*Official* 4-11 DC Disaster; Nats 7 Sox 4 Postgamer

[amsteel]

Originally Posted by Lip Man 1

"the pitching isn't as good as the Sox are making it out to be..."

Does anyone buy the bull**** the Sox sell? A 9 year old with an Internet connection could figure that out.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by amsteel

Does anyone buy the bull**** the Sox sell? A 9 year old with an Internet connection could figure that out.

Seriously, our 3rd starter for the time being is Gavin Floyd. We're giving the ball to Dylan Axelrod every 5th day. Let's ponder these things for a moment.

[Foulke You]

Originally Posted by BigHurt3515

Still would rather have Santiago starting instead of Axelrod.

I really have no idea why the Sox felt Axelrod was the better pick for the rotation. I think they were dazzled by his Spring Training stats. Dylan battles but he just doesn't have big league stuff. He has to be perfect with his control just to make it thru 5 or 6 innings. He never misses the bat which is a bad thing when you only throw 84mph most the time. As Hawk pointed out in tonight's broadcast, Santiago has the stuff to pitch out of jams. I was rather shocked that Robin left Axelrod in to face Harper (who he promptly plunked) when Santiago was ready. He then left him in for Zimmerman who delivered the killing blow. Just a frustrating series to watch.

[LoveYourSuit]

Originally Posted by BigHurt3515

Still would rather have Santiago starting instead of Axelrod.

Yeah. I never understood why "the next man up" was not the next man up.

You let Hector get his shot, and then worry about Danks when he gets here. It's not like the other two guys (Gavin and Quintana) are locks to keep in the rotation either.

They're acting like they have studs 1-4 and they can tread water with the 5. They are so mistaken.

Not saying Hector is lock to be a stud either, but he's 10 X better than Axelrod. No contest.

[Lip Man 1]

Could it be because the Sox don't want three (or four if Danks ever comes back) left handers in the rotation?

Lip

[JB98]

Originally Posted by BleacherBandit

And lousy pitching. Don't forget lousy pitching.

That's clearly the main problem.

We can talk about the offense until we are blue in the face. It is what it is. This is a power-hitting team. When they are hitting balls off the wall and over the wall, they will score runs. When they aren't doing that, they will scuffle. You can wish for it to change all you want, but it won't. That's what this group of hitters does.

The Sox scored seven runs the first game of this series. That's more than enough to win. They lost. They scored four runs tonight. That's enough to win if you pitch well. The Sox did not pitch well.

As a matter of fact, all three starters the Sox sent to the mound in this series sucked out loud. The bullpen wasn't great either. The Sox did a lot of things wrong on the pitching-and-defense side in this series. Bad pitches in the middle of the plate, walks and HBPs at bad times, wild pitches, errant pick-off throws, allowing the opposing pitcher to reach base, etc.

Just a bad series and it starts with bad starting pitching. That's a far greater concern to me than anything that's going on offensively. I'm hardly surprised to see the Sox struggling with RISP. They have stretches like this every year. You can overcome it if you pitch good.

And, BTW, is it safe for us Tyler Flowers skeptics to come out now? He had a nice opening series, but I still think he has too many holes in that swing to be an everyday player.

[Red Barchetta]

The Expos, I mean Nationals, do look strong this season! Glad the SOX are moving on.

BTW - I blame the new pants. They are 0-3!

[asindc]

Originally Posted by kittle42

Do we really need the media to tell us that?

This team is 81 wins. But the management is content with that, so whatever.

If by "management," you mean ownership, I agree. If you ean KW, Hahn, etc., I disagree. I also agree that we don't need a member of the media who is watching what we are to tell us the obvious.

[HomeFish]

Pretty sure I saw Hector Santiago's family at Game 1 of the series in DC. Or, at the very least, I saw a group of people, each wearing a Hector Santiago jersey or jersey shirt.

I looked it up and he's originally from New Jersey, so its not implausible that they would make the drive to DC.

[Hitmen77]

Originally Posted by kittle42

Do we really need the media to tell us that?

This team is 81 wins. But the management is content with that, so whatever.

Yep, that's pretty much what I believe.

Originally Posted by Red Barchetta

The Expos, I mean Nationals, do look strong this season! Glad the SOX are moving on.

BTW - I blame the new pants. They are 0-3!

Ah, you beat me to it. Sox winless since the road pants leg stripe tweak debacle began! JR, Brooks stop the insanity now! Bring back our stripe!

[SCCWS]

Originally Posted by Tragg

I'm stuck between we're really bad, considering blown chance after blown chance; or we're pretty good, but we just played a juggernaut and didn't catch any breaks.

I am not sure i would call them a juggernaut. They had just returned from losing 2 out of 3 to Cinci. In that series, the Reds pounded Washington pitching.

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by SCCWS

I am not sure i would call them a juggernaut. They had just returned from losing 2 out of 3 to Cinci. In that series, the Reds pounded Washington pitching.

The Reds are also really, really good.

This Nats team might be the best overall team in baseball.

[Zakath]

Originally Posted by SCCWS

I am not sure i would call them a juggernaut. They had just returned from losing 2 out of 3 to Cinci. In that series, the Reds pounded Washington pitching.

The Nationals started Haren, Detwiler, and Strasburg in that series. We only saw Haren of those 3, and Haren is extremely hittable.

[russ99]

Originally Posted by JB98

That's clearly the main problem.

We can talk about the offense until we are blue in the face. It is what it is. This is a power-hitting team. When they are hitting balls off the wall and over the wall, they will score runs. When they aren't doing that, they will scuffle. You can wish for it to change all you want, but it won't. That's what this group of hitters does.

The Sox scored seven runs the first game of this series. That's more than enough to win. They lost. They scored four runs tonight. That's enough to win if you pitch well. The Sox did not pitch well.

As a matter of fact, all three starters the Sox sent to the mound in this series sucked out loud. The bullpen wasn't great either. The Sox did a lot of things wrong on the pitching-and-defense side in this series. Bad pitches in the middle of the plate, walks and HBPs at bad times, wild pitches, errant pick-off throws, allowing the opposing pitcher to reach base, etc.

Just a bad series and it starts with bad starting pitching. That's a far greater concern to me than anything that's going on offensively. I'm hardly surprised to see the Sox struggling with RISP. They have stretches like this every year. You can overcome it if you pitch good.

And, BTW, is it safe for us Tyler Flowers skeptics to come out now? He had a nice opening series, but I still think he has too many holes in that swing to be an everyday player.

You definitely have a point about our pitching - both starters and the pen let us down.

But look at the other side of the field, that Nats team has a quality lineup, and it makes matters worse when we're giving away outs left and right.

Agree, we do have a power hitting team, but good pitching can dry up that power and you need to find other ways to win, like going the other way on inside pitches to get a run in, and being smart at the plate in other ways that this group can't seem to be able to do.

Hopefully Cleveland will be good for what ails us.

[Crestani]

Originally Posted by Foulke You

I really have no idea why the Sox felt Axelrod was the better pick for the rotation. I think they were dazzled by his Spring Training stats. Dylan battles but he just doesn't have big league stuff. He has to be perfect with his control just to make it thru 5 or 6 innings. He never misses the bat which is a bad thing when you only throw 84mph most the time. As Hawk pointed out in tonight's broadcast, Santiago has the stuff to pitch out of jams. I was rather shocked that Robin left Axelrod in to face Harper (who he promptly plunked) when Santiago was ready. He then left him in for Zimmerman who delivered the killing blow. Just a frustrating series to watch.

Why were you shocked? It has been Robin's MO all spring to leave the starter in one batter too late...!!!