It’s a big day of baseball as several teams aim for big
sweeps, including the Orioles and Mets, whose fans are getting a bit of a boost
from the early season success.
The Yankees and Red Sox are on the cusp of being on the
other side of three-game sweeps, and for Boston, it’d be a start eerily similar
to last year.
Except, I’m not sure this team can recover from a 2011-like
start.
Last year, as the Red Sox lost seven straight to start the
season, many media members were content that the Red Sox would bounce back —
and they did until their September collapse.
This year, I do not see that hope for the Red Sox. The
bigger they dig this hole, the more it proves that they’re a fourth-place team
in this division.
Josh Beckett was lit up Saturday for seven runs just days after
dealing with a thumb-injury scare; yet after the game, manager Bobby Valentine
said that Beckett is fine physically, just bruised mentally.
Is that any better? Wouldn’t you rather hear he has a thumb
injury instead of hearing he has mental problems?
Either way, it’s scary for the BoSox, who have to deal with
the mighty Detroit Tigers once more.
I liked Clay Buchholz heading into 2012, but I’ll tell you
what: If I had been able to draft him, I would be inclined to bench him today.
I just think that Tigers offense is ridiculous.
Austin Jackson has looked less like a 170-strikeout guy,
earning a pair of walks on Saturday, and Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera both
homered twice in the game creating quite the scare in the middle of that
lineup — a much bigger scare that what the Phillies have provided.
With two runners on and no outs in the first inning, the
Phillies had Jimmy Rollins bunt to the two runners into scoring position.
That’s not what I had in my for this lineup.
Yes, Rollins can bunt, and in
late-game situations, that would be ideal, but your three-hole hitter has to
drive the ball to the gap in those situations. Bring home two runs, or set the
table for the four-hole hitter, Hunter Pence. How often was Chase Utley bunting in the first inning?
It was frustrating watching the Phillies leave runners on
base — 15 in all — including the six that Lance Nix and John Mayberry
combined to leave on.
It’s still very, very, very early, but after I went to great
lengths to say that I think this offense can produce runs, the last thing I
wanted to see was two runs over the first 19 innings of 2012.
Today is a big day for the Phils’ offense, just as it is for
the many teams trying to avoid series-opening sweeps.
Eight teams are trying to avoid that misery, so Sunday
should be a fun day of baseball.
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