Elmhurst Steve wrote:
How did they win in 2005? PITCHING! More than anything else, they pitched very well that season. Thats why clued in Sox fans, know they are going nowhere this year. Danks and Floyd are good, but Buhrle is not at his best and inconsistant this year, Vasquez is on a downward spiral and Contreras (when healthy) has been bad fairly often. In 2005 Contreras was the ace down the stretch and almost unbeatable. The bullpen is either hurt or bad as well. Now they are also overused-the guys who are not already hurt that is.
Correct me if Im wrong Stats Guy, but didn't the Sox have the best pitching staff statistically up to a few weeks ago? Now there are injuries, and the staff is suffering the effects. Every team goes through down time like this. The Sox got steller efforts from unexpected places in their pitching staff, and remember in 05 that they went through two closers before settling on Jenks. The staff did not all of the sudden get bad. Are they as dominating right now? No. But the chances are that with some rest over the past month, some of these guys will come back to the form from the first half of the season.
Elmhurst Steve wrote:
Plus, the offense has too many old and unproductive pieces that kill rallies with either strikeouts or double plays.
How is Derrick Lee doing with double plays this season?
Elmhurst Steve wrote:
Can they win the Central-yes. The Twins have a very long and tough road trip, that will test them, to be sure, coming up. But they also have Liriano back and he may make a big difference for them. But even if the Sox were to win that lousy division, they will go nowhere in the playoffs anyway. People can say what they want about "you never know what might happen in a 5 or 7 game series" and thats true. But even if they do get some breaks, like they did in 2005, when Curt Schilling couldn't pitch in the opening series for Boston, Graffanino makes a key 2 out error to allow Iguchi to hit a 3 run homer, The angels ace Bartolo Colon couldnt pitch and they get the fake dropped 3rd strike with Pierzinski call, they still would not win with this years team. Besides the pitching being inferior to that years team, they also have too many old, unproductive hitters now. So forget the idea of them getting hot at the right time of year and riding a wave in the playoffs. It is not gonna happen this year for the Sox.
Perhaps not, but you won't know until playoff time.
Elmhurst Steve wrote:
However, the Cubs have not only 1 but 2 Cy Young contenders in Zambrano and Dempster, along with Harden, who if healthy, is another top pitcher. Hell, even Lilly generally gives them a decent chance to win in most games. Plus they have an offense that can score runs, even if they dont hit homers that day. Finally, they have a bullpen that could be the best ever on the North side. Kerry Wood was leading the league in saves, before his blister had him out of action for a few weeks here. But that may just mean that he's that much fresher down the stretch. Marmol is back to form. Samardjia (sp?) is looking like a guy who may take over Howry's spot very nicely. Cotts is looking good these days. Thats why, once again, "THe Cubs end the wait in 2008!!!! Come on Danny Woo Woo, hop on the Big Blue Train, it's gonna be a beautiful ride.....
You waited this long to worry about spelling? Dempster is not a cy young candidate. He didnt even win on the road until late in the year.
Baseball is peaks and valleys and right now the Cubs are on a peak. They need to remain at or near that peak and surpass it in the next three months to win the series. I hope they do it, but their play has nothing to do with whether or not the Sox will make the playoffs or get to the Series.
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The Original Spanky wrote:
I don't like white rappers.