Not a great feeling about the KC series...

[3GamesToLove]

KC has always been a tough place for play for the Sox (at least it seems that way), that early season series in 2006 was ugly. Let's just get 2 out of 3.

 

Yeah, that'll be tough.

[nickofypres]

I say a split.

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

I say a split.

 

Me too. I say that Floyd dominates, and we win something like 5-1, and then Buehrle gets pushed around and we lose 6-3.

[TheBigHurt]

Hochevar is garbage and Francis is a soft tossing lefty. I'd be quite surprised if they don't score enough runs - 4-5 at a minimum for both, and I'm expecting closer to 6-8.

 

Man, shut it! Haven't you guys figured out yet that the more you build these opposing s***ty players up to BE s***ty the more they will make our team look silly??? Silence is golden! Speak not of these things and I expect our results will be better!

[witesoxfan]

I am going to speak the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me god. I'm not going to say Luke Hochevar is good as if part of some magical sorcerer's agenda that the opposite of what is said comes true, just like I'm not going to say that Felix Hernandez is garbage so that the Sox can hit him.

 

He is the Royals best starting pitcher at the moment - which is why he started on opening day - though that just makes him a 4 foot tall midget, towering over the other 2 and a half to 3 feet tall midgets that make up the Royals pitching staff (save that 7 footer they have at closer). He is capable of shutting down a good major league offense, but he is equally capable of being dismantled and dismembered by a bad major league offense. He's exactly what you think of when you think of a #4 starter - good stuff, ability to dominate, ability to implode, and all you ask is a bit more consistency to bring him to that #3 level. It's certainly possible that he'll locate his pitches well and really throw the Sox off. I'm not counting on it.

 

 

[GreatScott82]

I'm predicting an offensive outburst and sox sweep!

[TheBigHurt]

I am going to speak the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me god. I'm not going to say Luke Hochevar is good as if part of some magical sorcerer's agenda that the opposite of what is said comes true, just like I'm not going to say that Felix Hernandez is garbage so that the Sox can hit him.

 

He is the Royals best starting pitcher at the moment - which is why he started on opening day - though that just makes him a 4 foot tall midget, towering over the other 2 and a half to 3 feet tall midgets that make up the Royals pitching staff (save that 7 footer they have at closer). He is capable of shutting down a good major league offense, but he is equally capable of being dismantled and dismembered by a bad major league offense. He's exactly what you think of when you think of a #4 starter - good stuff, ability to dominate, ability to implode, and all you ask is a bit more consistency to bring him to that #3 level. It's certainly possible that he'll locate his pitches well and really throw the Sox off. I'm not counting on it.

 

Nah nah, not saying you should... we should all just not talk about it and pretend there's nothing happening... like a pitcher (not named Mark Buehrle!) not talking to anyone when he has a no-hitter going!

[MiddleCoastBias]

KC is still KC they will come back to earth against the Sox.

Didn't they start off to an awesome start in the first 20 or so games a couple years ago when Greinke was spitting hotfire? It started off the same way- "they'll come back to earth" but they kept playing well. Well, like everyone suspected, s*** came crashing down on them eventually. That eventuality will be realized today.

[chw42]

No.

 

Yeah, it's not happening. This Royals roster has less talent on it than it did last season.

[Jordan4life_2007]

Didn't they start off to an awesome start in the first 20 or so games a couple years ago when Greinke was spitting hotfire? It started off the same way- "they'll come back to earth" but they kept playing well. Well, like everyone suspected, s*** came crashing down on them eventually. That eventuality will be realized today.

 

Please never use that term ever again.

[Balta1701]

Didn't they start off to an awesome start in the first 20 or so games a couple years ago when Greinke was spitting hotfire? It started off the same way- "they'll come back to earth" but they kept playing well. Well, like everyone suspected, s*** came crashing down on them eventually. That eventuality will be realized today.

The Royals were 18-11 and 3 games up in the division in early May, 2009.

[witesoxfan]

Nah nah, not saying you should... we should all just not talk about it and pretend there's nothing happening... like a pitcher (not named Mark Buehrle!) not talking to anyone when he has a no-hitter going!

 

Of course, that's a different story entirely. That is one specific event that is pretty incredible and awesome all rolled into one, and talking about it can throw a pitcher off. The same thing applies to bowling too, except it's not as cool in bowling (it's also easier).

 

Hochever throws fat pitches like J4L loves his fat b****es.

[Harry Chappas]

With how good the Royal farm system is, if I were a fan of theirs I would want to blow this season to get another high pick for when these guys come up next year.

 

 

[DirtySox]

With how good the Royal farm system is, if I were a fan of theirs I would want to blow this season to get another high pick for when these guys come up next year.

 

As would I. And I fully expect it to happen. The rotation is abysmal.

[Steve9347]

With how good the Royal farm system is, if I were a fan of theirs I would want to blow this season to get another high pick for when these guys come up next year.

 

 

As would I. And I fully expect it to happen. The rotation is abysmal.

They've been blowing seasons for 2 decades. If I were a Royals fan, I wouldn't be a Royals fan.

[High Mileage]

Well I think they're going to win both of them so we have all grounds covered (unless someone is VERY sure that one or both of the games will be rained out).

 

In case you were wondering, the Royals pitching is really, really bad.

Bad on paper, of course. The wind was a huge factor in the Angels' series, for both teams. It's windy as hell today too...

 

KC is a much more rounded out team this year... a bit under the radar. They could easily be .500.

I wish I were that optimistic! I do think we'll be better than Cleveland though.

 

I'm excited for the Sox to come to town, I just don't want my boys to get swept.

 

We've pounded Gavin Floyd (3-7, 4.79 ERA in 11 starts/1-4, 6.26 in 6 starts @ Kauffman) pretty well in the past, but of course there's been a lot of turnover in our line-up. Hochevar has pitched well against the Sox (3-3, 3.65 ERA in 7 starts, including his only career shutout) but you never know what he's going to give you...

[ChiliIrishHammock24]

Please never use that term ever again.

 

What, you don't like Dave Chappelle?

[caulfield12]

Some interesting stats from the 2005 season in the first half (through 86 games)...

 

57-29 record

 

Sox lost only 8 games during that entire eighty-six game stretch when they were leading after 5 innings, and 6 times when they were leading after six innings. Another way to look at is that the probability was 93% if the Sox were leading after 6 they'd go on to win that game, pretty amazing!!!

 

Perhaps even more impressively, during that same first half, the SOX only coughed up two 7th inning leads and two 8th inning leads (once was against San Diego, a 2-1 game we led the entire time until giving up 2 in the bottom of the 9th, ironically Linebrink was the winner with Hermanson taking one of his few losses that season...the only other blown save that resulted in a loss was Takatsu giving up a 5-2 lead in the 9th, an April 7th game which the Indians ended eventually winning 11-5).

 

So far already, we've managed to blow a 5th inning advantage and then yesterday's 5th-6th-7th inning leads.

 

And the weird thing about that time period is Takatsu was REALLY struggling, enough to lose the closer's spot to Hermanson.

Edited April 6, 2011 by caulfield12

[WCSox]

Some interesting stats from the 2005 season in the first half (through 86 games)...

 

57-29 record

 

Sox lost only 8 games during that entire eighty-six game stretch when they were leading after 5 innings, and 6 times when they were leading after six innings. Another way to look at is that the probability was 93% if the Sox were leading after 6 they'd go on to win that game, pretty amazing!!!

 

Perhaps even more impressively, during that same first half, the SOX only coughed up two 7th inning leads and two 8th inning leads (once was against San Diego, a 2-1 game we led the entire time until giving up 2 in the bottom of the 9th, ironically Linebrink was the winner with Hermanson taking one of his few losses that season...the only other blown save that resulted in a loss was Takatsu giving up a 5-2 lead in the 9th, an April 7th game which the Indians ended eventually winning 11-5).

 

So far already, we've managed to blow a 5th inning advantage and then yesterday's 5th-6th-7th inning leads.

 

And the weird thing about that time period is Takatsu was REALLY struggling, enough to lose the closer's spot to Hermanson.

 

Our bullpen looks like dogsh*t right now. Pena and Ohman both suck and have no business being on our roster. Due to their relative lack of experience, it's difficult to tell what we're going to get out of Sale and Santos going forward (though both looked great at times last year). I imagine that Crain and Thornton will be fine going forward.

 

So until these guys get it together, we'll be seeing more disappointing losses to bad teams. We don't have the depth of the '05 bullpen to overcome an ailing Shingo.

 

[caulfield12]

Our bullpen looks like dogsh*t right now. Pena and Ohman both suck and have no business being on our roster. Due to their relative lack of experience, it's difficult to tell what we're going to get out of Sale and Santos going forward (though both looked great at times last year). I imagine that Crain and Thornton will be fine going forward.

 

So until these guys get it together, we'll be seeing more disappointing losses to bad teams. We don't have the depth of the '05 bullpen to overcome an ailing Shingo.

 

 

As bad as Vizcaino and Marte SEEMED that year, they were head and shoulders above Ohman, Pena and Humber/random minor leaguer.

 

Someone's going to have to break through from our system ala Scott Radinsky or Boone Logan (I'd take Cotts or Jenks 05-08 about right now, too). Santos Rodriguez? Doubt it.

[Balta1701]

As bad as Vizcaino and Marte SEEMED that year, they were head and shoulders above Ohman, Pena and Humber/random minor leaguer.

Really, I'm not sure about that. Vizcaino had his ups and downs too...Pena at least is likely to have some good outings as well, and does the same sorta thing in being the 2+ inning eating guy every now and then. Marte was almost unusable in the 2nd half. Both of them had better ERA's than how they were actually pitching because Hermy/Politte/Cotts would come in and bail them out when they got in trouble.

[southsider2k5]

I'm thinking Sox split by taking one of two.

 

I blame you for Adam Dunn's appendix.

[LittleHurt05]

As bad as Vizcaino and Marte SEEMED that year, they were head and shoulders above Ohman, Pena and Humber/random minor leaguer.

 

Vizcaino was actually pretty decent that year I thought. I mean he wasn't exactly thrown in a lot of high leverage situations, but his ERA was 3.73. That includes the early 11-inning game vs. CLE where he took one for the team and threw 60 pitches, giving up 6 runs in under 3 innings.

[caulfield12]

Really, I'm not sure about that. Vizcaino had his ups and downs too...Pena at least is likely to have some good outings as well, and does the same sorta thing in being the 2+ inning eating guy every now and then. Marte was almost unusable in the 2nd half. Both of them had better ERA's than how they were actually pitching because Hermy/Politte/Cotts would come in and bail them out when they got in trouble.

 

 

The other problem looming is we don't exactly have another El Duque available to shift into the bullpen anywhere on a Sox major or minor league roster.

 

With the payroll already at $128 million, what are the odds that JR would take on another $2-3 million for a veteran middle reliever/5th starter type at the ASB? Hmmmm....

[southsider2k5]

The other problem looming is we don't exactly have another El Duque available to shift into the bullpen anywhere on a Sox major or minor league roster.

 

With the payroll already at $128 million, what are the odds that JR would take on another $2-3 million for a veteran middle reliever/5th starter type at the ASB? Hmmmm....

 

It depends on how many people have shown up at the ballpark to that point.