Monday, May 3, 2010

An Unwelcome Return

Sorry, Paps. Can't hide from this stinker.
(cache.boston.com)

What a cobweb buster. Well, what can bring me back from my month-long hiatus from blogging (Sorry about that by the way)? What could possibly compel me enough to make some time to spew some vitriol with the help of my keyboard? What could be bigger news than a gigantic oil spoil, or my beloved Barça's exit from the Champions League? How about getting swept by a team that we were 16-2 against last year and were 4-18 coming into this weekend's debacle of a series, making it the the 1st time since the brand-spanking new Gerald Ford administration was putting Watergate in the dust that the Sox were swept in Baltimore in a 3-game set. And the back talk I'm getting from my friends in the Maryland/DC area is only the tip of the iceberg. So much for a Cloudcast comeback on how I spout about an emerging Sox team and how a certain McWalk-Off will direct our season for the better (Attended that doozie of a game, but no montage. Stupid me for not bringing the camera.). I mean, our bullpen out-Baltimored the Orioles 'pen, which says a whole lot about the state of our team right now, and reaffirms the concerns I have had about our relief corps since Spring Training. Our offense out-Baltimored the O's in clutch situations with a 4/20 clip with runners in scoring position during the nuclear meltdown known as that series this past weekend. Seeing the likes of Will Ohman and Matt Albers turn into Koufax/Drysdale made me as nauseous as someone who has drank the tap water in Boston this past weekend. I won't lie, I wish this team was a horse just so I could shoot it, put it out of its misery turn it into glue. Hey, it would be something useful for once. As great as the B's and C's are doing, my heart's affinity gears strongly for the Sox, and you probably know how that's working out for me, especially because this year's team is more vanilla than last year's version (or that Frosty I had a Wendy's two weeks ago), and they're losing to the likes of the O's on top of it. Even though it's only May and I realize that it is just past dawn in the season, I'm already in the pantry looking for that towel.

I wish I was really watching 'Groundhog Day'.
(cache.boston.com)

Where do I start? Well let's check the basics on Theo's genius run prevention strategy for '10. Team ERA: 4.78, good enough for 12th in the American League. The combined 5.60 ERA of Lester and Beckett doesn't help the 4.96 starter's ERA, nor does it validate any preseason predictions made for this rotation. Dice-K has me all but abandoning my prediction for a stellar comeback season. When you implode like he did on Saturday even when he was so under control earlier in the game has to indicate a mental timidness, a fear of returning to the failure he was so familiar with last year. The bullpen has me feeling less cozy, with Okajima's 6.75 ERA and Papelbon's knack for drama not exactly making it easy for me to sleep at night. Fielding Percentage: .980, which places 13th in the AL. Beltre has already made 5 errors at 3rd, Bill Hall has forced me into terrible flashbacks of my Little League career on a couple of instances in the field and our dynamic outfield duo have been done in by some bad ribs and a kidney stone issue that has become an eerie trend for Sox center fielders (See: Coco Crisp, 2006). Well, so much for pitching and defense, huh? But the holes are more frequent, and sooooooo much deeper. Our inability to throw out even the cement-footed on the basepaths has grown into a bigger malaise than even the most cynical sports blogger could ever even imagine. In fact, both 'Tek and V-Mart have caught only a combined 7 out of 45 runners (15.6%), which is actually good compared to the abysmal 2 for 40 clip (5%)that the tandem tallied prior to the start of the road trip at Toronto. The 9-steal performance against Tim Wakefield that I had the privilege to witness couple of weeks back only made our powerlessness against base-stealers more apparent, while compelling me to down more $8 dollar drafts to ease my suffering. And let's not let the hitting (or lack of) slide off that easily. The struggles of key run producers like Drew (.214, 29 Ks in 84 ABs), V-Mart (.230, 1 HR, .310 SLG) have stunted us enough, especially in clutch situations. However, the Big Papi situation (.159, 23 Ks in 63 ABs) consumes our attention the most, for we all wonder if the sun has set on his career. The bat speed just isn't there, as evidenced by the many floaters in the zone he used to make satellites are now just foul tips. The worst part is that you know the past two years have got to him. The steroid scandal and the slow start last year in particular have just affected him drastically, and you can tell with the blowup he had with the media after his struggles after only the 2nd game of the season. Don't you have to slump at least a whole month before expletives start being thrown around in clubhouse interviews? Even by getting the rest of the guys off the DL and on the lineup card, I'm starting to wonder if Ellsbury can charge us up enough to get back to playoff contention, or if a 37-year old Cameron can be a big contributor or just become another casualty like the other 30-somethings on the club. With this team walking on a 'bridge' so to speak, the Sox were the team out of the Big 3 in the AL East that could least afford a start like the one they have produced, especially when the Rays and Yanks have been on the high-speed rail to begin the season. The cherry on top of all this is that we head back home playing a combined 7 games against the two participants of the 2009 ALCS in the Angels and the Yankees this week. With all this Yes, there is 137 contests left to play and you always have to be on 'wait-and-see' mode in a long season such as a baseball campaign. I mean, who would have thought Varitek would be the MVP of the team at the end of April? With all the obsessing and prepping I do for this team, I would hate to give up on a season before the vernal equinox. But with the many deficiencies plaguing the team, I think I could feel confident in booking those Europe tickets for October.


Mochaman's Fantasy Baseball Report
- Bubba Gump Shrimpz - 29-24-3 (2nd, Vitamins and Supplements, 7 GB)
Tis the season, ladies and gents! Great to start up the fantasy baseball reports again. So far, so good on the title defense, especially after surviving a disastrous opening week. Carpenter, Johnson, and Niemann have teamed up with waiver-wire pickups like Fister and C.J. Wilson to create a staff that has been out of this planet despite the struggles of Felix Hernandez. Hopefully, it only gets better when Strasburg gets called up in June and tears it up like expected (knock on wood)! However, my team has slowly becoming the training room with the growing amount of injuries (Kurt Suzuki, Brett Anderson, Mike Gonzalez). Regardless, Choo and crew need to rake if I am to overcome this week, considering all of my starters will only have one start to contribute.

- Mocha Sox - 18-20-2 (8th, Yahoo Public 162850, 6.5 GB)
Lukewarm start, but better than expected considering I missed this draft (big oops!). The return of Cliff should help out a staff that has been saved by the wonder known as Ubaldo Jimenez. Another Rockie, Carlos Gonzalez, has been an absolute stud. Hoping that he can keep up this production year round. Hoping Prince Fielder and V-Mart can heat up an carry this team past consolation bracket territory. Either way, I think a couple of trades are in order.