Brandon Cole's Boston Red Sox fan blog

Hello there.  We are about an hour away from the second game against the Rays.  It’s lefty versus lefty tonight at the Fens!  Jon Lester will take the mound and challenge Scott Kazmir to an old fashioned pitchers duel - hopefully.  Rocco will get the start in right and let Drew take the night off from facing the lefty.  I am psyched to see Rocco!

I just wanted to give a quick review of the game on Opening Day.  I had to capitalize that.  Anyway, how great was Becks yesterday?  I’ll answer that for you.  He was video game good!!  I may refer to Josh Beckett as “Becks” in the future, so bear with me on that.  The only issue, I thought, was the 3rd inning.  Becks got into a bases-loaded jam but got out of it with only one run coming in on the sac fly by Crawford.  He then goes into cruise control and ends up with seven K’s after retiring eight in a row through five innings. 

Continue reading "Play Ball!!!"

I thought that Josh Bard would be here a little longer this time. By signing him for a second time, I figured Bard would rebound and be that back-up catcher that Boston needs so badly. I was hoping that he would thrive this season and totally redeem himself from that awful stint in 2006. He never made it through spring training. On Wednesday, the Red Sox placed the 30-year old catcher on unconditional waivers, one day before he would have made a guaranteed $340,000. Instead, the Sox are only required to pay him $283,333. This move leaves the door wide open for George Kottaras.

"Our young catchers are doing a really good job in camp," said general manager Theo Epstein. “We had to make this move now because we need George and Wake to work together and we need to make sure we know what we have, and prepare for the season."

Continue reading "Anyone Seen My Josh Bard?"

Mikey is back and looks good – Mike Lowell was in the lineup last night against the Yankees, holding down the four spot in between Ortiz and Drew.  That is a pretty solid 3-4-5 if you ask me.  Mikey had his first fielding opportunity of the spring in the first inning which turned into an inning-ending double play.  He then led off in the second inning and took a high fastball from Chien-Ming Wang deep over the left field fence for a solo shot.  Lowell hit a single later in the same inning as the Sox batted through the lineup and tallied 7 runs.

Lugo and an MRI – After leaving the game in the first inning because of a pain in his right knee, lugo received an MRI but has yet to learn the results.  Lugo seems a bit worried.

"It's been pain," Lugo said. "It's been pain, no doubt about that. Yesterday, it just gave up on me ... and I just couldn't move. I just couldn't run."

Continue reading "A Few Sox Saturday Updates"

I figured I would take a little peak at the battle for shortstop this season and see where each guy stands.  As of March 12, Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo seem pretty even – on paper anyway.  Jed has played in two more games than Julio and thus has four more plate appearances, giving him a total of twenty four chances to produce at the dish.  While they both have nine hits, two doubles and four RBI’s, Lugo is hanging on to a better OBP and AVG (.478/.450).  I like the fact that Lugo has a nice OBP right now because of his speed.  If he can find himself on the base paths, he’s no doubt a threat to score every time.  Lowrie, however, is hitting the ball well, with two 3-baggers and a slugging percentage of .625!  Right now Lowrie is leading the spring squad in triples.  Nice.

Continue reading "Checking in With the Lugo and Lowrie Situation"

While the U.S. lost this evening, our fearless Sox hitters in the line up did not do so well.  Pedroia was 0 for 5 and now carries an average of .125 in the WBC.  Youk went 0 for 4 with a walk and a strike out and left 2 men in scoring position.  Oh well. 

More good news.....the Celts just lost to Miami, 107-99.  Bruins need a win badly!!

Continue reading "United States Loses to Venezuela - 03/11/2009"

So, Daniel Bard hits 100 mph on the radar gun?  I wonder how soon he moved up on the Red Sox top prospects list after the loud snapping sound came from the catcher’s mitt?  I am willing to bet……um…..quickly.

What’s more exciting than a highly touted pitching prospect?  How about a phone call saying that you have won a 10 bedroom estate in a secluded area with private ocean views? I guess it’s debatable.  I am confident that Theo is pumping his proverbial fist about this kid.

Bard, a 200 pound 6’ 4” righty, was drafted out of North Carolina University as the 28th overall pick in the 2006 First-Year player Draft.  He was converted from a starter to a reliever last season after chalking up a 10.13 ERA in five games for Lancaster in 2007.  If he can continue to complete both his delivery and his release point, Bard makes his velocity on the fastball look almost natural - like he was put here to throw a fastball.  Maybe he was.  Aside from the heater, Bard also throws a cutter, a slider and a circle change that dips a bit at the plate.

Continue reading "Bard is Faster Than A Speeding Bullet."