As you may recall, I have buried this team. I watched them die a horrible death, I buried them, I grieved and I've moved on. They've recently put together a nice stretch of baseball. If I didn't know this team better I might even mistake it for signs of life. They've won their last 3 series by winning 7 of their last 10 games. They took 2 out of 3 from the Rays, then 3 out of 4 from Toronto and finally 2 out of 3 from the Astros. Two AL East teams and the team with the most wins in the American League.
On paper, this sounds pretty good. Don't let that fool you though. This is still the same team that dug their own grave. They make careless errors that balance out their tremendous talent. Eduardo Rodriguez has been generally good, but he's still prone to the occasional inconsistencies of a rookie. Clay Buchholz has looked good lately, but his whole career has been a roller coaster ride. Rick Porcello has lost his last 7 decisions and his ERA has climbed over 6. Justin Masterson is back. Masterson managed to muddle through 5 innings in his return before getting shelled in his most recent start. He's probably washed up. Wade Miley is a middle of the rotation pitcher. No more. No less. Joe Kelly has been shipped back down to Pawtucket to work on his mechanics. It feels like a long way from starting in Game 3 of the World Series doesn't it? The bullpen is incredibly shallow beyond Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. I know what this team is and I'm going to let them stay buried.
-Mike
On paper, this sounds pretty good. Don't let that fool you though. This is still the same team that dug their own grave. They make careless errors that balance out their tremendous talent. Eduardo Rodriguez has been generally good, but he's still prone to the occasional inconsistencies of a rookie. Clay Buchholz has looked good lately, but his whole career has been a roller coaster ride. Rick Porcello has lost his last 7 decisions and his ERA has climbed over 6. Justin Masterson is back. Masterson managed to muddle through 5 innings in his return before getting shelled in his most recent start. He's probably washed up. Wade Miley is a middle of the rotation pitcher. No more. No less. Joe Kelly has been shipped back down to Pawtucket to work on his mechanics. It feels like a long way from starting in Game 3 of the World Series doesn't it? The bullpen is incredibly shallow beyond Koji Uehara and Junichi Tazawa. I know what this team is and I'm going to let them stay buried.
-Mike
