At the All-Star Break

Sorry about the lack of daily coverage lately. Life has been a little hectic and has thrown some surprises my way recently. The least significant of these surprises is the galactic failure of my television to function. That makes watching games a little tricky. Any how – here is how the Sox look at the All-Star break.

The Sox are 57-40 overall, in 1st place in the AL East by a half game over the Rays, courtesy of last night’s win over the Orioles. On the hill, the starting pitching has done well, posting 53 QS and winning 35 of them. The Sox are 22-22 in games in which a starter does not throw a quality start.

Opponents have hurled 42 QS against the Sox, going 26-16 in these starts. If you do the math, that means the Sox are 41-14 when the opponent’s starting pitcher does not go quality. That right there, my friend is some statistical information for you. Looking a little deeper, when the Sox and their opposition each have starters who go quality, the Sox have struggled, going only 12-16. When the Sox have a QS and their foes do not, they are 23-2! When neither starter has a quality start, the Sox are 18-12.

Lesson here: when the Sox get some quality, and the opponents don’t, the Sox win. If neither gets quality, the Sox do pretty well.

Mid-season individual performances

Beckett 17 GS – 11 QS
Buchholz 9 – 3
Colon 6 -2
Lester 20 – 11
Masterson 9 – 5
Matsuzaka 16 – 7
Pauley 1 – 0
Wakefield 19 – 14

Beckett, Lester and Wakefield have performed well, all with over 50% of their starts being QS. Wake is among the league leaders in the category. Dice-K has a great record, and the Sox are 13-3 in his 16 starts, but only 7 QS to his credit. I worry about him burning out in the fall because of too many pitches and too many hard innings. Masterson has been a surprise, 5 QS in 9 starts and has been a boost to the club. Colon has been adequate (2 QS in 6 starts). Clay Buchholz has also been somewhat of a disappointment. All the talent in the world, we keep hearing, but he has not had enough quality starts to really show us that he has it figured out yet.

’08 Game 22 – Pauley starts in relief

So at long last, David Pauley has returned to the big leagues in a Red Sox uniform. The rumor that he was actually the pain in Josh Beckett’s neck has yet to be verified. So Pauley made his fourth career big league start and first since June 11, 2006. He came into the game with one career major league quality start, and he left the game in the fifth with one career major league quality start. Pauley is the sixth start for the Sox of 2008. He allowed 5 earned runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Angels last night, yet fortunately for the Sox, the bats of Ellsbury and Pedrioa came through with big nights and the Sox stretched their winning streak to a season-high 6 games.

Here’s the QS Bottom-Line:

Game 22	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	PC-ST	ERA
DP #62	4.1	10	5	5	2	3	1	89-56	10.38

The End Result:
The Sox take game 1 of the series against the AL West leading Halos despite the last minute stratch of ace, Josh Beckett. We’ll keep a close eye on the prognosis on Beckett’s neck stiffness to see when he might get back into the rotation.

Red Sox Record:	15-7
Total Quality Starts:	10
Record in non-QS games:	7-5

A Look Ahead:

Jon Garland faces off against Dice-K tonight. Each starter has 2 Quality Starts this season.

Current Red Sox 40-man Roster

Here is the current Red Sox Major League Roster: (40-man)

updated 01/05/04

Active Roster – shown in bold

Breakdown (total – 40)

Pitchers: 22

Catchers: 3

Infield: 9

Outfield: 6

Pitchers

1. Tim Wakefield – RHP (signed thru 2005)

Signed as a minor league free agent (April 1995)

2. Anastacio Martinez, RHP (Pawtucket)

Signed as an undrafted free agent (1997)

3. Manny Delcarmen, RHP (Wilmington)

Drafted in the 2nd round, 2000

4. Luis Mendoza, RHP (Wilmington)

Signed as an undrafted free agent (Nov. 2000)

5. Anibal Sanchez, RHP (Lowell)

Signed as an undrafted free agent (Jan. 2001)

6. Juan Cedeno, LHP (Wilmington)

Signed as an undrafted free agent (Nov. 2001)

7. Chris Smith, RHP (Portland)

Drafted in 4th round, 2002

8. Alan Embree, LHP (signed thru 2005)

Traded from San Diego for Brad Baker and Dan Giese (June 2002)

9. Mike Timlin, RHP (signed thru 2005)

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2002)

10. Byung-Hyun Kim, RHP (signed thru 2005)

Traded from Arizona for Shea Hillenbrand (May 2003)

11. Bronson Arroyo, RHP (under Sox control)

Signed as a minor league free agent (Jan. 2003)

12. Abe Alvarez, LHP (Portland)

Drafted in 2nd round, 2003

13. Curt Schilling, RHP (signed thru 2007)

Traded from Arizona for Casey Fossum, Jorge Delarosa, Brandon Lyon, and Mike Goss (Nov. 2003)

14. Keith Foulke, RHP (signed thru 2007)

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2003)

15. Mark Malaska, LHP

Claimed off waivers from Tampa Bay (Dec. 2003)

16. Lenny Dinardo, LHP

Claimed in the 2004 Rule 5 Draft from the NY Mets (March 2004)

17. Tim Bausher, RHP

Claimed off waivers from Colorado (Dec. 2004)

18. Matt Mantei, RHP

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2004)

19. David Wells, LHP

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2004)

20. John Halama, LHP

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2004)

21. Matt Clement, RHP

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2004)

22. Wade Miller, RHP

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2004)

Disabled List: Reynaldo Garcia, Jason Shiell, and Brad Thomas

Offered Arbitration: Pedro Astacio, Derek Lowe, Pedro Martinez (signed with NYM), Mike Myers

Catchers

1. Jason Varitek (captain, signed thru 2008)

Traded from Seattle with Derek Lowe for Heathcliff Slocumb (July 1997)

2. Doug Mirabelli (signed thru 2006)

Traded from Texas for Justin Duchscherer (June 2001)

3. Kelly Shoppach (Pawtucket)

Drafted in 2nd round, 2001

Infielders

1. Hanley Ramirez, SS (Portland)

Signed as an undrafted free agent (July 2000)

2. Kevin Youkilis, 3B (under Sox control)

Drafted in the 8th round, 2001

3. Bill Mueller, 3B (signed thru 2005)

Signed as a free agent (Jan. 2003)

4. David Ortiz, DH/1B (signed thru 2006 with 2007 option)

Signed as a free agent (Jan. 2003)

5. Kevin Millar, 1B/OF (signed thru 2005)

Claimed off waivers from Florida (Feb. 2003)

6. Mark Bellhorn, 2B (under Sox control)

Traded from Colorado for a PTBNL (Dec. 2003)

7. Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B (signed thru 2006)

Acquired from Minnesota along w/ Orlando Cabrera (from Montreal) for Nomar Garciaparra & Matt Murton 8. Edgar Renteria, SS (signed thru 2008, with 2009 team option)

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2004)

8. Ramon Vasquez, SS

Acquired from San Diego with OF Jay Payton, P David Pauley, and cash for Dave Roberts (Dec. 2004)

Offered Arbitration: Orlando Cabrera (signed w/ANA), Dave McCarty, Pokey Reese (signed w/ Seattle)

Outfielders

1. Trot Nixon, RF (signed thru 2005)

Drafted in the 1st round ,1993

2. Manny Ramirez, LF (signed thru 2008 with 2 option years)

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2000)

3. Johnny Damon, CF (signed thru 2005)

Signed as a free agent (Dec. 2001)

4. Adam Hyzdu, OF (under Sox control)

Signed as minor league free agent (Nov. 2003)

5. Adam Stern, OF

Claimed from Atlanta in major league phase of Rule 5 draft (Dec. 2004)

6. Jay Payton, OF

Acquired from San Diego with SS Ramon Vasquez, P David Pauley, and cash for Dave Roberts (Dec. 2004)

Offered Arbitration: Ellis Burks (expected to retire), Gabe Kapler (signed w/ Yomiuri Giants)