July 22nd Vs Baltimore 1:05 Pm

[CrespoBlows]

I'd rather see Alvarez pitch today, but the proven veteran should get the start if we want to move foward. I'll bet we can win this game with either.

BAL

Lopez 7-6 3.76

BOS

Castillo 0-0 0.00

Alvarez 0-0 0.00

[elsrbueno]

The game 1 starter is still unannounced despite the game starting in an hour and a half.....

No matter who the Red Sox throw (be it Castillo or Alvarez) how can you say with confidence that pitcher has the edge over Lopez who's thrown well this year, is 2-0 with a 0.84 ERA vs the Red Sox this year, and the team is playing horribly!

I give the game 1 edge to Baltimore, hands down.

[Zenny]

Now, now, now. Don't sell Abe short yet. It's pretty damn near confirmed that it will be Alvarez starting, which is a huge edge over Castillo. A left-handed Red Sox starting pitcher not named Fossum. It's been a long time...

[CrespoBlows]

Originally posted by Zenny@Jul 22 2004, 10:55 AM
Now, now, now. Don't sell Abe short yet. It's pretty damn near confirmed that it will be Alvarez starting, which is a huge edge over Castillo. A left-handed Red Sox starting pitcher not named Fossum. It's been a long time...
we need more optimism like this on the site

[elsrbueno]

I'm not selling Abe short...it was more praise of Lopez than insults for Abe/Castillo.

Lopez has flat-out dominated us this year (2-0, 0.84 ERA). Can we honestly expect Castillo or Alvarez to give up <2 ER against a pretty damn good Oriole lineup?

Don&#39;t get me wrong...I hope whoever starts pitches a complete game shutout....I just can&#39;t EXPECT it.

[Zenny]

New pitchers in a new league that hitters have never seen before always have the edge. I&#39;m expecting a fantastic start from Abe.

[elsrbueno]

No reports yet on who&#39;ll actually start this game. Does anyone have any official announcements?

I know the Boston Globe said they were leaning towards Alvarez...but I haven&#39;t heard any announcements from the club. Also, who gets sent down if they call someone up?

[CrespoBlows]

Alvarez will start today according to MLB gameday

[trot4mvp]

I haven&#39;t heard anything official, but redsox.com recently changed today&#39;s starter from Castillo to Alvarez.


New pitchers in a new league that hitters have never seen before always have the edge. I&#39;m expecting a fantastic start from Abe.

Zenny&#39;s got an excellent post and made the point before I did: the Orioles, and for that matter, everyone else in the major league, has never seen this kid before, meaning no advanced scouting reports, etc. For the first time in awhile, I agree with a decision made by Red Sox brass...GO ABE&#33;

By the way, here&#39;s my thinking on the Sox&#39;s near term future: we need to win 4 of the next 5 games. By doing this, we&#39;d gain a minimum of 1 game on the Yanks (as many as 3), build some strong momentum, and give this team a little confidence going into the playoff stretch. If we don&#39;t, we will have to question this team&#39;s ability to make the playoffs. I&#39;ve been saying for weeks now that this is the series that will make or break the season...let&#39;s see what happens...

[elsrbueno]

I don&#39;t mean to keep being negative, but there&#39;s a HUGE difference between AA and the majors. The Yankees have brought up 3 different rookies who&#39;ve gotten rocked this year (Halsey, Proctor, Graham)... So I don&#39;t buy the "nobody&#39;s ever seen him before" argument.

I certainly hope Abe pitches and does well....I&#39;m just not as confident as you guys.

[Zenny]

Well, those first four batters looked like first inning jitters. He really settled down after that homer and I think he&#39;ll be much better the rest of the way.

[RedSox24]

it&#39;s 3-0 after one inning.

I frankly am tired of this you gotta be confident attitude. We are playing like shit, I am confident I am right about that.

A AA starter is all we have in the fucking system.

the last thing wee need is to get shelled today after that disaster last night.

these are the O&#39;s..we cant beat them, we cant sweep the M&#39;s.

When are you poeple going to wake up and start screaming for changes.

i doint know about you but the way they are playing is unacceptabl;e. Only redsox fans can squabble about staying up, being confident...our enemy dopesnt worry about any of that..Contrares...you suck...work it out in the minors. Guess what he&#39;s back and 3-0...We on the other hand talk about Derek Lowe and his feelings

[Zenny]

A little better second inning from Alvarez. I&#39;ve seen this kid pitch and this is not a typical Alvarez start as far as the command of the strikezone goes. He&#39;s normally a high-efficiency, low pitchcount guy and always around the strikezone. This leads me to believe that most of the problems are from his nervousness. Nice throw by Tek to third.

[Zenny]

Wow, Miguel Tejada is freakin&#39; amazing. Nomar should take some lessons.

[Chrupzilla]

Damn Mora tears us apart. :angry:

[Zenny]

Abe got some help from some poor baserunning by the O&#39;s yet again. Trot should&#39;ve caught that ball. It was actually a good pitch, that was the craziest homerun I&#39;ve ever seen.

The O&#39;s 3-4 hitters have both homered and doubled. At least he&#39;s shut down most of the rest of the lineup.

It&#39;s still not quite a typical Abe game. He&#39;s been all over the place today and he just never does that. Although, I have been impressed with his curveball, it seems to have taken great strides. It&#39;s still his third pitch behind the fastball and changeup, but it has been much better than what I remember seeing earlier this season for Portland.

[RedSoxRooter]

I&#39;ll post my post later. I have a way of saying something about a player, then the EXACT opposite is proven. So I will post my thoughts after the game (as if ya cared).

[Zenny]

RISP=GIDP. Sox suck.

How &#39;bout them Pats? Corey Dillon and Tom Brady, quite a rushing/passing attack.

[elsrbueno]

I hate to say "I told you so," but I&#39;m going to anyway.

The Sox brought up Abe when he obviously wasn&#39;t ready, and that&#39;s a sign that this club is shamefully shallow (in talent).

A sweep at the hands of the lowly Baltimore Orioles tells me we&#39;ll be lucky to finish second in the AL East without major changes. Yes, I realize we aren&#39;t swept YET...but its just a matter of time.

[CrespoBlows]

Agreed, plus that kid from Miami Wilfork I think, will help out a ton up the middle. I can see the Pats repeating. May have an undefeated season.

[Zenny]

Yeah, big Ted Washington was definitely expendible with Wilfork. That was a steal at 17th overall and he&#39;s already signed&#33; I really like him, he&#39;s a fat bastard.

[elsrbueno]

its a pretty fucking sad state when the most loyal fans in the world (Red Sox fans) give up on their team.

Great job Theo, great job Terry.

I hope you enjoy your fucking millions assholes.

I&#39;m so pissed right now
(maybe you could tell)

[CrespoBlows]

The Patriots really have good defense, and not only that they have depth (i&#39;m not a pats fan) Their getting Colvin back healthy, and really have a dominating team. Best coach in the NFL, maybe top 5 overall ever.

[CrespoBlows]

horrible, just fucking pitful, get the Remdawg to manage the team&#33;

[elsrbueno]

The Red Sox are the worst team in baseball.

[RedSoxRooter]

Ok. Alvarez...

I actually thought he pitched OK. I&#39;d immediately throw out the first inning along with all the HRs. Jitters if you ask me.

He&#39;s not ready yet, the walks hurt him, but he was impressive when dealt with a problem. He pitched out of jams surprisingly well.

I&#39;d say the rest of the year in AA and start him off in AAA next year. We may see him early next year if he&#39;s not dealt.

[elsrbueno]

Sox should keep Alvarez as part of the rebuilding process. He showed promise, but he certainly isn&#39;t ready. a year at AAA he should be ready by this time next year.

Time to break down, sell off the pieces, and look at 05

[RedSoxRooter]

Originally posted by elsrbueno@Jul 22 2004, 03:03 PM
Time to break down, sell off the pieces, and look at 05
Three more weeks. I&#39;m actually looking forward to it, with all the new guys.

[Zenny]

They should move Abe to Pawtucket now and forget sending him back to Portland.

The Eastern League is riddled with tiny ballparks, Portland&#39;s Hadlock Field being among the worst, and has poor weather that is not conducive for young pitchers developing their grips and command of the ball. It is a known hitter&#39;s league, probably second only to the PCL in terms of inflating hitter&#39;s stats.

Abe was 2-3 years younger than the league average of 23-24. He not only stepped in well, but he was in the top 10 in WHIP and top 15 in ERA (he might&#39;ve cracked the top 10 before being called up, I&#39;ll check in a minute).

Moving him to the International League is pretty much moving him to the Junior Big Leagues. Most of that league is full of former big leaguers or big-league level talent that is being blocked by the big club. Despite that, the ballparks are much bigger and he doesn&#39;t have to contend with Portland&#39;s shitty, damp weather (we know what that does to Pedro).

Abe wasn&#39;t on today mostly because of jitters that affected his control. I&#39;ve seen him pitch on several occasions and that was not Alvarez-esque pitching. He should be better from this point forward.

[elsrbueno]

It&#39;s not only Alvarez. This team sucked on EVERY ASPECT of the game and has since May 1.

[CrespoBlows]

Originally posted by elsrbueno@Jul 22 2004, 03:00 PM
The Red Sox are the worst team in baseball.
you can&#39;t be serious, but we do look like it

[Tek04]

This team cannont score runs unless someone hits a homerun, its rediculous...its horrible&#33; changes need to be made

[Zenny]

I just want to say this with all the negative feelings towards this team floating around.

Abe Alvarez is a big part of the future of this franchise. Let&#39;s not get on him and say he sucks and he&#39;s a piece of shit, because he just isn&#39;t. This was his first big league appearance; it came on short notice and he probably didn&#39;t sleep. The normal command and poise weren&#39;t there today, but even a Navy SEAL would&#39;ve been bricking his pants with that kind of pressure to get the opportunity to acheive the goal you&#39;ve been dreaming of your entire life.

This kid reminds me so much of Tom Glavine that it&#39;s frightening. He&#39;s going to be a fantastic pitcher when he comes into his own and to get on him now after his first big-league appearance would be stupid. After some starts for Pawtucket this season and some experience, knowledge and development come, he should be in the rotation at some point in 2005, depending upon the free-agent situation. Any time you can find a left-handed #2 starter for cheap from within your system, you&#39;ve got to be happy. So let&#39;s buck up and think of how much fun 2005 could potentially be.

[elsrbueno]

I&#39;m the source of the negative feelings, so I&#39;ll respond.

I already said it&#39;s not Abe&#39;s fault. The whole team sucks.

[Zenny]

The Sox returned Alvarez to Portland. I don&#39;t like the move, he should&#39;ve been sent to Pawtucket; he&#39;s done all he can in Portland.

[YanksHater213]

i was at the game yesterday, and i think abe pitched fairly decent for the level that he is at. if he wants succeed, hes gotta get his velocity up, he was only throwing in the upper 80s. he also needs another pitch. he basically threw his fastball all day, with a big looping curve here and a change there.

ortiz is that fastest man on the planet&#33;&#33;&#33; haha