At 6-6, the Red Sox have played to their exact potential, a team that will probably end a couple games above .500 with huge inconsistencies in their roster. You can spend hours, week and week talking about their starting rotation. You can go on and on about the exacerbation of the bullpen and their demand to log 30+ innings every week. I don't want to exhaust those points. I’ve got a couple different points I want to make about last week:
Christian Vazquez
The kid knows how to catch. He's clearly better than both Blake Swihart and Ryan Hanigan when it comes to controlling a game. Amazing since he's missed an entire year. In the one game he has played this year, he made Rick Porcello look like a respectable pitcher. He had poise when controlling base runners and clearly knows how to frame pitches better than the rest of the Red Sox battery. It makes me wonder about Swihart’s role with the Red Sox going forward. After getting sent down to Triple A, it makes me believe he will get used in a trade for a legitimate starting pitcher,mi clear number one or two guy. The Red Sox won’t keep both and Vazquez is just so good behind the plate while Swihart could get cashed in for some needed pitching depth that it makes the most sense.
Craig Kimbrel
I know I said I wouldn't talk about the bullpen, but I can't leave out Kimbrel. After his one bad outing (which comes once every other year for him) he has been throwing gas. Kimbrel is a guy I can picture people rooting for and trusting when it comes to October baseball. He's just a likable guy. I went to the Red Sox game on Wednesday, and the atmosphere was like nothing else. He ran in from the bullpen to “Welcome to the Jungle” with flames on every scoreboard. I know it's a cheap Red Sox gimmick but I'm buying in. I like Kimbrel’s demeanor and ability.
Pablo Sandoval
If you haven't kept up with the news, Sandoval basically has an undiagnosed eating disorder. I honestly feel bad for the guy. He gets so much crap from the fans and media about his weight, and he's just a guy that can't control it. I know there are two ways to look at it, but I can't help but feel bad for the guy. You wouldn't go around making fun at the average joe with an eating disorder, so lay off Sandoval. Let him work out his problems. Hope the guy gets some help.
Today is always one of the greatest games on the Red Sox schedule, Patriot’s day baseball. It's the one day of the year where the Red Sox play baseball in the morning, 11:05 sharp. I always remember being home from school on April vacation, and I would watch the pregame in my pajamas while eating breakfast. Truly like no other game. Clay Buchholz pitched pretty good, the team just couldn't hit behind him. I bet being at the actual game is such a great experience too. Maybe one day, but for now, in the wise words of Tom Werner “Let's Go Red Sox? Let’s Go Red Sox?”
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