Despite his number of saves at this point in the season, Jenks still worries the hell out of me whenever he takes the mound this season. It seems like each time he gets a save opprotunity, he is basically guarenteed to give up at least one run. Sure, this is acceptable when your team is up 6-3 (as in tonight's game), but sooner or later his tendencies are going to bite him in the ass.

But he got his fast ball to 94-95 today. It has been at 90-91. That's the most important thing. He'll be fine. He'll end up with 44 saves in 48 chances when it's all said and done.

how did they score off him today? I only see he led up a BB, no hits, but Texeira scored on a sac fly. How did he get to 3rd?

texeira walked, took second on catcher's indifference, moved to third on sosa's ground out, then scored on hammerin' hank blalock's sac fly. the only part of that i take exception to is the walk, which shouldn't ever happen to lead off the inning in a save situation -- jenks does scare me, too, and i think i'd feel a lot better if ozzie were flexible enough to let aardsma get some looks.

Yea..his fastball worries me a bit. Although he might just be playing himself into shape. He looks bigger this year, which is hard to do.

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

Like the Oakland game.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

You can't do it, in my opinion. Until a closer gets to Lidge-like numbers, or Borowski so far this season, you need to give him the opportunities. Ugly but effective is still effective, and once you make that change you can't go back. Jenks' mental game has always been a bit shaky, and if you switch on him he'll have nothing upstairs. Closing is all confidence, and you can't kill that just because you don't like the way he gets the saves.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

yeah, yeah, good point. can't a guy dream?

also, the borowski blow-up is my second favorite to former orioles/diamondbacks setup guy jorge julio getting traded to florida the first week of this season and getting shelled out of the closer position in his only four appearances.

I'm loving that Cleveland can't get a closer - they got tired of the fat guy, Bob Wickman, and sent him packing to Atlanta. Now they can't find anyone to close, and will probably have to trade for Brad Lidge and give up something big to get him.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

Didn't Wickman do good for them, or was that just against the Sox?

He was, but he was their only worthwhile trading piece that was expendable - they weren't going to give up Hafner, Westbrook, Sizemore, and no one wanted Aaron F'n Boone. They saw Wickman as possibly retiring, and they never seemed very happy with him - there were always rumors about him being trade bait. It was basically just a case of the grass is always greener.

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Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy. ~ Benjamin Franklin

agreed re: cleveland, though i think a more likely target for them would be chad cordero, who the nationals are expected to shop hard before the trade deadline. the injuns could probably get a better deal on him if they go to washington sooner than that.

As a Cubs fan, be careful what you wish for.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

due to the qualifier you made, i'll be sure not to take your advice. relief pitching is as finicky position as there is on a major league ballclub, and i would agree with anyone who finds my comment ludicrous due to the fact that a smart manager (like ozzie) doesn't mess with a good thing; aardsma's current success likely comes as a result of his role. however, if things spiral out of control for jenks (and "things" just might do that, sooner rather than later) aardsma is their best option out of the pen to take over the 9th inning.

Other than MacDougal's propensity to get injured, why would Aardsma be a better option that Redbeard? He's actually done it before, though it was for the Royals, whatever that's worth.

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It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a goddamn shame.

http://www.TheCommittedIndian.com/

As a qualifier, you should understand I've watched him pitch more than you have. And it wasn't great.
Never thought of Aardsma as anything better than mediocre.
We'll see how the season plays out for him.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

aardsma's been far and away the best reliever for the sox, though, and there's no clear sign that he won't keep it up.

to compare the lines:

mac - 6.2 IP / 3 R (all earned, and he avoided getting hit with another R last night due to kinsler's sac) / 3 H / 1 HR / 8 K
aardsma - 10 IP / 1 R (earned) / 4 H / 0 HR / 15 K

if aardsma keeps up that K rate, that's a better approximation of "closer stuff" than mac. and i know that aardsma's IP is a little skewed by his 2 inning outing the first week of the season, but i think ozzie's growing more comfortable with him in high leverage situations than mac.

jenks is still the closer. his arm is still building strength yet. he isnt even coming close to 100 on the gun, but he's finally getting up into the mid 90s

the best thing about the sox bullpen is that if jenks does struggle, there are 3 other guys in thornton, aardsman, and macdougal that easily have 'closer type' stuff


will they score any runs for Danks tonite?

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Wasn't Aardsma plagued with control issues in years past? I'm sure he could have figured that out this year (like Thornton did last year) but I wouldn't think he'd be the first choice with a past of control problems. I'd think MacDougal would be the first replacement with the possibility of Thornton. Hell, do closer by committee just win the damn games.

Control issues?
42-69 Career Walks to Strikeouts. Career 4.03 ERA.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Koch used to this type of stuff, but I still trust Jenks. Just in case, our pen is good, we have guys that can step right in

BUMP...

Yeah. But he'll be 11 out of 12 after he gets this one. That's all that matters.

I said he'll be 44 out of 48 by the end of the year. Everybody would take that.

This coming from the guy that had the Sox winning 100 or so last year, if I remember right (not that I didn't like their chances at the division either).

I had them for 110. But thanks for remembering. Hey, I've had some good calls too. LOL.

Plus Bobby is on pace for that 44 out of 48. You can't deny that.

And A-Rod is on pace to hit 80+ HR's.

good to see some small ball in this series.

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Im only viewing the game on yahoo. Does Contreras look as good as his box score does?

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May 1, 2007 - CSFMB Civil War
“Those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it.”

His control is great today and he is pitching damn well. Reminiscent of 2nd half 2005 Contreras.

contreras was awesome today. 3rd career CG, 2nd shutout. nice to take 2 of 3 from tough teams on the road. now come home and take care of KC, and beatup on the yanks with that godawful pitching staff they have

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