Whenever your team starts to slip toward the fringes of the pennant race, you start brainstorming for reasons to keep paying attention. I'm one of those bad, unpatriotic people who likes baseball far more than the NFL. I'd rather watch a crummy Sox team than watch the Bears. So, here are some storylines to follow as the Sox play their final 28 games of the season.
1. Can Freddy Garcia (pictured) earn the vacant fifth starter's spot for 2010? -- Garcia has thrown the ball extremely well in his last two starts. He left the mound in the seventh inning with a 3-2 lead in Boston. The bullpen blew that one, but it was a quality start. He also limited the hard-hitting Yankees to four hits over six innings in a loss Sunday. You figure Garcia has five starts left this season. Can he keep it going?
2. Can Gordon Beckham win Rookie of the Year? -- Beckham is currently in an 8-for-60 slide that has seen his batting average dip to .272. Nevertheless, he leads all AL rookies with 10 homers and 52 RBIs. He's clearly the best rookie position player in the league. Can he get hot down the stretch and hold off Tampa Bay's Jeff Niemann (12-5, 3.80 ERA) and Oakland's Andrew Bailey (6-3, 1.88 ERA, 21 saves) for top rookie honors?
3. What's going on with Jermaine Dye? -- One of the big offseason questions for the Sox will be whether the former World Series MVP will return in 2010. Overall, Dye has respectable numbers -- 25 homers and 72 RBIs. But he's been in a horrible spin since the All-Star break. He batted just .189 in August with only two homers and one double in 102 plate appearances. For a power producer, that's terrible. This is the second straight year Dye has slumped in the second half. A September rebound might be necessary for Dye to stay in Chicago.
4. Alex Rios? What the hell? -- I was excited about this acquisition when it was made, but my gosh, Rios has been brutal since joining the Sox. He's 10-for-64 in his first 17 games with the South Siders. Maybe he's trying to impress new teammates. I don't know. But he's totally lost at the plate right now and needs to get something positive going to take into the offseason. This guy is a critical piece for the 2010 hopes.
5. Spoiler time -- The Sox still have four games left with Boston, three with Minnesota and six with Detroit. Even if the Sox can't make the playoffs, they can have an impact on who wins the AL Central and the AL wild card. Maybe they can knock the Red Sox and the Twins down a peg.
1.) He probably could...but like I said in another post I would rather have Hudson try to earn the 5 spot and get the growing pains out of the way. If he ends up becoming a sucsessfull 5th starter with Buerhle, Peavy, Danks and Floyd.
2.) I think Beckham wins, not to take anything away from Bailey or Nienmann, but one has to realize Bacon plays everyday, as a starter goes every 5th day or so, and a relief picher might only come out a few times a week for one inning.
3.) I think his age is just catching up, as much as I admire and respect JD, I think its time we parted ways
4.) Alex Rios has been in a slump all year and IMHO I think thats all it is. Some say ever since he's gotten paid he's gotten lazy, but I think if that is the case (which I doubt) I think Ozzie wouldn't tolerate it and would get him back to form. I think Rios will be fine, slid him in the 6th slot and let him play center, since he seems to do so so nicely and all.
5.) I would love nothing more than to take down Detroit, Minnesota and Boston. For the ones that make the playoffs, I would love knowing that the Sox didn't make it easy for em.
1. Ideally, they start next season with Garcia as a No. 5. Give Hudson a little more seasoning at AAA, and make him the first callup when they need a spot starter.
2. Agreed. Beckham should win.
3. I'm wondering if Dye is hurt. This slump has been lengthy and brutal. It reminds me of Konerko's woes in the first half of 2003.
4. I anticipate a rebound season from Rios next year. Right now, he's a total mess though. Hell, Ozzie decided to start Dewayne Wise ahead of him today. That worked out because Wise threw Fox out at the plate in the seventh, but I don't want to see Ozzie make a habit of putting Wise in the lineup.
5. If the Sox aren't going to the playoffs, I want to make damn sure the Twins don't either.
The 2008 AL Central Champs* played like the 2008 AL Central Champs* these three days, and it ended up with a sweep, and you can bet I enjoyed every minute of it too.
Timberwolf the more you use the asterisk, the less credible you look (not that you had much of that anyway). Its a totally classless thing to do, but then again, you are a Vikings fan......
I've placed an asterisk next to the Vikings division title from last season. The Williamses were on steroids.
heads up, new comments are not showing up again