Two In The Books

The Month of May has been good to the Red Sox. They've won 20 games and have one more tonight. The Yankees at 14.5 games back. And the only bump in the road so far in 2007 (Josh Beckett's injury) is all but forgotten after his 7 inning, 7 strikeout return on Tuesday.

Highlights

Kevin Youkilis – Yuke is playing out of his mind right now. He’s raised his average from .289 on May 1st to .358 on May 30th by getting at least one hit in every game in May except May 4th. He’s currently riding a 20-game hitting streak and a 9-game multi-hit streak. Yuke’s ability to hit in any spot in the line up has also made him extremely valuable with Drew in a slump and Big Papi nursing sore hammys.

Kevin Youkilis’ inside-the-park home run. The only thing more unlikely is the fact that Trot had the last one at Fenway…

Kevin Millar’s game winning error… I mean Julio Lugo’s game-winning infield hit on May 13th. You really have to credit the Oriels bullpen for this one…

Eric Hinske Day where he made a game-saving catch and almost broke his face, only to follow it up with a go-ahead home run in the 4-2 win over the Tigers on May 17th.

Alex Cora (.319) and Dustin Pedroia (.302) doing all the little things at 2B and the bottom of the line up.

Pitcher of the Month

Dice K - 4-0 in May after gutting it out for 5 innings in May 25th against the Rangers. A stomach bug eventually caught up to him and the Rangers got to Dice K for 5 runs, but the team picked him up Matsuzaka recorded his 6th win in a row.

Runner up: Tavarez - who beat the Yankees (twice if you count 4/29) and Tigers knowing that he’ll be sent to the pen in a few weeks. He struggled through 5.2 innings against the Rangers, but the Sox got the win and he bowled a ball to first at one point! Creativity will always get you points in my book!

Player of the Month

Yuke – See above… I’m almost afraid to jinx it by writing too much.

Runner up: Mike Lowell - who is currently the Red Sox Triple Crown winner with a team leading 39 RBI and 9 HRs, and a .326 BA, second only to Youkilis.

Dud of the Month

J.D. Drew – His average has dropped over .200 points from .375 on April 22nd to .232 on May 30th. He had 3 extra base hits and ZERO home runs in May. He had a big day on the 27th when he drove in the go ahead run in the 8th and finished with a 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI night – but he’s still an injury away from being stoned by the Pesky Pole crowd.

What to look for in June

Interleague play means our guys will have the luxury of the pitcher in the nine spot, so look for good numbers from the starters pitching in NL parks.

Big Papi is nursing some sore hamstrings, so it will be interesting to see how many games he plays at 1B during Interleague play – luckily Youkilis is on fire, so Papi’s bat won’t be missed if he has to sit a game or two.

Interleague play should help J.D. Drew as well. Facing familiar NL pitching may help him find his swing again…

Lastly, I hate to say it, but look for the Sox to cool off. They’re 20-7 and riding a 5-game winning streak with one game left in May. Realistically, there’s no way Yuke or the Sox can keep this pace up all year.

That said, the Red Sox are 24-12 in Interleague play since 2005…

Drew - Not So Hot-to-Trot

Last night ESPN’s Baseball Tonight had a quick feature on the top free agent pitcher acquisitions from this past off-season. Dice-K topped the list and it got me thinking about some of the other moves the Sox made this offseason. Okajima has to be the biggest surprise of 2007, maybe even in the entire MLB. After a rough first month and a half Julio Lugo finally started hitting this week. And the guys in the pen have done better than expected bridging the gap to Papelbon. But there’s one move Theo and Co. made that hasn’t been panning out lately… J.D. Drew.

On April 22nd Drew was batting .346 and was making it look easy in Fenway’s “pesky” right field corner. He would go 2-4 with a walk, a stolen base and a home run (part of the 4-in-a-row hit that day) that day and the Red Sox would sweep the first series against the Yankees in 2007.

Since then Drew has lost his way. His average has fallen from .357 to .248. He’s 9-61 with 3 extra-base hits, no home runs and 14 strike outs, meaning he Ks 23% of the time right now. And we learned that Francona plans to sit him every five days in an effort to keep him healthy (an give Wily Mo some ABs). So far Terry’s plan has worked, we’re ¼ of the way through the season and Drew hasn’t been injured, but he’s not exactly earning his $70 million right now and his “back-up” has the same amount of HRs (2) and a better average (Pena: .262, Drew: .242).

Players fall into ruts all the time. Rocco Baldelli is in a 1-39 slump as we speak. But Drew’s struggles got me wondering how our ex-right fielder, Trot Nixon was fairing in Cleveland…

Trot is 29/101 = .287 with 18 R, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 6 2B and 18 Ks.
Drew is 29/117 = .242 with 18 R, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 5 2B and 26 Ks.

Trot is making $3 million this year with a possible $2M in incentives. Drew is making $14 million this year and $70M over 5 years… and they’re numbers to date are essentially identical – save for Trot’s superior average.

Supposedly, Drew is a better long-term investment (even though he and Trot are just 1 year apart in age and both have injury concerns) and obviously money is not a concern in Red Sox Nation, but you have to wonder if this move was necessary, especially with David Murphy and Jacoby Ellsbury waiting in the minors.

Just some food for thought…

Reunited

Clemens hopes to be pitching for the Yankees by June... which would mean he could pitch his first game back in Fenway against the Sox (June 1,2,3) !

He cost $28 million. He'll turn 45 this year. He's a six-inning pitcher at best. And the Yankees have the most over worked and under-achieving bullpen in the majors... his should be fun.

Randy Moss: Asset or Cancer?

Randy Moss has 10,000+ yards and 101 career touchdowns, but he's had numerous problems on and off the field. So... did Bill Belichick and the Pats make a mistake or will Moss simply be the next Cory Dillon?

Rob's Take: Moss still has to make the team. If he looks like a problem, the Pats WILL cut him. If he does his job, Brady will finally have a true weapon at WR.

Red Sox News

Tavarez to add to arsenal with Dice-K's help

Julian Tavarez, who has made an effort to befriend Daisuke Matsuzaka (and Hideki Okajima), is now asking Matsuzaka for a favor. He wants Matsuzaka to show him how to throw a cut fastball.

"I told him, 'I think you're one of the greatest pitchers I've ever seen,' " Tavarez said. " 'The way you go 88, 89 the first three innings, then 95 later. You walk around the mound, and all of a sudden you come out with so much power.

Get the whole story: Boston Globe - Red Sox News

Schilling goes for four in a row

Curt Schilling takes the mound tonight against Joe Blanton and the Oakland Athletics. After a rough Opening Day in Kansas City Schilling has gone seven or more innings and collected three wins in his last four starts, relying on experience instead of power.

"I have not pitched like this since 1992. I am not that 96 (mph) guy anymore," Schilling said. "I can be effective and I can get outs and I can go deep in games and I can finish games just as easily with the stuff I am throwing now. There will be days when I feel better than others."

Schilling is 3-3 with a 3.75 ERA against the Athletics. Blanton is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA vs. Boston and has started well in 2007 going 2-1 with a 3.55 ERA and 27 Ks.