Sunday, April 22, 2007

Sox vs. Yankees, Round 3, and other things

Needless to say, this has been an excellent series for the Red Sox against the Yankees. They've proven to be more efficient in most phases of the game than the Yanks, and it's been fun to watch the matchup bring out the best in some Sox players (Okajima, Crisp, Cora, Ortiz, others).

I'm hoping tonight's game will give Dice-K an opportunity to pitch with a lead. The Sox haven't seen Chase Wright, and in recent years it seems like the Red Sox don't do so well against guys they don't have a book on. Of course, Jeff Karstens would beg to differ. I think if the Sox can get Wright on the ropes early, Matsuzaka can settle down against the vaunted Yankees lineup and not have to press right out of the gate. The key for Dice-K, as always, will be whether or not he can harness his offspeed stuff. He did that in KC, but didn't against the M's and the Jays and the results were clear.

You've got to love how the Red Sox have plowed through Yankees pitching over the past two days but the only thing anyone wants to talk about on TV is how A-Rod is tearing up the world. I wonder why nobody cares to mention that he lined out to second base in the 9th inning on Monday. No, he's not God, people. Sorry.

In other news, don't look now but the Blue Jays have dropped five straight and were swept by the Orioles over the weekend. It seems like injuries have depleted some of their key components, but after a while a team like Toronto can't use that as an excuse. And last time I checked, none of those injured guys were starting pitchers. If the health problems don't go away, the Jays don't have any prospects they could seriously move to bring in new players. They will need to ask Adam Lind, a fine power prospect that starred for the Fisher Cats a few years back, to fill in some offense for the time being. Meanwhile, the O's have won eight of nine and Nick Markakis has taken the team on his back. Erik Bedard is an ace and Daniel Cabrera has finally found it. Watch out of the Orioles. Seriously, I mean it.

Some people have expressed to me their dismay about Alex Gordon, and the terrible start he's gotten off to. Yesterday he hit his first home run in front of the Royals fans, and it seemed like he would finally be ready to break out. But today against Ramon Ortiz and the Twins Gordon went 0-4 with 2 Ks. For fantasy owners that have Gordon, I don't think there's any reason to drop him especially if you're in a keeper league. Just stash him on your bench until he starts hitting, because he definitely will. According to those that watch him every day, he's not doing anything that points towards him not being able to handle the pressure, or him mechanically not being where he should. Gordon will be fine, trust me. He's got more talent than he's shown.

That's all for tonight. Look another post tomorrow evening.

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