Head Rub from Papi
An odd thing happened this year. Kevin Youkilis made a transition from a hard-working, Gold Glove, OBP guy to a player on the brink of stardom. He is hitting for more power, having equalled his career high in HRs with about 6 weeks to go, and should soon pass his career high in RBIs. His 2nd spot in the line-up has gone to Dustin Pedroia, and Youk has been batting in the 4-6 range. With the Ramirez trade, he is emerging as a potent clean-up hitter to protect Big Papi. Mike Lowell’s injury means Youk is the natural choice to play that role. And since he finds 3rd base less taxing physically, Youk will have more in the tank for those end of the season at-bats.
Extra Bases provides these stats which should set many a member of Red Sox Nation’s mind at ease.
Youkilis hitting in 7+ innings: .390
Ramirez hitting in 7+ innings: .213 (Sox); .357 (Dodgers)Youkilis OPS (on-base plus slugging): .948
Ramirez OPS: .786 (Sox); .899 (Dodgers)
I had been considering the Red Sox pitching needs with Wakefield injured and Clay struggling way too much for my comfort. I had just picked up Byrd in my fantasy league. He has rediscovered his curve ball, and also thinks he was tipping pitches. He allows the Sox to put Clay back in the minors to regain his confidence. This means Wakefield will be replaced by a combination of young guys from the minors. That leaves 4 reliable starters. And when Wake is ready to pitch again you could consider giving Lester a rest in early September. He leads the team in innings pitched.
A funny thing happened around June. Jon Lester “got it”. I had a chance to pick him up in June, but decided against it because of his WHIP. He walked too many guys. But if you look at his most recent games, he isn’t walking batters. He is attacking the hitters more (Dice-K may have finally realized that, and hopefully Josh will remember that). He as emerged as their ace- the guy you can count on for a win, not just a quality start. If Beckett.2007 returns, the Red Sox are well-situated for a run into November. Starting pitching dominates in the playoffs, and I’d take the new & improved Lester, Beckett.2007 and an aggressive Dice-K against any other team’s best 3. Yeah, no Manny- but a bunch of guys who want to prove they can win it without Manny. And a bunch of guys who know it is about more than one player.
I confess I dumped Ellsbury from my fantasy team too soon. He was killing me. He wasn’t hitting, and he wasn’t stealing bases (the main reason I needed him). He was mired in a horrible slump, and platooning with Coco. He seems to have regained his stroke which is great for the Red Sox- but not so much for me. Someone else picked him up off waivers. The Rookie of the Year honors are no longer in sight, unless he hits .400 and steals 30+ the rest of the way leading the Sox to dominate and claim the best record in baseball (it helps that Longoria is on the DL with a fractured wrist). Ellsbury seems over his own wrist issues, and has fixed any mechanical flaws that resulted from it.
This may explain Varitek’s struggles at the plate this year- he’s getting divorced. He probably has a few things on his mind. Knowing nothing of the details, I am sad. As a professing Christian, I’d think he’d try to work it out. But he may have biblical grounds- don’t know. But it is difficult on the 3 kids regardless of the grounds for divorce.
Cavman Considers 
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