The Official a2k Virtual Red Sox Luxury Box is Now Open!

I'm looking to see how well he fields his spot. An early scouting report had him formerly at 6 ft 4in and 200 lbs but he is now at 225 lbs:

Scouting Report: Solid all-around athlete with ideal third baseman frame that has filled out since signing. Despite added weight has maintained athleticism.

Plus bat speed with improving upward plane through the hitting zone. Hits the ball hard with backspin when he squares it up. Projects for plus power to all fields at the major league level. 25 home run potential.

Improving bat control and pitch recognition. Aggressive hitter. Needs to learn to be a bit more selective as he progresses through the upper minors. Can over-extend arms during swing, which causes him to be susceptible on the inner third. Must work to improve with hitting inside the baseball in this area to produce average-to-better contact and increase hitting zones.

Will strikeout, but improvement closing hole on inner third will help mitigate. Offensive inconsistencies stem from tendency to over-pull during stretches and wrapping the head of the bat around the ball. At best when looking up the middle and using the whole field.

Plus-to-better arm. Light on feet defensively with strong anticipation, reactions, and first step. Solid footwork and stays square to the ball. Can stand to improve range to his left by stabbing less at the ball and taking another step or continuing to become comfortable throwing on the move. Rounding towards a plus defender.

Hard worker that makes adjustments. Just beginning to learn what he can do as a baseball player. Projects as an everyday third baseman at the big league level with above-average offensive potential during peak seasons.

so faah, so good for joshua... (live box)

I looked at picking him up.

cain't do it...

Awesome shutout...relievers included. The hitters are pretty well on track. All's right with the world.

yippie.

Joe( ky-yea)Nation

sawx man-handled verlander, and finally climb above .500 ...

It's so great that they won! But, it's how they won this one! They've won against a decent team and one of the best in baseball, while winning with timely hitting and decent relief pitching. Meanwhile, Orioles are in a slide and the division lead looks winnable.

only 31/2 back...
check out this morning's standings -- the AL east is back to being a tough division.
look at run differential (DIFF) in particular.
all AL easterners are in green double-digits...

I hate to be stupid ( and I just read Moneyball to catch up with the latest ways to read the stats) but Run Difference is ~~~~ I'm guessing~~~ how many more/less runs a team has scored relative to their opponents overall, not just in their division?

Joe(old man~ why in my day, we~~~)Nation

Arrrgh! In my mind the heart-and-soul of the team is Dustin along with Big Papi. I just read this:
"Dustin Pedroia has a torn muscle in his right thumb but hopes to avoid a trip to the disabled list."

Yes. I believe you're correct that it's overall differential, not just within the division.

work perk -- free sawx tix for tomorrow's game vs the marlins...

15-5 thrashing of the miami fishies



it was 95°F @ 7:05pm.
big papi made our night with his 11th career el grande salami!
we sat thru 7 sticky, sultry innings.
left when it was 13-5...

Nice.

And happy about the thrashing and the Big Bang... .

Joe(Still, we have a lovely view out the cellar window)Nation

swept the marlins, 5 straight W's overall.
will ("brooksie") middlebrooks is making a youk trade a foregone conclusion...

Sure seems that boy can hit. I just hope he cuts down on his strikeouts too. Hey, Salty is hitting a bunch, too. Amazingly, they have a strong later part of the hitting order.

Not sure I see Dice-K has changed a lot but at least he's pitching OK-ish.

they'd be smart to try packaging youk and dice for a quality starter.
and i'd much rather see a nava/kalish platoon in LF then crawford...

Whew! I'm quite conflicted as to how they should put an outfield together. Those pieces don't add up to me as a long term or even intermdiate term solution - sad to say. I'm admitting to having been spoiled as a fan after seeing the likes of Yaz, Rice and Evans.

Trading Youk and Dice-K? Hmmm? Who'd bite at that attractive package without wanting to include a AAA major prospect. Perhaps toss in Crawford but now is NOT the time to give up AAA prospects.

As an aside, it was an interesting way for Sawx to win the other day with 'small-ball' (manufacturing a run) offense.

now this...

(espn)

(chicago trib)




yoooooooooooooooooooouk...