The Sox seem to be catching the injury bug at just the wrong time. The day before the trading deadline Trot Nixon goes down with a pulled muscle in his arm, and four hours after the trading deadline Jason Varitek twists an ankle or something and may be out until mid-September. All this while the Yankees are getting $16 million Bobby Abreu and some other serviceable parts from a couple out-of-it teams. Oh well, better luck next year. Or just maybe...
Let's take a look at the numbers. Beyond Trot's .187 for the month of July, he had 10 oh-fers in July, including an epochal 0 for 9 in the 19-inning game with the White Sox. Most shockingly, he had 17 total bases in the entire month. Seventeen! By contrast, Ortiz had 87 total bases in July, and in his worst month (May) he had 46. By more contrast, Alex Gonzalez had 43 total bases in July. Now, don't get me wrong. Trot has had at least two of the most dramatic home runs in modern Sox history, and his numbers this season (.294 BA, .396 OBP) aren't bad. But, for God's sake, he's a corner outfielder with no power and he's been a dead spot in the lineup for at least a month. I'm surprised Francona didn't stab him with a fork during a postgame buffet just to get him out of the lineup. To add to the positive spin, Nixon replacement and folk-hero-in-the-making Wily Mo Pena hit such a mammoth home run
last night that it just showed up as a satellite at NORAD command center.
It's obvious that the Sox need another bat in the lineup, because you just can't count on facing idiot managers like Eric Wedge every night. Eventually, other teams are gonna find a way to neutralize Ortiz and Manny, even if it means walking them in unorthodox situations. There has to be another threat somewhere in the batting order and I say roll with big Wily Mo. By all accounts, he's the right fielder of the future, and baby, the future is now.
Varitek is a bigger loss at the plate, but that's not saying much. His value to the team (everyone says) is in the way he handles the pitching staff. As long as he's physically with the club he should be able to act as a coach for Mirabelli, passing along info and helping out with shit between innings. Besides, is it me or does Mirabelli have a knack for hitting big home runs? He's no Ortiz, but I seem to recall some clutch moments from DM and maybe I'm out of my mind, but what the hell. Judging from all the games Varitek has caught in the past five years, he could use a good month off.
It's still all about pitching, and the Sox don't really have enough, but it's been a more entertaining season than I thought it was going to be. You never can tell which team is gonna take off late in the season. Maybe it'll be Boston if they can find enough pitchers to fill out a five-man rotation. Maybe they'll fade with all the injuries, but if they do, it won't be these two injuries that put them out of it.
Let's take a look at the numbers. Beyond Trot's .187 for the month of July, he had 10 oh-fers in July, including an epochal 0 for 9 in the 19-inning game with the White Sox. Most shockingly, he had 17 total bases in the entire month. Seventeen! By contrast, Ortiz had 87 total bases in July, and in his worst month (May) he had 46. By more contrast, Alex Gonzalez had 43 total bases in July. Now, don't get me wrong. Trot has had at least two of the most dramatic home runs in modern Sox history, and his numbers this season (.294 BA, .396 OBP) aren't bad. But, for God's sake, he's a corner outfielder with no power and he's been a dead spot in the lineup for at least a month. I'm surprised Francona didn't stab him with a fork during a postgame buffet just to get him out of the lineup. To add to the positive spin, Nixon replacement and folk-hero-in-the-making Wily Mo Pena hit such a mammoth home run
last night that it just showed up as a satellite at NORAD command center.It's obvious that the Sox need another bat in the lineup, because you just can't count on facing idiot managers like Eric Wedge every night. Eventually, other teams are gonna find a way to neutralize Ortiz and Manny, even if it means walking them in unorthodox situations. There has to be another threat somewhere in the batting order and I say roll with big Wily Mo. By all accounts, he's the right fielder of the future, and baby, the future is now.
Varitek is a bigger loss at the plate, but that's not saying much. His value to the team (everyone says) is in the way he handles the pitching staff. As long as he's physically with the club he should be able to act as a coach for Mirabelli, passing along info and helping out with shit between innings. Besides, is it me or does Mirabelli have a knack for hitting big home runs? He's no Ortiz, but I seem to recall some clutch moments from DM and maybe I'm out of my mind, but what the hell. Judging from all the games Varitek has caught in the past five years, he could use a good month off.
It's still all about pitching, and the Sox don't really have enough, but it's been a more entertaining season than I thought it was going to be. You never can tell which team is gonna take off late in the season. Maybe it'll be Boston if they can find enough pitchers to fill out a five-man rotation. Maybe they'll fade with all the injuries, but if they do, it won't be these two injuries that put them out of it.
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