Up Shit Creek with a Salty, Yippy Paddle?

The news of Victor Martinez signing with the Tigers came as a big blow to me. I shouldn't have been surprised since all signs were pointing to him not signing with the Red Sox and had I not been as emotionally invested in Martinez I would have conceded defeat weeks before. As it was however, I spent the good part of Tuesday wondering what the heck Theo was thinking and lamenting the huge loss.

Now that a few days have passed and I've reluctantly made my peace with Victor not being with us next year I've turned my attention to who is currently in line to be our starting catcher next: none other than the man with the longest name in the MLB, Jarrod Saltalamacchia. I remember when Salty played with the Rangers (who can forget a name like that?) and I always admired the horseshoe shape his name made around his number on his jersey. That's really all I noticed about him. When he got traded to the Red Sox in July I hurried out to buy his shirt because I wanted that cool looking horseshoe name on the back of a shirt. To my dismay, MLB chose to shrink his name down to little letters and not give me a horseshoe shape.

That of course is neither here nor there when it comes to his playing and his ability to be our everyday catcher. The thing I find most fascinating and frightening about Salty is the fact that he had the yips last season. For those of you who don't know the yips  "is an expression used to describe the apparent loss of certain fine motor skills seemingly without explanation in one of a number of different sports." (wikipedia) Salty had shoulder surgery at some point last season and when he returned he had these yips. Apparently he could throw fine unless he was throwing to the pitcher. He exhibited no sign of these yips during his time with the Red Sox although he only played in 10 games with 19 at bats last season (with a .167 average) so I'm not sure that's a good indicator.

However, not all is lost. Lest you think I'm just sour grapes about Victor leaving, I do think that Salty could turn out OK. He was a highly touted prospect not that long ago. He has a career average of .248 which isn't great but isn't alarming either. It increases the chances that Tek will stay next with Red Sox next season. And Josh Beckett seems to like him. Anything that might help Beckett get back to his old Beckett-ness is fine in my book so I'm throwing my support behind Salty as of now, despite the yips and the lack of horseshoe shape on my Saltalamacchia shirt.

Early Off-Season Moves Meet With My Approval

There will come a time this off-season I'm sure when I curse Theo Epstein's name and wonder why he wants to make my life miserable with the moves he has made. However, this early in the off-season I have nothing but praise for what he's done. Get rid of Kevin Cash? Yes! I have been hoping for that since Tek came off the DL. Get rid of Dusty Brown? I feel bad for the guy but I'm OK with that move. Get rid of Rich Hill to Pawtucket? Sure, why not? Sign Salty to a 1 year deal to avoid arbitration? Yes, please! I also appreciate that all the reports that I heard about the Salty signing mentioned that the contract has different amounts based on whether he is in the minors or the majors last year. Perhaps that is standard on this kind of contract but I like the thought the option is still there to start him in Pawtucket and have Tek and Victor back as our catchers next year.  So I will hold onto my good feelings for Theo for now until he inevitably drops a bomb on me and makes me rue the day I ever started watching the Red Sox.

Either the Rays Aren't as Good as We All Thought or the Red Sox Aren't as Bad as We All Thought

Well then. Who could have predicted after that horrible loss to the Yankees last Monday that we'd be sitting here riding high on 4 straight wins against the Phillies and the Devil Rays? Finally everything that Theo promised is started to come together. The starting pitching has been phenomenal, the defense has been tight and effective, and disparaged offense has even put in a strong appearance.

After the loss to the Yankees last Monday and then the subsequent come from behind win I read an article somewhere (and it kills me that I can't remember where because you know I like to be good about citing sources) in which the author was saying that clearly the Red Sox were not playing bad baseball because a bad baseball team does not come back from a loss like they had on Monday and gain a win on Tuesday in a tough game. Nothing could be more true. Finally we are getting to see the Red Sox play good baseball.

The wins against the Phillies were surprising and satisfying but really, it's the wins against the Devil Rays that make me even happier since they are in our division and basically running away with it. Yes, Devil Rays you may have 32 wins this season but the train stops here.

So That's What Pitching & Defense Look Like

I had an image in my mind of Theo Esptein calling up Larry Lucchino last night to tell him that finally his pitching and defense idea is catching on. Low score games with phenomenal pitching, that's what we've all been counting on and for the last two nights the Red Sox have delivered.

After Clay's stellar outing yesterday, Jon Lester slightly one upped him by having an even better outing (hard to believe, but true). Lester had 11 strikeouts. That's right, 11! He was the ace we all know he is and effectively erased all memory of his previous bad starts.

Let's not forget to give props to both Bard and Papelbon who effectively held on to the 2 run lead and even made it look easy. It's always nice when Pap just does his job without trying to up the ante on excitement.

Darnell McDonald continues to amaze. Count me in the camp that viewed his debut as a fluke but he has more than proved me wrong and, for once, I am happy to say I was wrong. I'm also very happy to see Pedroia back in the 2nd spot in the lineup because for some reason it seems to be making a difference with his hitting. Watching Lowell pinch hit for Ortiz brought up usual mixed feeling for me. I would like to think Big Papi is not finished but it isn't looking so good for him, is it?

As an aside, I don't know if it is his ease at being back in Toronto (although how anyone could feel at ease in the cavernous Rogers Stadium is beyond me) but Marco Scutaro is beginning to show his personality. He exhibited a variety of different faces, tossed his bat and gloves, and even threw his batting helmet down in the dugout. Keep it up Marco!

Now that the Red Sox have swept the Blue Jays (A sweep! Finally!) they head down to Baltimore to show the Orioles that the one win they got on Sunday was an aberration and will not be happening again.

Bad Games Sound Even Worse From Florida

No readers, I have not been silent because I have been mourning the state of the Red Sox lately but because I have been in Florida on vacation. While I was gone I apparently missed two good games and a slew of bad ones.

You will all be happy to know that Red Sox nation is alive and well in Northern Florida. While we were there we saw a number of Red Sox fans, one random Cubs fan, and one Yankees fan. My son and I added to the Red Sox presence by wearing our gear regularly. One day my son wore his Ellsbury shirt, Red Sox shorts, and his Kid Nation hat. To save my husband from acute embarrassment I chose to not wear a Red Sox shirt that day.

Chances to watch the games were nil. The best I could do was bike down to Island Joes and use their wifi to watch the condensed version on my iPod and read the news. The last game I actually saw (rather than heard about or watched a condensed version of) was last Friday's rained out game at which Josh pitched wonderfully and Tek was his usual early season studly self. From what I can make out from my spotty coverage after that the Red Sox were abysmal against the Rays and fought hard against the Rangers, resulting in 5 games lost and 2 games won, including a sweep at the hands of the Devil Rays (at this point I think we should start put that Devil back in their names because those guys are going to be nothing short of evil for us this season).

The worst part about this is not just the embarrassment of having the Blue Jays ahead of us in the AL East but how bad the team has looked overall. There isn't just one thing you can point to that needs fixing. I would like to think everything would be better if Cameron and Ellsbury weren't on the DL but that's just wishful thinking. Maybe Dice-K returning to the rotation will be the shot in the arm needed? Unlikely.

I tend to think that Theo Epstein usually does a good job and athough I had my doubts about his off-season moves I was fairly confident that it would all work out in the end. Was I wrong? It is starting to look that way. But then again, we can just close our eyes, click our heels together and repeat, "It's only April" and things might still work out OK.

The Red Sox take on the favorite whipping dogs of the AL East this weekend, The Orioles. You just know we've got to get a win out of this (maybe even two or three). I'll be at the games on Saturday and Sunday. Look for me if you are there. I'll be the one in the Red Sox hat so say hi if you see me.