Tag: Boston Red Sox (Page 22 of 37)

      Marlins question Hanley Ramirez’s hustle

      April 29, 2009 /

      The Marlins’ 11-1 start to the 2009 season has quickly faded over the past week thanks to a seven-game losing streak that was finally halted with a 7-4 win over their NL East rivals the Mets on Tuesday.

      Florida beat the Mets again on Wednesday, but some in the Marlins’ clubhouse aren’t thrilled with the effort of the team’s biggest star, shortstop Hanley Ramirez.

      • Hanley Ramirez’s failure to run hard on a drive to center last week (he ended up on second, instead of third) struck a nerve with some Marlins people. ”Hanley likes to watch it and get into his trot,” special assistant Andre Dawson said. But “if you go all out all the time, he is less susceptible to mistakes. Hanley needs to focus and be serious and have the attitude that I’m working on something to get better — not just going out there to get the work in.”

      Let’s hope the Yankees and Red Sox don’t get wind of this and start putting trade packages together.

      Ramirez is a rare five-tool player in baseball and hopefully the staff in Florida will make him realize his full potential. He’s already one of the best in baseball, but he certainly has the talent to be one of the greatest and as a baseball fan, I hope he doesn’t settle for what he’s already done in his young career.

      MLB

      Couch Potato Alert: 4/24

      April 24, 2009 /

      The Detroit Lions are now on the clock.

      Well, they have been on the clock since the first week of preseason. The unofficial kickoff to the upcoming football season is here, as the 2009 NFL Draft will be the highlight event of the weekend. Your mock draft is due prior to the start of the draft. So be sure to cram in every player’s 40 yard time and wonderlic score during an all-night study session tonight. And if you want to play a good drinking game on Saturday, take a sip when Mel Kiper says “that was a value pick” or “he was the best player available.” I guarantee you will pass out halfway through the first round.

      All times ET…

      NFL
      Sat, 4 PM: 2009 NFL Draft (ESPN/ESPN2/NFL Network)
      Sun, 10 AM: 2009 NFL Draft (ESPN/NFL Network)

      NBA Playoffs
      Fri, 7 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons (ESPN)
      Fri, 8 PM: Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers (ESPN2)
      Fri, 9:30 PM: Portland Trail Blazers @ Houston Rockets (ESPN)
      Sat, 1 PM: Denver Nuggets @ New Orleans Hornets (ESPN)
      Sat, 4 PM: San Antonio Spurs @ Dallas Mavericks (TNT)
      Sat, 6:30 PM: Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat (TNT)
      Sat, 9 PM: Los Angeles Lakers @ Utah Jazz (ESPN)
      Sun, 1 PM: Boston Celtics @ Chicago Bulls (ABC)
      Sun, 3:30 PM: Cleveland Cavaliers @ Detroit Pistons (ABC)
      Sun, 6:30 PM: Orlando Magic @ Philadelphia 76ers (TNT)
      Sun, 9 PM: Portland Trail Blazers @ Houston Rockets (TNT)

      NHL Playoffs
      Fri, 7 PM: New York Rangers @ Washington Capitals (Versus)
      Sat, 1 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Philadelphia Flyers (NBC)
      Sat, 10 PM: Anaheim Ducks @ San Jose Sharks (Versus)
      Sun, 2 PM: Washington Capitals @ New York Rangers*if necessary (NBC)
      Sun, TBD: New Jersey Devils @ Carolina Hurricanes (Versus)

      MLB
      Sat, 4:10PM: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox (Fox)
      Sun., 12 PM: Philadelphia Phillies @ Florida Marlins (TBS)
      Sun., 8 PM: New York Yankees @ Boston Red Sox (ESPN)

      Couch Potato Alert, MLB, NBA, NFL, NFL Draft, NHL, Television

      What’s wrong with Big Papi?

      April 20, 2009 /

      The Boston Globe tries to dissect what’s wrong with Red Sox slugger David Ortiz.

      The season has not grown long enough for David Ortiz to worry about his statistics, only for him to grow weary about other people asking about them.

      A pack of reporters approached Ortiz after the Red Sox’ 2-1 victory yesterday, and he knew why. “I’ll be fine, bro,” Ortiz said. “That’s it.” He poked a pair of diamond earrings into his lobes and said no more.

      Ortiz and the Red Sox contend 12 games and 47 at-bats is not a large enough sample for there to be any concern over Ortiz’s dismal statistics. He is batting .170 and slugging .191. Of his eight hits, seven are singles and none are home runs. He has struck out 14 times and walked six.

      Hitting coach Dave Magadan diagnosed Ortiz’s issue late last week. Ortiz has been cocking his hands into a hitting position too late, the same problem that has crept up on Ortiz when struggles surfaced in the past, Magadan said.

      Late last week, Magadan showed Ortiz two pictures, one from last year during a hot streak and one from this year. In the first, Ortiz had his hands back, ready to swing, while the ball was halfway to the plate. In the second picture, Ortiz was in an identical position, but the pitch had nearly reached the plate.

      Magadan emphasized that readiness is Ortiz’s main issue. Ortiz has not been hitting the ball to the opposite field and producing familiar Wall Ball doubles, but Magadan said opponents have been pitching him hard and inside. Magadan also said he has witnessed no effects from the wrist injury that plagued Ortiz late last season and in the playoffs. While Magadan had identified the problem, he was not concerned with it. He and Ortiz worked on fixing it Saturday and Magadan is happy with the results.

      Hopefully for BoSox fans, Big Papi’s struggles are a combination mechanical issues and not getting enough at bats to this point. He did eventually find his swing last year after a horrid April, so again hopefully he irons things out. Then again, this could be a byproduct of his age and injury history. It’s tough to tell after just 12 games what kind of hitter Ortiz will be this year, but we should at least let him get through April and part of May before jumping to any conclusions.

      MLB

      Top 10 active ERA leaders

      April 18, 2009 /

      As far as pitchers’ statistics in baseball, earned run average (ERA) is the batting average of those stats. ERA is how many earned runs a pitcher gives up per nine innings, and anything under 4.00 is pretty good while anything under 3.00 is very good and anything under 2.00 is bordering on sick. So here is a list of your Top 10 active pitchers in ERA:

      1. Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees (2.28)—You want to know why this guy comes in and shuts the door every time he’s brought in for a save? Look no further than this statistic. Mo has been the most dominant closer in the game for over a decade and shows no signs of slowing down.

      2. Pedro Martinez, free agent (2.91)—Sure, he’s not the same guy he was in Boston or even Montreal, but Pedro’s a gamer and it’s hard to believe he still isn’t on a major league roster right now.

      3. Johan Santana, New York Mets (3.10)—You have to watch this guy work to fully appreciate his art of pitching. He doesn’t have an overpowering fastball, but he locates all his pitches beautifully and his change-up sometimes makes batters swing out of their shoes. He’s like a lefty Greg Maddux.

      4. Roy Oswalt, Houston Astros (3.14)—At 31, Oswalt has a lot of career left, and he has one of the game’s best fastballs.

      5. Jake Peavy, San Diego Padres (3.26)—Peavy was rumored to be traded to the Cubs about 12 times in this past off-season. If you close your eyes, you can someday picture him in Yankee pinstripes.

      5. John Smoltz, Boston Red Sox (3.26)—One of the game’s good guys, and as a Mets’ fan, that is not easy for me to say. I’m just glad he’s now in the American League.

      7. Brandon Webb, Arizona Diamondbacks (3.27)—At 30, Webb is another of the game’s bright young stars and he’ll be in contention for many more Cy Young Awards.

      7. Randy Johnson, San Francisco Giants (3.27)—The Big Unit is 45 years old and creeping up on 300 wins. And yeah, he’s racked up an incredible 4801 strikeouts. But his 3.27 ERA over 22 seasons is just awesome.

      9. Carlos Zambrano, Chicago Cubs (3.50)—Is it possible that Carlos Zambrano is only 28 years old? Yes, and he’s going to be dominant for quite some time.

      10. Tim Hudson, Atlanta Braves (3.48)—He’s battled injuries, but when he’s on top of his game, Hudson is one of the best in the game. And he turned out to be the best among that awesome young trio in Oakland that included Mark Mulder and Barry Zito.

      Source: Baseball Reference

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      Dice-K DL stint proof that WBC is a bad idea

      April 15, 2009 /

      The Red Sox placed starter Daisuke Matsuzaka on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday due to arm fatigue. Dice-K was brutal in his first two starts, yielding 14 total hits and nine runs in just 6.1 innings of work. He still struck out five, but he gave up three dingers and posted an ERA of 12.79.

      Dice-K competed for Japan in the World Baseball Classic and while he only through 14.2 innings, it was obviously enough for him to suffer some arm fatigue. I know the WBC has rules so that pitchers don’t get overworked playing in the tournament, but clearly that isn’t enough because now the Red Sox will be without one of their best pitchers for two weeks.

      The WBC is a fun tournament and it’s interesting to watch MLB players compete against each other for their countries. But it isn’t supposed to get in the way of the MLB regular season and clearly it has considering it had some affect on Matsuzaka’s arm.

      Bud Selig has to figure out a better format if he wants to continue this tournament going forward. One idea is to put it at the end of the MLB season, since all of the games are being played indoors anyway. It makes no sense for some of these pro ballplayers to be playing in a competitive tournament when they should be getting ready for spring training.

      Fantasy Baseball, MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑