Pitching.....boy was I wrong !

I wrote a thread at the beginning of the season, saying that we needed to trade for another starter, and that a lot of our bullpen was questionable.  I am happy to admit that I was dead wrong.

Look at the numbers, they are amazing !  Danks 2.74, Floyd 3.32, Contreras 3.35, and Vasquez 3.52.  Buehrle, our # 1 starter is at 5.81, but a huge hunk of that is over two very bad starts.

The pen, for the most part, has been stellar.  You gotta like Linebrink 1.65, and Jenks 2.20 at the back end.  Thornton, Dotel, and Masset have had one or two bad outings each, but over all have been good.  Best of all, unlike last year, the guys are throwing strikes.  Also, they have done an amazing job of pitching over errors.  The Angels should not have even scored last night, with the ball that Quentin let drop , and the game tying error by Crede.  The defense has been average at best, which makes the pitcher's numbers even more impressive.  If we can start getting any hitting at all, I think good things may be coming.  We have a big week next week against Cle, and the Angels again. 

Finally, you gotta give Ozzie credit for mixing up the lineup.  Guys who normally hit like Thome, and Konerko, have not, and instead of just saying "oh, they'll snap out of it", he became agressive and took his three  best hitters so far, Quentin and AJ, and Dye, and moved them to 2 ,3, and 4.  Now if we can get some production out of the leadoff spot, we will really have something going.  I am curious how Ozuna and Ramirez will do in place of the injured Uribe. 

Ditto my sox brotha's...  I am really happy about the pitching as well.  And if it worked out the way we call wanted it to, Gavin would have had back to back NO-NO's; and that would have been incredible.    Our hitting will come around, the sooner the better also..  lol..  20-20, not bad and better then expected.  We should be 22-18 though in my book, buy my book doesn't count..

GO SOX!!!!

I thought that the rotation was going to be fine, but I didn't count on our young guys being this good.

Buerhle: Thought that he would be pitching a heck of a lot better than he is right now. I think he is in a funk (or at least I hope...with some time to straighten out)

Vasquez: I thought that he would do close to what he is doing.

Danks: I thought Danks was going to be fine, but he is pitching better than I thought.

Contreras: I was 50/50 with him. I thought he would be better than last year, but not as good as what he is throwing.

Floyd: this guy has been a major surprise for me. Before the season, I was not sold on this guy at all. I thought he would do "ok" at best as a number 5. He has been great so far.

Other players:

Quentin: I did not expect this guy to be on the roster at the start of the season (due to previous injury). I don't think many sox believed that he would be this good.

Ramirez: I am still not sold on this guy being on the major league roster. I think it would be best to give him some playing time in AAA.

Swisher/Anderson: I would like to Anderson get some more time in CF. Swisher is not a CF, and Anderson has earned his spot on this team this season. Swisher will get out of his slump, but why not give Anderson a few more games here and there?

The pitching has been great.   Nobody can complain about it.  Not even WSWorld 1 or RepeatRepeat!!

The biggest issue is the dead spot smack dab in the middle of the order.  You hate to see guys on base with Konerko or Thome due up.  Its good to see Ozzie change the lineup but its time to at minimum break those 2 up or sit one of them for awhile.  I'd say sit Thome.

Well, you are going to get your wish, starting tonight against the NL.  Thome will be sitting.  It might be too bad too, because he may have gained some momentum after the big RBI last night.

Has anyone heard what happened to Uribe ?  He pulled up lame running to first last night, and was replaced by Ramirez.  I did not hear what the injury was.  Did he pop one of those massive Uribe hammies ?  How long is he out, if at all ?

We need 2 out of 3 this weekend !