News is out that Jacoby Ellsbury, whose nickname should be “spark,” for his energy and speed, was sent back to Pawtucket after last night’s game.
The problem, and it’s a good problem, is Coco Crisp. He is on fire. And Ellsbury won’t get the necessary at bats he needs to progress if he’s a platoon guy. The only change would be a possible deal for Crisp, whose value is increasing every minute. The problem is the Red Sox goal is to win the World Series, not get trade value, and Crisp playing this way changes the offensive outlook of this team.
Ellsbury is the centerfielder of the future. He’s Coco Crisp, maybe even better on offense, with an arm. But his best days are ahead. The Sox can let him develop and bring him around in September, or even earlier, if they deem Wily Mo Pena useless.
Pena’s stock is dropping every day. We hear people, including Red Sox brass, say that if he played full-time, he would be better. I just don’t see it. He is easy to pitch to — off-speed stuff away from the plate. I just don’t see him being around as long as he looks anything like he has lately.
Julio Lugo may be on a hotstreak — 3 for 10, 4 RBI — but he still doesn’t look right. With Crisp and J.D. Drew picking up their offensive output, Lugo has a license to be near the Mendoza Line (.200) but his defense had better be stellar.
As we’ve seen, Lugo is an emotional guy. Demotions (batting ninth and being pinch hit for) are not handled with grace by Lugo. If he focuses on being a good shortstop, the pressure will be slightly off. But that is a question mark.
Last but not least, the Detroit Tigers. They are waiting for the Red Sox frothing at the mouth. The Sox beat them three of four games in the middle of May and since then they have been the best team in baseball.
The fact that they could trade a pitcher the quality of Mike Maroth (5-2), a No. 3 or No. 4 starter on a very good team, to St. Louis says something about their pitching depth.
Manager Jim Leyland will have the Tigers ready and waiting for the Red Sox. While the Sox don’t have to win three-game series, they can not get swept. It would nullify the Devil Rays sweep and put the Tigers in the position of being the team to beat.
Personally, I think the Tigers are the best. Magglio Ordonez (.370, 69 RBI), Carlos Guillen (.328, 65 RBI) and Gary Sheffield (.298, 54 RBI) are bears in the middle of that lineup. Add in red-hot Sean Casey (.295), who was hitting .221 when he left Boston in May, with Ivan Rodriguez (.285, 45 RBI), Curtis Granderson (.284, 42 RBI) and Placido Palanco (.334), and you have a lineup that rivals the Yankees.
And remember, this team’s strength always has been pitching with Justin “100 mph” Verlander (10-3) and Jeremy Bonderman (9-1) leading the way, and Kenny Rogers (3-0), last year’s ace, nearly back in form.
The matchups favor the Sox a bit this weekend with Julian Tavarez (5-6) going against Andrew Miller (3-2) tonight; Bonderman against Kason Gabbard (2-0) on Saturday; and Dice-K (10-5) against Nate Robertson (4-6) on Sunday.
It should be a fun series after the snore-fest with the AAA Devil Rays.
