David Ortiz Has A Good Chance to Win the 2010 Home Run Derby
The 25th annual Homer Run Derby is taking place in Angels Stadium in Anaheim. Last year Prince Fielder took home the derby trophy. This year Fielder will not be back to defend his title. There will be five new derby contestants this year, it is time for a fresh young batch of players to liven things up a bit. Here are my predictions for how everyone will do tonight, starting from least favorite.
3. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox: Ortiz is back in the home run derby for his fourth time. Ortiz hasn’t played in a derby since 2006, which was his last huge home run season. Ortiz is back this season. He has 18 home runs and is slugging .562. If this were two years ago, Ortiz would not be in the home run derby. By today’s standard’s, post-steroid era, Ortiz is a power hitter once again. Ortiz has more experience over everyone in the derby this year. Ortiz is actually 17 home runs away from having the most home runs in the derby’s combined which is now held by Ken Griffey Jr. I think Ortiz will come close to making it to the finals. Ortiz is a lefty and has the most power out of everyone. Ortiz’s only drawback is his build, Ortiz is so big that if he hits a lot of home runs in one round he will be drained. Ortiz’s only chance of making it to the finals is if he hits most of his home runs in the first round than just ride that into the finals. It will be around 77 degrees at the time of the derby, at least the heat will not be a factor, which will help Ortiz. I’m sticking with my health approach though which makes Ortiz finish in third because there are two guys who have almost just as much power who are in a lot better shape.
Click here to read the full article – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
Clay Buchholz Makes #5 of the Best Starting Pitchers of 2010
This year is the first year in a long time that starting pitchers are dominating more than hitters. ERA’s are so low this year for many pitchers, which made it very hard to pick a top five. A lot of people probably know who number one is going to be, but the other four can be anyone’s guess.
5. Clay Buchholz, Boston Red Sox: Buchholz emerged this year for the Red Sox as their top-starting pitcher. Buchholz is helping the Red Sox make a run at the first place and best record in baseball, Yankees. No one would have thought Buchholz would be leading his team in wins and ERA. Buchholz is 10-4 so far this season with a 2.44 ERA. These are remarkable numbers because Buchholz plays in the toughest division in baseball, the AL East. The Red Sox are currently one game behind the Yankees and have the third best record in baseball. If Buchholz continues to pitch the same way for the rest of the season, along with Jon Lester and John Lackey, The Red Sox are going to be very hard to beat. The Red Sox still have to play the Rays and Yankees for 19 more games combined, which means their division is still up in the air.
Click here to read the full article – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
David Ortiz Makes #3 of the Best Designated Hitters of 2010
There are only nine everyday DH’s in the American League. DH is a position and will not be left out. Out of the nine DH’s, five of them really stand out as premier hitters that are contributing to their team in a big way.
3. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox: Ortiz isn’t totally back to his former self, but he is getting the job done for the Red Sox this year. The last couple years fans were wondering, what’s wrong with Ortiz? Ortiz used to be a solid .300 hitter with at least 40 home runs since he came over to the Red Sox, but the last couple years Ortiz’s average has fallen to .264 in 2008 and .238 in 2009. This year Ortiz is pretty much doing the same thing, he’s hitting .252 with 16 home runs and 47 RBI’s. There’s still time for Ortiz to raise his average back up to the .300’s, but it could also fall even lower. If the Red Sox ever want to make it to the World Series again, they are going to need Ortiz to do better than his good numbers now, they need more production out of him. With a lackluster offense, the Red Sox are somehow only two games behind the best record in baseball Yankees. The Red Sox either have to get another big bat before the trade deadline or just hope Ortiz can pick his bat speed back up and hit for a better average.
Click here to read the full article – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
Adrian Beltre Makes #4 of the Best Third Baseman of 2010
Three out of the five third baseman on this list are having comeback years. One of the players career looked like it was over, one of them hasn’t had a good year since he was in the National League, and the last comeback player had a power outage last year.
4. Adrian Beltre, Boston Red Sox: Beltre has already passed last years season total in home runs with nine and tied his total in RBI’s with 44 RBI’s. Beltre had a terrible season last year and was traded from the Mariners to the Red Sox. Maybe Beltre needed a change of scenery, the Mariners haven’t been a good team for a while, and getting traded to the Red Sox may have motivated Beltre to become his former self once again. The most surprising stat with Beltre is his average, which is .333. Beltre has only hit over .300 once back in 2004 with the Dodgers. Some people may think Beltre was using steroids that year because he hasn’t had stats like that ever since then. Beltre is helping the Red Sox out a great deal this year leading the team in average and RBI’s. Motivation is the key to Beltre’s success.
Click here to read the full article – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
Kevin Youkilis Makes #3 of the Best First Baseman of 2010
Four out of the top five (first baseman) come from the American League. There is only one slight surprise on the list, the rest have been mainstays over the past few years. This may be the only position where the top five will remain the top five all season. The number one and two guys should be there all season barring injuries.
3. Kevin Youkilis, Boston Red Sox: Youkilis is on pace to have his best season ever. Every time you turn around this guy is on base. Youkilis’s on base percentage is an insane .453, which is second in all of baseball. Youkilis is hitting .324 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI’s which all lead the team. Youkilis is batting cleanup this year after Victor Martinez and before David Ortiz. The Red Sox three, four, and five may be the best in baseball now that Ortiz is back to his former self. The Red Sox can thank Youkilis for the resurgence of Ortiz because Youkilis is on base so much, which makes other teams want to throw strikes to Ortiz. With Youkilis always on base, the Red Sox have a good chance to score a lot of runs and compete in the tough American League East.
Click here to read the full article – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
Victor Martinez Makes #1 of the Best Catchers of 2010
There aren’t many big name catchers in the majors anymore, there are only a handful that come to mind as top tier catchers in the league.
1. Victor Martinez, Boston Red Sox: Martinez has always been known to put up spectacular offensive stats. This year is no different then any other. Martinez is hitting .294 with eight home runs and 29 RBI’s. The Red Sox picked up Martinez last year to replace the aging team captain Jason Varitek. Martinez has been a huge upgrade offensively over Varitek and he is trying to fill the void of Manny Ramirez and Jason Bay as the Red Sox premier offensive player. With the resurgence of David Ortiz and the great hitting from Kevin Youkilis and Martinez, the Red Sox are creeping their way back into the AL East making the AL East a three-man race between them the Yankees and Blue Jays.
Click here to read the full article – By Eric Heyer of Sports Fan Blog Network
Red Sox Give Josh Beckett A Four-Year Contract Extension
For most teams, starting pitching is the top item on the shopping list every winter. The Red Sox hope to be stocked for years to come.
“You can’t have an elite organization without starting pitching,” general manager Theo Epstein said after signing Josh Beckett to a four-year, $68 million contract extension Monday. “And for us, there’s the added expectation of having starting pitchers who can succeed in the AL East. It’s hard to acquire. It’s hard to draft and develop.”
Now that Beckett, who turns 30 on May 15, is signed through 2014, the Red Sox have signed or control their top four starting pitchers, including John Lackey, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz, through 2014.
“I guess I look at things differently that most people,” said Beckett, who made the deal possible by not insisting on a fifth year. “A lot of people look at what they lost, or what they didn’t get. I’m looking at what I gained here — four more years of stability, four more years with an organization that you know is going to put a competitive team on the field. That can’t be underestimated. A season gets long when you’re losing 90 games.”
Click here to read the full article – By DOM AMORE of Hartford Courant
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Fire up the hot stove for another winter
RED SOX general manager Theo Epstein has no worries about the right side of the field. He knows who his right fielder will be next season. He knows who his second baseman will be next season. He knows, barring a dramatic trade for San Diego’s Adrian Gonzalez, who his first baseman will be next season.
He even knows who his catcher and backup catcher will be now that he’s picked up his option on Victor Martinez and Jason Varitek has exercised his own option to return.
But the entire left side of the field remains in flux. Shortstop Alex Gonzalez is gone, at least temporarily, and no one knows how far apart the Red Sox are from left fielder Jason Bay in their negotiations. On top of that, Mike Lowell isn’t getting any younger and might be the poster child for the dramatic home-road splits that Epstein blamed for his team’s early exit in the playoffs.
It’s been a busy start to the offseason for the Red Sox, and the fun has barely begun.
Click here to read the full article – By BRIAN MACPHERSON of theunionleader.com
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Sox call out ump
C.B. Bucknor name mud again
When an umpire becomes a focal point in a postseason game, it’s usually not a good sign. So it was with first base umpire C.B. Bucknor in Game 1 of the ALDS between the Red Sox [team stats] and Angels last night.
Though they didn’t directly impact the Angels’ 5-0 shutout, Bucknor appeared to have gotten two calls wrong. Third baseman Mike Lowell and shortstop Alex Gonzalez were charged with throwing errors on the plays, but replays indicated it was Bucknor who made the miscues.
In the fourth inning, Howie Kendrick hit a grounder that Gonzalez gloved, sprawling to the ground. Gonzalez got to his feet quickly but threw wildly to first base, pulling Kevin Youkilis [stats] to the home-plate side of the bag. Youkilis caught the throw and clearly applied the tag to Kendrick a step before the Angel came down on the bag, but Bucknor ruled him safe.
Sox manager Terry Francona came racing out of the dugout to protest the call, to no avail.
“He said I tagged him,” recounted Youkilis, “but he said (Kendrick) was on the base when I tagged him. I didn’t think that was possible. I guess guys saw the replay, but other than that, I don’t know.”
Two innings later, with Kendrick again the batter, Lowell fielded a sharp grounder and threw to first. Youkilis came off the bag to catch the throw and appeared to have gotten his foot on the bag a split-second before Kendrick reached the base. Once again, Bucknor ruled the runner safe and once again, the Red Sox howled in protest.
Click here to read the full article – By Sean McAdam of BostonHerald.com
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How they match up
Prediction: Red Sox in five games
The Angels had baseball’s most prolific offense for most of the summer, shooting to the top of the major leagues in runs, hits and average with runners in scoring position, but they cooled considerably in September, batting .263 and averaging 4.3 runs a game. To their usually aggressive baserunning, the Angels have added more patience and power; they rank seventh in the league in walks and third in on-base percentage, categories they have lagged in for years. The Red Sox have a nice balance of power throughout their lineup with the left-handed David Ortiz and J.D. Drew, the switch-hitting Victor Martinez, and the right-handed Kevin Youkilis and Jason Bay, but they can also wreak havoc on the bases with Jacoby Ellsbury, who led the league with 70 stolen bases in 83 attempts, an 84% success rate. Boston is even more patient than the Angels, ranking second in the league in walks and on-base percentage.
Click here to read the full article – By Mike DiGiovanna of LAtimes.com
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