Justin Masterson

Well, when I was looking at the pitching matchup the other day, I really thought Wednesday's game against the Indians was a guarenteed win. Hah! I don't know if Masterson was bitter about facing his old team ( though I kinda doubt that, since he always speaks glowingly of the Sox organization when he's interviewed about them)...or if it was a matter of probability and Masterson simply had to win a game sooner or later. Much in the same manner that Buckholz was due for a rough outing (if 3 runs over 7 innings can be considered rough)...

Continue reading "Sox get Spanked"

The one game the Sox win this series and I don’t even get a chance to write about it before the Sox lose another one…

Well, that’s baseball for you.  I was actually walking through Boston last night after seeing the National Tour of Spring Awakening (which was amazing, by the way) and caught the score of the Sox game through a restaurant window.  “Oh good!”  I thought.  “We’re up 4-0.”  As it just so happened, I was just in time to see Yuniesky Betancourt hit a two run homer to change the score to 4-2. 

Continue reading "Sox Thoughts - Bad Luck on the West Coast"

Home plate umpire Jim Joyce gave all of us on the East Coast a start last night after jumping up from behind home plate to issue a warning to both ball clubs in the third.  As it turns out, both clubs were informed before the game even started that the umps would be keeping a close eye on them, according to Lyle Spencer from mlb.com. 

Continue reading "I'll give you a warning..."

go back down to AAA before the All Star Break. 

In any event, we’ll get to see how Justin Masterson does on the mound after struggling in his last start (6.1 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 3 BB, 6 K).  If he does struggle again tonight, hold back your concern folks.   It just may be that he’s a bullpen guy and that he’s not comfortable being in the rotation yet.   At the same time he might be our guy for another start anyway, seeing as Dice-K isn’t due to join the Sox again until May 19th.  (Good news is he tossed four shutout innings on Sunday).

Continue reading "Sox Thoughts - Later Lopez!"

Would Justin Masterson have made the same error? The two ballclubs could not be headed in more opposite directions. Every year, the Red Sox seem to call up another hyped prospect, while the Yanks continue to overpay for limited talent, and shun their farm system.

Continue reading "Red Sox continue to steal away Yanks' future"

could likely fill three or four other holes on the roster, and with young arms like Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson and Daniel Bard waiting in the wings, why add another expensive arm to the rotation.

Continue reading "Burnett to Boston? Thanks, but no thanks"

If Game 3 was a disaster, I don’t even know what to call Game 4.  Unfortunately, I was there to witness the whole thing.  What we had to hoped to be a great evening turned out to be one of the worst Sox games I ever sat through.

Continue reading "Sitting under the dark clouds at Fenway"

I don't know if it's just me, but the playoffs never seem to officially start until the Sox play a game at Friendly Fenway. I mean, I watched the games in LA - or LA of Anaheim, or Anaheim in LA, or Anaheim in LA of California, United States - and came away psyched that the Sox were up 2-0, but it didn't have that playoff feel. It just felt like a road trip to the west coast. Maybe it was the fact that the glamorous LA fans were eating sushi off of asian-influenced rectangle plates instead of toting a steamed dog in one hand and a $7 Coors Light in the other. I don't know.

Continue reading "Feeling Fenway"

in a truly harmonious fashion.  After working with Lester through seven, Tek guided young gun Justin Masterson through a jam in the eighth and shut the Angels out in the ninth behind the smoking fastballs of Jonathan Papelbon.  It seemed as though every pitch call was the right one, and the Angels hitters that weren’t simply overpowered were often downright fooled (good show, chap!). 

Continue reading "Same as it Ever Was"

e's game.

After failing to score in the top of the 9th, despite having 2 men on, the Red Sox sent Justin Masterson to the mound in the 9th. Masterson began the season as a starter in Triple-A, came up as a starter this season and faired well. He was sent back down to the minors to become a reliever and was called back up as a reliever in July. He hasn't looked back. He has an ERA of 1.95 as a reliever this season and has proven to Terry Francona that he could be counted on in tough situations. The Red Sox spent a lot of time looking to trade for a set up man, but Masterson has emerged into that role, at a young age, from their own system. Tonight, he had a challange, in what was probably the biggest inning he's ever pitched.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/16"

Lost in the shuffle of Matt Cassel beating Brett Favre in the most hyped Week 2 game in years around these parts on Sunday afternoon, Jon Lester continued his march toward becoming a truly elite pitcher by outdueling a man largely respected as perhaps the best hurler in the AL, in a game the Sox needed to have. Any question marks that surrounded Lester at the All-Star break have been officially converted into exclamation points. In fact, pencil him in for Game 2 right now - it doesn't matter who we are playing or what Daisuke's record ends up being ... Lester's earned the spot right behind Beckett in the playoff rotation.

Continue reading "Q & A ... well, at least some Qs"

They pitched 3 scoreless innings, a combination of Javy Lopez, Justin Masterson, and Papelbon, to keep the Sox in the game and give them a chance to win.

The Rays were scheduled to play the Y

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/13"

The Red Sox had already used Hideki Okajima, Justin Masterson, Manny Delcarmen and Javy Lopez and, with Papelbon having pitched each of the last three nights and thus pretty much unavailable, had to go to Mike Timlin. Timlin has been reliable over the years, in fact this was his 1050th career appearance, tied most all time for a right hander, but this year he has had injury problems and looked lost at time with his diminishing velocity. He allowed two to reach base and eventually someone was going to drive in a run. Carlos Pena, a former Red Sox, blasted a three shot run to break the tie and give the Rays a 4-1 lead.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/11"

He shut down the potent Rangers' lineup going 5 shutout with 7 strikeouts. Manny Declarmen, Justin Masterson, and Hideki Okajima threw 4 innings giving up one run in relief, as that bullpen is looking better everyday. The Sox scored a total of 7 off of Rangers' starter Kevin Millwood and 8 in all, 4 of them coming off the bat of the recently activated Mike Lowell, who also homered in the game. In the end, it was an 8-1 victory for the Sox.

Continue reading "Red Sox Report 9/5"

sp; This year we are.  But that doesn’t mean we’re not a great team.  We have Justin Masterson and Chris Smith as new additions to the bullpen.  We have Jeff Bailey as a recent call up, who has helped out Sean Casey and Alex Cora with the utility work.  As for our regulars, the Captain seems to be hitting to usual ways, and Ellsbury is over 40 steals. 

Continue reading "Despite all our injuries, Red Sox Nation believes"

going 2 for 3 along with Coco Crisp's off the wall tie breaking double.  Dice-K's replacement Justin Masterson allowed four runs on six hits in six innings-- he's 2-0 with a The Rays are 0-4 at Fenway Park this season; 65-88 since their inaugural season 10 years ago. They'll return for a final 3 game series in September following tomorrow nights game.

Continue reading "Beckett goes for #6!!!"

Upon seeing Justin Masterson pick up his first Major League victory the day after Jon Lester pitched his no hitter, it got me thinking about the Red Sox’ non-trade for Johan Santana. Both Lester and Masterson were prominent names in the trade talks, along with Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie (Clay Buchholz was deemed completely off limits). There was much debate over whether or not Boston would be better off going with the proven All-World pitcher in Santana, or sticking with the young prospects on the belief that they would develop into the prominent pieces of a championship franchise that they were projected to be. So often both front offices as well as fans fall in love with prospects who have never even played a Major League game based solely on their advertised potential. Almost as often, this ends up being an irrational love affair that falls short just as it has in the past with the likes of Brian Rose, Dernell Stenson and Steve Lomasney (anyone remember these guys?). In this case, Boston’s decision to hang on to its young talent has so far worked out very well to start the season.

Continue reading "Looking In On The Players Involved ..."

Justin Masterson got his second major league start last night.  But unlike his first start back in April, this time the rookie got the win.Through 6 1/3 innings the 23 year-old struck

Continue reading "Red Sox Rookie Gets First Win"

Yesterday Justin Masterson delivered just what the Red Sox needed: relief. Well sort of. For a team that has been ravaged by the flu and already had to scratch Josh Beckett and Daisuke Matsuzaka from scheduled starts, they badly needed some one to step in and give them quality innings, especially after spot David Pauley in a spot start and Jon Lester who pitched on three days rest failed to do so.

Continue reading "Get Masterson in the Bullpen, Now!"

allup and could put Boston is position to decide between him and Julio Lugo the following season.

Justin Masterson

Masterson is Boston’s most major league-ready pitcher. Primarily a starter in college and the minors, there is hope that he can start in the majors, though his future most likely projects to the bullpen. Masterson throws from a three-quarters arm slot and generates a lot of sink on his fastball which he throws in the high 80's to low 90's, resulting in a lot of ground balls. His out pitch is a plus a slider, however, his changeup has been slow in developing. We will definitely see him out of the Boston bullpen this season.

Continue reading "Boston Farm System Still Flush With Prospects"