May 5, 2008
2008 April: As good as advertised
Another season, another Month to Month! The Red Sox got off to a pretty good start. There's been a ton of storylines so far this month, but for the most part, the team has come hot out of the gates, proving that perhaps they weren't overrated after all. Noticeably absent from the following table because they were not active at the end of April are Sean Casey and Alex Cora. Casey filled in admirably for Mike Lowell while Lowell was hurt and not to begrudge Cora, but Lowrie has outproduced Cora offensively. In addition, Craig Hansen was just recalled to take the place of Brandon Moss, a recall that will not be permanent because Cora is close to returning. To the Fire Branders: who on this table do you think will not be on the May month to month, and why? Who will be on the May table? Why? I'm going to say that Hansen will be on the roster in place of Mike Timlin (whether that's a phantom injury or release), Alex Cora the place of Jed Lowrie and Sean Casey will return. Click "read more" to check out the Month to Month...
Month to Month: April
Batters Key: Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging/Other Stat.Pitchers Key: W-L or Saves/IP/ERA/WHIP.
Only includes players currently on the 25-man roster at the end of month.
DOES NOT INCLUDE MARCH NUMBERS
| PLAYER |
2007 |
JUNE |
NOTES |
|
|
32.1/6.40/1.73 |
12.0/3.75/1.67 |
Aardsma certainly has a live arm, whiffing 13... but he's also walked 12. That can't keep happening. |
|
|
20-7 200.2/3.27/1.15 |
2-2 26.1/4.10/0.95 |
Beckett missed the beginning of the season but has come back strong. Can he win the Cy? |
|
|
3-1 22.2/1.59/1.06 |
1-2 28.2/4.08/1.26 |
Buchholz has been a solid pitcher for us, especially since we weren't supposed to count on him until later in the year. |
|
Kevin Cash |
.111/.242/.148 |
.323/.371/.419 |
Don't be fooled. He can't still hit. He's only here to catch Wake. |
|
Coco Crisp |
.268/.330/.382 |
.291/.310/.354 |
He's hitting for average again, but not much else. He did swipe four bags in the month, though. |
|
Manny Delcarmen |
44.0/2.05/1.02 |
10.2/6.75/1.50 |
Slow start for Manny, but he's still got strong K numbers (11) and his talent is undeniable. Give him time. |
|
|
.270/.373/.423 |
.269/.376/.410 |
Doesn't seem like he's much improved, does it? |
|
Jacoby Ellsbury |
.353/.394/.509 |
.282/.402/.451 |
Off to a scintillating start with 8 SB, when can we give Jacoby the keys to the full-time job? |
|
|
4-0 63.0/4.57/1.46 |
1-1 35.2/3.79/.1.49 |
For all the gnashing of teeth about him, he has a 4.31 ERA on the season excluding yesterday. Isn't that... good? |
|
|
40.2/3.10/1.33 |
9.0/5.00/1.67 |
Lopez isn't particularly good, but I don't think you can say he's particularly bad, either. He has a 3.75 ERA on the year. |
|
Mike Lowell |
.324/.378/.501 |
.138/.219/.172 |
Slow start for Lowell... we'll see if he's really cooked or not. I'm betting on the not part. |
|
|
ROOKIE |
.323/.371/.419 |
Lowrie's pretty impressive and given Lugo's inability to separate himself from the field, might J-Lo be the starting SS in '09? |
|
Julio Lugo |
.237/.294/.349 |
.267/.305/.300 |
J-Lu ain't no J-Lo. Nine errors on the year following yesterday. No power. Not worth his contract. |
|
Daisuke Matsuzaka |
15-12 204.2/2.52/1.09 |
4-0 30.2/2.35/1.04 |
Dice-K seems to be taking the leap towards Ace status. |
|
Brandon Moss |
.280/.379/.440 |
.333/.333/.333 |
Before an emergency appendectomy shelved him, Moss was proving to be a great backup. With two homers on the year, he already has more than Lugo and Crisp combined. |
|
Hideki Okajima |
69.0/2.22/0.97 |
9.1/0.96/1.07 |
Could Oki-Doki keep it up in his second year? So far, so good... actually, so far, so better. |
|
David Ortiz |
.332/.445/.621 |
.198/.300/.375 |
Off to a slow start, but what's that May average? Oh, .462. Anyone who wrote him off is about to be shown how much of a mistake that is. |
|
Jonathan Papelbon |
37 SV 58.1/1.85/0.77 |
7 SV 12.0/1.50/0.58 |
Up to his old tricks, Paps is the best pitcher in major league history statistically with at least 50 career IP (he has 174.2). |
|
Dustin Pedroia |
.317/.380/.442 |
.306/.352/.423 |
No April slump this time, he's right back to his old tricks. |
|
Manny Ramirez |
20 HR .296/.388/.493 |
5 HR .344/.417/.594 |
I don't think he'll have a problem surpassing 20 HR this year. |
|
Julian Tavarez |
7-11 134.2/5.15/1.50 |
10.1/5.23/1.94 |
|
|
Mike Timlin |
55.1/3.42/1.08 |
6.0/13.50/2.83 |
He's certainly been off to a concerning start and we should monitor him closely. He's done a lot for us, but like Tavarez, if he doesn't serve a need, why is he here? |
|
Jason Varitek |
.255/.367/.421 |
.273/.324/.485 |
A pretty resurgent April, yes? Entering the last year of his contract, I think if he can maintain 2007 levels, we'll be fine with that. |
|
|
17-12 189.0/4.76/1.35 |
2-0 31.0/4.06/1.48 |
Could have had 20 last year if he didn't get hurt. On his way to another fine Wake season. |
|
Kevin Youkilis |
.288/.390/.453 |
.316/.391/.495 |
What I'm most interested in is if he can keep up this level of production the WHOLE year. |
David Aardsma
Josh Beckett
Clay Buchholz
J.D. Drew
Jon Lester
Javier Lopez
Jed Lowrie
Tim Wakefield
Discussion
7 Comments on "2008 April: As good as advertised"
#1
Posted by Evan Brunell, May 5, 2008 12:58 AM
Well, Casey wasn't on the 25-man as of the end of April, soooo...
Yeah, April was a rough month. We can leave it behind now.
#2
Posted by Gerry, May 5, 2008 10:45 AM
Great job. "Awful April" is over at last.
Just 5 - 6 weeks ago the prognostications for April, because of the 'road trip from hell' and shortened S.T., included extreme fatigue and a terrible start. Well, we had the fatigue, plus a dozen injuries, plus rampant flu . . . and several more key injuries in the farm system. This combination would have done in a less resilient group.
Not the Sox!!! Amazingly, in April, the Sox claimed1st place, and remain there. As there is always a silver lining, this awful month opened the gates to the Red Sox for Buchholz, Masterson, Pauley, Hansen, Corey, Ellsbury, Casey, Lowrie, Moss, Thurston. And the fluid lineups re-discovered skills like SB, sacrifice, bunting, pickoffs, stretching extra bases.
Net result? Because of 'Awful April', we are suddenly a stronger, deeper team than last year, at every position and every level. And what does May promise this first place team, with Papi, Mikey, Coco, Becket, Daisuke, Hansack, etc. just getting rolling? And the rest of the season with Schill, Colon, Cora, Casey, Kielty and Moss waiting to heal and return?!? Thanks, April.
#3
Posted by Shawn Medeiros, May 5, 2008 10:49 AM
I hate April, but did I mention I love Jed Lowrie. OOooo the days of Julio Lugo will be over soon.
Honestly, it makes me wonder how people cannot draft though. Look at the NFL and the Patriots always drafting good players and the same for the Sox obviously. Is it really that hard or is it really that easy and these two teams are just dedicated to drafting well?
I do not know but if you look at our prospects the scouts are doing a tremendous job and probably should get more credit than they deserve.
Just a thought.
#4
Posted by Shawn Medeiros, May 5, 2008 10:50 AM
and is it that these two teams are just dedicated to drafting well and others are not?*
#5
Posted by Tim Daloisio, May 5, 2008 11:17 AM
A few thoughts:
1. Where's Sean Casey? He was huge this April...
2. April MVP: Dustin Pedroia. While Youk was huge and Manny a monster, Pedroia seems to be the player involved in every big inning and every crucial play. I have always called Youk "our-Jeter", but I may have to pass that along to Pedroia.
3. For Starters: Beckett pitched better than his numbers show. Look for a monster May. Dice K didn't pitch quite as well as his numbers show, but he is narrowing in on to the next plateau. Lester and Buchholz look like they are both turning the corner. If this continues, watch out A.L. Wake is......Wake....
4. Bullpen: MDC - bad, Okajima - good, Timlin - bad, Papelbon - good, Aardsma - ok, Lopez - ok, Tavarez - ?
5. Overall: B+....the Red Sox persevered alot in April. They exceeded expectations and leave in first place. If this were the first round of a golf tourney, they are Tiger Woods grinding out an under par round on a tough day stalking the leaderboard.
#7
Posted by Zach Hayes, May 5, 2008 6:28 PM
I know we're a little bit into May now, but at 20-13, I would consider the beginning of the season a relative success tying for the best record in the AL. We've played two series against the Yankees, one against the Angels, one vs. Detroit, one at Cleveland and four vs. Oakland including the Japan trip- not exactly the easiest month or so. The Red Sox have proven to boast one of the top offenses in the league, and while the back end of the bullpen is shaky, I think we all believe the rotation will be tops by the end of the year.
A's go to Youk, Pedroia, Manny, Casey, Paps and Okajima
MDC, Papi, Timlin and Drew need to step up.
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