey switched from BP's suggestion, which may work out the same way, assuming Beckett can go six innings at least as often as he has the last two seasons.

Jacoby Ellsbury leads all Red Sox players* in batting average (.429), on-base percentage (.474), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (obviously) (1.159), hits (15), runs scored (11), total bases (24), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (3) and home runs (2), and is tied for third in RBI (5).

* - Excluding those with eight or fewer plate appearances, like Jorge Jimenez (1-for-1).

The Red Sox sent five players to Pawtucket, including shortstop Jose Iglesias (8-for-25 this spring, with a .370 OBP), Lars Anderson (who got a lot of praise for his improved work at first base), and outfielder Juan Carlos Linares.

Dept. of !!!: "Every Box Score Since 1920 on Your Phone ... All 155,000 regular season box scores (from 1920-2010) are now available in a mobile-friendly format via our recently launched mobile site."
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7 comments:

  1. andyMarch 19, 2011 at 1:20 AM

    Ok I just spent a considerable amount of time exploring the stats from my phone. Compare team pitching for 1976 to 2010. CG was in 30's to 50's in 1976. 2010 would take a few teams to get to 30.

    ReplyDelete
  2. laura kMarch 19, 2011 at 4:53 AM

    Jacoby Ellsbury leads all Red Sox players* in batting average (.429), on-base percentage (.474), slugging percentage (.686), OPS (obviously) (1.159), hits (15), runs scored (11), total bases (24), and is tied for the team lead in doubles (3) and home runs (2), and is tied for third in RBI (5).

    Have I mentioned I can't wait for the season to start??????

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dr. JeffMarch 19, 2011 at 7:57 AM

    Re: nicknames. There was an article about hockey nicknames. If it ends in a y, you chop the name down to the first syllable that ends in a consonant: "Gretz". If it doesn't end in a y, add the y.

    ReplyDelete
  4. PatrickMarch 19, 2011 at 10:03 AM

    Have I mentioned I can't wait for the season to start??????

    Laura's boy can rake! This is gonna be friggin sweeeeeeet!

    ReplyDelete
  5. JimMarch 20, 2011 at 6:35 AM

    Just saw the Globe notes where Tito is quoted as saying that "Youk and Gonzy might be interchangeable". Gonzy works for me. Not AGon, Gonzo or the reprehensible Yo Adrian. Or maybe 'the Gonz'. Will have to see what leaps to mind when we witness his first dong.
    Speaking of which, I accidentally noticed that COGECO is carrying some MLB-Extra Inning Spring games. Sox and Cards at 1. I'm in.
    Almost feels like the first day of Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  6. allanMarch 20, 2011 at 7:00 AM

    Gotta spell it Gonzie, no?

    (Plus his first initial is Aaaaaaaaa...)

    ReplyDelete
  7. JimMarch 20, 2011 at 10:38 AM

    Yeah,'Gonzie'. Missed a chance to go all medieval on Cafardo with the (sic).

    ReplyDelete