AL East Position Matchup: Right Field

Posted on February 29, 2012 by TOB$

Excluding the Designated Hitter, we are now at the last matchup for position players. Just a quick update on spring training. Everything is going well so far, but Bobby Valentine and Varitek have been the hottest topics of conversation. I discussed my thoughts on Varitek in yesterday’s article: O Captain! My Captain! Varitek set to Retire Thursday. As far as Bobby V goes, it seems like there might be a year long bout between him and Terry. With Terry taking a role at ESPN, he is commenting and criticizing every single move by Bobby. Bobby isn’t cutting himself short in the media circle either though. He has been trying to ignite a fire into the Yankees-Sox rivalry ever since he took the job and I love it. I think the boneheads on our team need someone like Bobby to get them fired up and perform up to their abilities. It should be very interesting to see how the players react to his different coaching style this year.

For previous positional rankings click here: C–1B–2B–3B–SS–LF–CF

Back to the rankings:

1. Jose Bautista, Blue Jays
2. Matt Joyce, Rays
3. Nick Swisher, Yankees
4. Nick Markakis, Orioles
5. Cody Ross/Ryan Sweeney, Red Sox

Jose Bautista is the real deal. He answered every question about whether he was a fluke in 2010 when he came back in 2011 with an even stronger campaign. Bautista has been in two consecutive All-Star games, received two consecutive Silver Slugger awards and he was 4th in the MVP vote 2010 and 3rd last year. With 97 HR’s in the last two years, Bautista’s power stroke will not be going anywhere, but I do see his .302 BA from last year dropping back down closer to his career norms. I’m expecting a .275/46/115 line for Bautista this year, which should keep him in the MVP race again this year.

Next up is 27 year old Matt Joyce for the Rays. Although Joyce cannot hit lefthanders at all (.217 BA last year, .196 Career), he responded very well to his first season in which he received regular playing time. The Rays also have the luxury of using Ben Zobrist to fill in for Joyce against lefty’s, so that he doesn’t hurt their lineup. Joyce brings good power to the plate for the Rays (19 HR’s in 462 AB’s), but also displayed solid baserunning skills last year (13 SB’s, 1 CS). He also maintained a good average and had a great OBP. His overall ability gave him the edge over the older Markakis and Swisher.

Nick Swisher got the slight edge over Orioles 28 year old Markakis. Swisher’s output this year is essentially already established. We can expect 25-30 HR’s out of Swisher, coupled with a low batting average (.254 career) and a much higher OBP (.374 last year, .360 career). I’m not expecting much of a difference in Swisher’s production considering he is only 31 and his role with the Yankees doesn’t look like it will be effected. Markakis has been a very durable player for the O’s since he joined their big league squad six seasons ago. Despite this, Markakis had surgery in January on a torn abdomen, which might hinder his ability at the beginning of the season. Markakis looked primed to be the savior of the Orioles franchise after a .300/23 HR/ 112 RBI line with 18 SB in his sophomore season, in which he was just 23 years old. That season turned out to have career bests in steals, home runs, and rbi’s. Markakis is still a solid player, just not the type of player Orioles fans around the country once wished.

Cody Ross Cody Ross #13 of the San Francisco Giants hits a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning against Colby Lewis #48 of the Texas Rangers in Game Three of the 2010 MLB World Series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on October 30, 2010 in Arlington, Texas.

Last up is the Red Sox rightfielders, Cody Ross against Lefties and the occasional righy, and Ryan Sweeney matching up against mostly Righthanded pitchers. I think Ross will be a great clubhouse guy and provide another guy with some postseason success. Ross is .261 career hitter and his career highs in HR’s and RBI’s were 24 and 90 respectively, with the Marlins in 2009. Ross has the capability to be a full time rightfielder for the Sox if he can rediscover the bat he had in 2009 with the Marlins and in the 2010 postseason with the Giants. Sweeney on the other hand has been atrocious vs lefty’s in his career(.233 career BA, .159 last year), making him at most a platoon player. Although he doesn’t provide much power, he will maintain a good average for the Sox and get on base at a solid rate (.342 career OBP). With Sweeney’s limited production, I see Ross getting the majority of the starts in Rightfield throughout 2012 for the Sox.

For previous positional rankings click here: C–1B–2B–3B–SS–LF–CF

Bruins Get Blanked

Posted on February 29, 2012 by amazze

Senators goaltender Robin Lehner (20 years old) made himself known to the Bruins faithful last night when he registered 32 saves and his first career shutout. Young defenseman (21 days younger than me, hard to believe) Erik Karlsson tallied the only goal for Ottawa on a gift powerplay. Tyler Seguin was called for a phantom interference penalty which ended up costing the B’s the game. Although, the Bruins did not exactly play their best in the first two periods (more like terrible) they came out strong in the third, but playing catch-up hockey is not this team’s strength. They are dominant when they score first, so these sluggish starts are killing them. Not to take anything away from Lehner, but the Bruins should have buried the puck on a couple of chances. Even though Lehner was great in net, guys like Bergeron and Marchand need to finish strong. After posting five goals on these guys a couple of nights ago on the road, it’s kind of unacceptable to come home and get shut-out considering Ottawa has sneakily crept up to within one point of the Northeast division leading Bruins. Ottawa has won six of seven and the B’s have lost four of six. The Bruins have a game tomorrow vs. the Devils and Saturday vs. the Islanders before a big showdown with the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. I would like to see this team get a little momentum heading into a potential Eastern Conference finals matchup, by winning these next two by reestablishing their checking game, outskating their opponents, and causing turnovers. When they stick to this formula, its plain and simple, they win games.

Sorry for the Jinx Michigan State

Posted on February 29, 2012 by christoph131

So, since I decided to make a big deal about how I thought #5 Michigan State should be a #1 seed during March Madness in yesterday’s post, they decided to lose their game against #20 Indiana. They didn’t just lose, they got killed. Although Draymond Green scored 29 points on 10 of 17 shooting from the field (3 for 6 three-pointers), he could not help the Spartans out of this one. He also grabbed 8 rebounds. However, he did commit 6 turnovers that turned out to be quite costly. Unfortunately, no one else on his team was able to score more than 8 points.

The Hoosiers were able to pull this one off led by stand-out freshman forward Cody Zeller (to the right). Zeller only committed 1 turnover and scored 18 points. Junior forward Christian Watford was able to record a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds during a team high 33 minutes of floor time.

Celtics-Cavs Preview

Posted on February 28, 2012 by leibo4

The Celtics (15-17) look to start off the second half of the season with a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers (13-18). The Celtics have lost 7 of their last 8 games and their last 5 straight. This is the deciding game of the season series as both the Celtics and Cavs have both won one. Kyrie Irving had the game winning layup in the first game as the Cav’s went on a 12-0 run to beat the Celts by one. Two days later the Celtics almost blew a 22 point lead against the Cav’s but managed to hold on for a 3 point win.

The Celtics are supposed to get Rajon Rondo (suspension), Brandon Bass (Knee), and Chris Wilcox (Groin) all back to play against the Cavs. Look for Rajon Rondo to come out and attack the basket early on in the game as he came out during the All-Star break and took the teams struggles on his shoulders. When Rondo attacks the hoop early, it bodes well for the Celtics chances. Getting both Bass and Wilcox back will be huge for the Celtics as they are two of the better rebounders for the Celtics and Varejao has killed the Celtics on the board this year. They will both bring an offensive presence to the Celts as Bass is deadly with his jumper and Wilcox is Rondo’s favorite player in the transition game.

Keys to the Game

Turnovers

Until the Celtics can consistently stop turning over the ball 15+ times per game, this is going to be on here. The Celtics are turning over the ball the 8^th most in the NBA. It doesn’t matter how good of defense they are playing because of all the easy buckets they are giving up from rebounds and turnovers.

Rebounding

The Celtics rank dead last in rebounds per game, they are getting outrebounded by their opponents by over 3 rebounds a game. Getting Chris Wilcox and Brandon Bass back will definitely help the Celtics. The Celtics have to look to box out Anderson Varejao who had 9 and 20 rebounds in the two previous games.

Marquee Matchup

vs.

The marquee matchup tonight is Rajon Rondo vs. Kyrie Irving. Rondo is coming off a two game suspension and the All-Star game while Kyrie is coming off the MVP of the Rising Stars game where he scored 34 points off 8-8 shooting from 3. Look for both players to attack the paint and be very active all over the floor. Whichever player wins this matchup will likely win the game for his team.

Yanks Bathroom Photoshoot, Typical

Posted on February 28, 2012 by jtulz07

It being only the beginning of Spring Training, I usually hold off on the Yankee insults til at least the beginning of spring games. Don’t get me wrong, the “Yankees Suck” chants are a year round calling for all Boston fans, whether you’re at a Bruins, Celts, Pats game, or even a Sox game against the Blue Jays or any team other than the Yanks. It’s all fair game, but this time of year tends to be an unsaid down time for Yankee hatred, at least publicly, as there’s more of a focus on what’s new within the Sox organization and just an overall pleasant feeling knowing that baseball’s just around the corner.

Needless to say, I was reading something about the Yanks that I found pretty funny. Then a friend sent over a video of it, thanks Steph, and I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity to share it. Apparently as part of their preseason media day, the Yanks did part of their photo shoots in a bathroom at their Spring Training facility in Tampa. I mean we all know A-Rod loves the mirror pics, but I guess now the whole team’s on board. New York Yankees and bathroom photo shoots. Yeah, sounds about right.

Video Here: Yanks Bathroom Photo Shoot

Double Dip: Match Play & Bruins

Posted on February 28, 2012 by amazze

Over the weekend, the annual Accenture Match Play Tournament took place in Arizona. Different from stroke play, match play pits two golfers head-to-head in a bracket style tournament, similar to the March Madness tourney (with maybe just a little less excitement). The American and goat of the Ryder Cup two years back, Hunter Mahan edged out rising star Rory McIlroy for arguably his best career victory. Mahan was solid throughout the event, but it was McIlroy who really impressed me. If you don’t already know, this kid is damn good. After falling 3 holes behind Lee Westwood in the semi-final match, McIlroy rallied back to take the next 3 out of 4 holes and square the match. I don’t know if there will ever be another Tiger Woods, but McIlroy is going to be great, if he isn’t already. Look for him to take over the World Number 1 ranking after the tournament this weekend.

Now on to the Bruins…

I don’t know about you but I am excited for the Bruins vs. Senators tonight. Up in Ottawa a couple of nights ago there were a few mix-ups and a lot of unfinished business left on the table. Both Boychuck and Corvo took some heavy shots late in the game from Senators Chris Neil and Kyle Turris respectively. Neil’s shot on Boychuck was clean, but unneccessary. It was a huge hit that if the roles were reversed we would be going crazy. However, since it was our guy Boychuck getting steamrolled I was a little pissed and Zdeno Chara also wasn’t too happy because with 7:00 minutes left in the third he duked it out with Neil. I’m not too sure if that will be the end of that, but look for guys to really “finish” their checks on him tonight. The hit on Corvo was not so clean. Turris received a 2 minute minor for boarding, but the hit to the head left Jack Edwards up in arms so I expect to see some retaliation on Turris tonight by either McQuaid, Thornton, or even Corvo. Regardless, it should be a good, physical game which suits the B’s well. Also look for new additions Brian Rolston (right) and Mike Mottau.

New #5

Posted on February 28, 2012 by christoph131

Kentucky | Syracuse | Missouri | Kansas | Duke

Even though I did the top 5 march madness predictions last week, there is a new #5 team due to Mizzou losing twice. Today we will look at:

#5 Michigan State

Remaining Opponents: #20 Indiana, #11 Ohio State

Prediction: The Spartans have had a tough schedule all year. They had back to back losses to start the season. However, these losses were to UNC and Duke. No doubt about it, they have a tough line up for the next two weeks. If they can get past both of those teams they will have a good shot at a #1 seed due to their strength of schedule. Plus, someone could lose in that time frame.

Draymont Green is a 6’7 Senior forward who averages a double-double. He works hard in 32.9 minutes per night to put in 15.6 PPG and 10.3 RPG. He also helps with 3.6 Assists which is second most on the team. That is a good amount for a big man.

Keith Appl ing is a Sophomore guard from Detroit who accounts for 11.7 PPG while putting in a team-high 3.8 assists per game.

Branden Dawson is a 6’6 Freshman guard who accounts for 8.7 PPG while grabbing 4.7 boards per contest. He also shoots a team-high 58% from the field.

Senior Brandon Wood is a 6’2 guard that contributes 8.2 points of his own per game. He also isn’t too bad at the helpers (2.9 RPG, 2.2 APG).

O Captain! My Captain!: Varitek Set to Retire Thursday

Posted on February 28, 2012 by TOB$

On July 31st, 1997, the Boston Red Sox received Derek Lowe and first round pick Jason Varitek from the Seattle Mariners for reliever Heathcliff Slocumb. After being traded as a minor league prospect, there was no way Varitek could have imagined playing his entire 15 year major league career with one team. Similar to Tim Wakefield, it was assumed by many that V-Tek would walk away after the season ended last year. News has now broken out that Jason is set to announce his retirement Thursday at Fort Myers.

Throughout his long baseball career, Jason was always a winner. He is one of only two players in the history of baseball to play in the World Championship of the Little League Championship, College World Series National Championship, and the World Series in the MLB (Ed Vosberg is the other for those keeping track). His high school also won the State championship for Florida in 1990 and was ranked as the number one team in the nation by USA Today.

I hope your starting to get the “pitcher” (pun intended, horrible, but a pun nonetheless) because it was felt by many Sox fans that V-Tek knew some of the pitchers better than they did themselves. He was never the best hitting catcher, but not the worst either. Despite this, Jason was the perfect battery mate for every Sox pitcher (with the exception of Timmy and his knuckleball) and perfect teammate. He was crucial to both championship teams in 2004 and 2007 and Captain of the Red Sox from 2006 on. He caught a Major League record four no-hitters, which is a true testament of how well he could call a game behind the plate. I hope Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Ryan Lavarnway were able to learn a lot from Jason Varitek in their short time with him. His endless preparation and knowledge of the game was a huge benefit to the Sox pitchers throughout the last 14 years.

My favorite Varitek memory (along with many other Red Sox fans) came on July 24, 2004. In one of those summer games vs the Yanks at Fenway on Fox, A-Rod got pegged by Bronson Arroyo. Naturally, A-Rod started to bitch back at Arroyo, yelling “F*ck you, F*ck you.” There was no way Tek was having any of that and shoved his glove square into A-Rod’s face and starting a bench clearing brawl. The Sox went on to comeback from a 9-4 deficit and beat the Yanks 11-10 in the 9th by scoring three on the “invincible” Mariano Rivera. The game immediately went down as an all time great. That moment seemed to be the turning point of their championship season. The Sox posted the best record in the bigs from that point on and developed a much-needed swagger against the Yanks and Rivera that proved crucial when they were down 3-0 in the ALCS.

It’s going to be tough in the Sox clubhouse this year with all the crap that unfolded during their September collapse. Not having guys like Wakefield and Varitek won’t help, but as I have said before hopefully guys like Salty and Adrian will step up like they said. As I noted in my catcher positional rankings, I hope that the Red Sox can reward Varitek similar to how the Pats treated Kevin Faulk. The only difference would be since Varitek will be officially retired, his role will be a coaching job within the organization, not the player/mentor role Faulk had this past year. Either way, Timmy and V-Tek will be missed greatly, both in the clubhouse and on the TV screen. They are true heroes of Red Sox Nation and they deserved to be honored for their accomplishments.

Which brings me to this poll question, feel free to put in some comments.

All Star Break Grades – Small Forward

Posted on February 28, 2012 by leibo4

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	+/-	PER
Paul Pierce	17.6	5	5.3	.48	1.21	+145	19.1

Positives: Pierce is looking more as a creator this year averaging a career high in assists per game. Especially in games where Rondo is out, Pierce takes over ball handling duties and creates for other players. He has been looking more of the Pierce of old as of late as he is attacking the rim and getting much more in game shape. Is still the Celtics best scorer and has the ability to go off in a quarter. Above average defensive player who uses his strength on defense.

Negatives: Pierce is averaging his lowest points per game since his rookie season in 98-99. Came into the season out of shape and used at least the first fifteen games to get acclimated to playing again. Lost a lot of athleticism and age is becoming a factor.

Grade: B-

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	+/-	PER
Mickael Pietrus	7.1	3.3	.6	.22	.48	+25	9.0

Positives: Expectations were low for Pietrus as he was a late signing and coming off of a knee surgery. He has been a major surprise to the Celtics, providing key 3 point shooting and great defense. He has lit a fire into the second unit and allowed Doc not to have to play Sasha Pavlovic or Marquis Daniels extended time. Doc has helped him out a lot this season, he has progressed from a player who has great defensive talents, to being a great defensive players.

Negatives: Has been relatively cold lately from beyond the arc. Cannot really create his own shot, is more of a spot up shooter. May be due to his poor ball handling ability, has only become a 3-point threat offensively.

Grade: B+

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Blocks	Steals	+/-	PER
Sasha Pavlovic	2.4	1.1	.2	.44	.28	-25	5.8

Positives: Not too much to be positive of here. Pavlovic has shown in the past that he can be a 3 point shooter. Every once in a while he comes up with a steal or two as he did against Orlando this year.

Negatives: Where should I start? Sasha does not get to the line, has trouble driving the ball to the basket, and has a non-existent post game. He does not have a handle to run the point guard position or gets rebounds on the offensive or defensive glass unless they fall to him. He is more or less Scal without bringing anything else to the table. I wish the Celtics would have used his money to sign Gerald Green back to the team (as the Nets just did).

Grade: F

Other Grades

Shooting Guards | Point Guards

Bruins Virtually Stagnet at Deadline

Posted on February 27, 2012 by amazze

The Bruins did pretty much nothing at the trade deadline. They acquired former Bruin Brian Rolston and former BC standout defenseman Mike Mottau from the New York Islanders. They also landed defenseman Greg Zanon from the Minnesota Wild. These are all virtually zero-impact moves so it looks like Chiarelli is confident with this team moving forward. Perhaps Horton will be ready for the playoffs.

Boston Sports Blog

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