Brain Dump

Random thoughts while watching Felix Hernandez one hit the Sox.


*It's tough forming opinions after only a week and a half of play and with the horrible weather we've had, although Kevin from New York does always accuse me of making emotional snap judgements. But despite the opening day outburst against the Mariners, doesn't this Sox lineup appear to be very "soft"? And with Manny and Big Papi not hitting, it looks "scary soft". You just get the impression that any half decent outing by any average pitcher is going to shut them down. And it's not just Hernandez last night, who arguably is much better than "average". The very ordinary Gil Meche, Robinson Tejeda and Kevin Millwood also quieted this lineup down pretty easily.

*And speaking of the lineup, whatever happened to "working the count?" The Sox went out weakly in the first two innings against Seattle eating up all of 20 pitches from Hernandez. And doesn't it always go this way? Dice K gets all the hype, but Hernandez comes out and outpitches him. *Remy update: He always jokes about not having a hair "system", but looking at him in the opening, he may want to reconsider. His forehead is beginning to look like a fivehead.

*Prior to the game they showed Youk and Crisp practicing handshakes. Maybe Youk should be spending his time showing Coco how to hit instead. Coco looks hopeless at the plate. Might as well put Wily Mo in center and see what he can do.

*The American League schedule makers must be pleased with themselves. They take a dome team (Seattle) and send them on the road for the first week of the season so they can get snowed out four straight in Cleveland. Then they send them to Boston for two 40 degree games and a possible sleet-out. They they really had some fun by taking warm weather Los Angeles and bringing them to Fenway for four days of Arctic Baseball and perhaps a snow out on Monday. With these geniuses running the game, is it any wonder that most people consider football the National Pastime now?

*JD Drew broke up Hernandez' no hitter in the eighth. Granted he unfairly came in with negative expectations, but hasn't he been the most pleasant surprise of the season so far? We'll see what happens if he goes on the DL or falls into a bad slump, but for now, I agree with Kevin, he looks like Bill Mueller reincarnated.

*Matsusaka was slapped around pretty good by the Mariners. Makes you wonder how he will handle the Monsters of the AL East. Still too early to panic. Even for me.

*I don't know about you, but I've already had enough of the Joel Pinata Era. Let's add him to the ever growing Rudy Seanez Memorial Theo Epstein Failed Pitching Experiments List, eat the $4 million and move on. He is absolutely brutal.

*We are going to know a heck of lot more about the Sox by the end of April. Starting this Friday, they play 17 more games this month, 15 of them against the Angels, Yankmees and Blue Jays. The other two games are against the revived O's. If the the boys don't start hitting during that stretch, there is going to an awful lot of stress on that pitching staff to shut down some pretty tough lineups.