Posts Tagged ‘Justin Masterson’
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Halfway Point Revisited: Making The GradeJuly 20th, 2008
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The mid-season report card, better known as the beat writer’s great crutch, remains one of the more pointless routines in baseball journalism. After all, a baboon could regurgiate what a player has already done and fling arbitrary grades around.
So, since we all know that assigning high and low marks to individual players is nothing but a sham, I decided to take a stab at it as well, though with, hopefully, some predictive acumen in certain cases. Read more
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Wrist & Relaxation: Big Papi Out At Least A MonthJune 7th, 2008
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He let loose his typical mighty swing—the type of violent hack meant to launch a baseball into an orbital rotation around the sun, or perhaps even beyond. A tick late on the incoming heater, he instead thundered a seemingly harmless foul ball off to the third base side.
But before the soon-to-be souvenir even found its way into the crowd, David Ortiz heard it: a disconcerting pop in his left hand followed by excruciating pain upon each subsequent movement of his wrist, which sounded off with a noticeable click.
An X-ray after the Monday night game against the Orioles in Baltimore revealed no damage, but an MRI the next day back in Boston would prove to be far more revealing. The extensor carpi ulnaris tendon in Ortiz’ left wrist had slipped from its sheath, which had suffered a partial tear, causing the connective tissue to grind and snap over the bone, hence the pesky clicking sound emanating from the area.
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May Farm Report: Promotions & Emotions - Part 1June 3rd, 2008
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It’s that time again. As the calendar flips to June—and as the 2008 amateur draft gets ready to kick off later this week—we first need to look back at the month that was down on the farm for the Red Sox organization.
But before highlighting the best from the month of May, a little upkeep on April’s minor league headliners tops the pecking order.
Soon after earning pitcher of the month honors in April in Triple-A Pawtucket, right-handed reliever Craig Hansen received another mark of distinction—only this one a bit more noteworthy for the imposing six-foot, six-inch fireballer with a hard slider. On May 6, the 24-year-old Hansen was promoted to the big league Red Sox in an effort to solidify a heavily Hideki Okajima and Jonathan Papelbon dependent bullpen.
While the results have been mixed, Hansen has shown some signs of being the potential dominating setup he was heralded to be when Boston selected him in the first round of the 2005 amateur draft. His high earned run average remains a bit deceiving given his lousy/unlucky strand rate of 42 percent; however, on the flipside, his command has been spotty and his .267 BABIP has worked to his benefit …
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Sox Head West, Offense Goes SouthMay 30th, 2008
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Superman has his Kryptonite. Spider-Man has his forever-conflicting sense of responsibility. And the oh-so-close-to-being-immortal Achilles had that pesky heel thing.
But the fatal weakness for the Red Sox thus far this season has been quite simple—with no intergalactic travel required. Because just outside the friendly nooks and crannies of Fenway Park, the mighty Boston lineup tends to morph from a run-producing powerhouse into the motley crew that made up the anemic offense of the painfully awful ‘62 Mets.
OK, a bit of an exaggeration, for sure. After all, the Sox, despite a recent run-scoring outage, still maintain the second best road OPS in the American League. But with Boston dropping 10 of their last 12 away from the Fens—and averaging only 3.5 runs in the process—the team needs to take the nearest exit ramp off this road to perdition.
After the first six contests of a ten game trip—a West Coast swing through Oakland and Seattle before heading back east to square off against Baltimore this weekend—the Sox find themselves with only a single etch in the win column. Read more
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April Farm Report: A Master and His Bard - Part 1May 1st, 2008
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There’s a reason why many Red Sox followers remained hesitant when it came to the discussed but never-to-be trade for ace lefty and change-up king Johan Santana this past off-season.
Just call it prospect envy.
With the success of second baseman Dustin Pedroia, last year’s American League Rookie of the Year, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury, a key cog in Boston’s World Series sweep of the Rockies, and right-hander Clay Buchholz, owner of a no-hitter in his second major league start, the fans of the Olde Towne Team are starting to expect similar results from each farmhand that makes his way up to the big club.
Add into the mix shortstop Jed Lowire, who has filled in admirably as a super-sub on the major league roster due to injuries in the Boston infield this season, and right-hander Justin Masterson’s impressive spot start against the Angels last week, and this phenomenon of lusting after the unknown—like the backup quarterback in football—only intensifies.
And fans aren’t alone when it comes to prospect envy.
Ultimately, the Red Sox front office, led by general manager Theo Epstein, felt the price for Santana—four top prospects … and a huge contract—was not one worth paying.
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Sickly Sox Regress To The MeanApril 28th, 2008
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Five days. That’s all it takes. From a six-game winning streak filled with memorable late-inning heroics to a five game nose-dive the Red Sox would like to soon forget as the team heads into its first off-day since April 7, a span covering 20 straight games played in between.
But with a run differential that didn’t match their spiffy 15-7 record heading into Wednesday’s contest against the Angels, the Sox were due for a little regression towards the mean—though, ideally, not in the span of 120 hours. Of course, a team-wide bout with the influenza epidemic of 2008 hasn’t helped matters.
Ravaged by a nefarious flu bug, the Sox were forced to dip into the depths of their system when ace Josh Beckett and the so-far-undefeated Daisuke Matsuzaka fell victim to the pervasive virus last week during a three game set with the Angels.
As a result of the unexpected scratches, Boston called up two starters from the minors—Triple-A Pawtucket right-hander David Pauley, a middling young arm who had previously made his debut in 2006, and fellow righty Justin Masterson, a top five prospect in the Sox system making the jump from Double-A Portland. In addition, Jon Lester took to the hill on three days rest in the middle game of the series.