Red Sox Road Ahead: Week 21
As I sat down today to look at the week ahead for the Sox, my friend (and Yankees fan) Jeff offered me this great topic to start things off:
Jeff: “Write about Damon.”
Me: “What is going on with Damon, I thought I saw a headline…” (Note: I have been out all night and not paying attention to the news.)
Jeff: “The sox claimed him on waivers.”
Patrick: “WTF!”
Ultimately Damon decided not to leave Detroit but there are two views I’m going to take on this.
Johnny Damon as a baseball player
We know this isn’t the Johnny Damon of 2005.
Despite a power surge last year (which you can blame on Yankee Stadium,) there has been erosion in his contact rate and speed. He is definitely not the .300/20/20 guy you might have expected a few years ago. However he is still a consistent bat that could of helped a Red Sox outfield that just lost Mike Cameron and Damon’s successor in Jacoby Ellsbury.
But how much could we expect from a month of Damon? His career average in the months of September/October is .275 and his Sept/Oct average the last three years are .313 (2007), .250 (2008), and .247 (2009.)
At 36 he’s clearly in the twilight of an amazing career and we should expect him to maintain that .270 average with a couple of HR and SB thrown in.
Johnny Damon as a Red Sox
It was hard to see Damon leave the Sox for the Yankees. He’ll forever be remember by Red Sox Nation as the leader of “The Idiots” that helped break the curse in 2004. However he left Boston on a sour note when he signed with New York in 2005. It didn’t help him that he said, “There’s no way I can go play for the Yankees, but I know they’re going to come after me hard. It’s definitely not the most important thing to go out there for the top dollar, which the Yankees are going to offer me. It’s not what I need.”
Well we can tell top dollar is really what you were after.
Even today Damon is still willing to hold out for the deal he wanted. After the Yankees let him become a free agent he didn’t find work (well work that wasn’t in the ring) until Detroit signed him February of this year.
In today’s free agent world the one thing fans will be loyal with are the teams. Damon as a Red Sox we cheered and Damon as a Yankee we boo’d. Does this mean Damon as a Red Sox again would of solicited our forgiveness?
Schedule
Red Sox games are available over the radio on the WEEI Red Sox Radio Network and on NESN in the New England TV market (unless noted.)
Tuesday, August 24 vs Mariners 7:10 PM
Wednesday, August 25 vs Mariners 1:35 PM
Friday, August 27 @ Rays 7:10 PM
Saturday, August 28 @ Rays 7:10 PM (also on MLBN)
Sunday, August 29 @ Rays 8:00 PM (on ESPN)
Seattle TV: FSN
Tampa Bay TV: Sun Sports/Bay 9
Opponents In-Depth
Seattle Mariners
49-76
4th in AL West (21.5 GB)
Probable Line-Up
Ichiro Suzuki, RF
Chone Figgins, 2B
Russell Branyan, DH
Jose Lopez, 3B
Franklin Gutierrez, CF
Casey Kotchman, 1B
Adam Moore/Josh Bard, C
Ryan Langerhans/Matt Tuiasosopo, LF
Josh Wilson, SS
Injuries
Jack Wilson, SS (Hand) 15-day DL. Out for the season
Erik Bedard, SP (Shoulder) 60-day DL. Out for the season
David Aardsma, RP (Bruise) Questionable for Aug. 23-25 series at Boston
Milton Bradley, LF (Knee) 15-day DL. Might be out for the season
Shawn Kelley, RP (Elbow) 15-day DL. Out for the season
Ryan Rowland-Smith, SP (Back) 15-day DL. On Triple-A rehab assignment
Michael Saunders, LF (Shoulder) Doubtful for Aug. 24 at Boston
Pitching Match-Ups
8/24: Beckett vs. Pauley
Beckett faces off against David Pauley, a former Red Sox prospect who is coming off two wins in a row… to Cleveland and Baltimore. Pauley is enjoying minor success so far in his first extended stay in The Show.
8/25: Lester vs. Hernandez
This week’s battle of the Aces.
Who’s Hot
Ichiro Suzuki: .321 BA/2 HR/2 SB past 14 days
Who’s Not
Chone Figgins: .188 BA past 14 days
Tampa Bay Rays
Globe Staff Photo / Barry Chin
76-48
2nd in AL East (.5 GB)
Probable Line-Up
BJ Upton, CF
Jason Bartlett, SS
Carl Crawford, LF
Evan Longoria, 3B
Carlos Pena, 1B
Ben Zobrist, RF
Willy Aybar, DH
Sean Rodriguez, 2B
Kelly Shoppach, C
Injuries
Wade Davis, SP (Shoulder) 15-day DL. Expected to return for Aug. 24 start at L.A. Angels
Jeff Niemann, SP (Shoulder) 15-day DL. Expected to return for Aug. 25 start at L.A. Angels
Grant Balfour, RP (Ribs) 15-day DL. Out until at least early September
Gabe Kapler, RF (Ankle) 15-day DL. Out until at least early September
J.P. Howell, RP (Shoulder) 15-day DL. Out for the season
Pitching Match-Ups
8/27: Matsuzaka vs. Price
With a 8.33 K/9 maybe we should be calling Price Dice-K. However Dice-K has 23 Ks over 20.1 IP in his last three starts. This could actually be a duel.
8/28: Buchholz vs. Garza
Coming off four straight wins he’ll now have to face Matt Garza who is no pushover by any means.
8/29: Lackey vs. Shields
Even though Lackey has been pitching better of late, this is a match-up of two former aces.
Who’s Hot
Evan Longoria: .345 BA/3 HR past 14 days
Who’s Not
Ben Zobrist: .171 BA past 14 days
My Outlook
With a win already notched in for the week I say they end it 4-2.
How do you think the Sox are going to fare this week? Leave them in the comments or let Patrick know on Twitter: @dmbosstone
2 Responses to “Red Sox Road Ahead: Week 21”
Leave a Reply
Haha I’m glad the whole Damon thing didn’t work out. I could never cheer for the jack ass again.
I think if the Sox got Damon it wouldn’t of have been a bad thing becuase they need somebody in the outfield that can actually hit. After finishing the nine game homestand the Sox need to take at least two or three from the Rays this weekend or else they are done.