Posts tagged JonLester at FanHouse

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

Before Daisuke Matsuzaka's start Tuesday night in Baltimore, someone asked Terry Francona what he thought of the absurd extra innings rule implemented at this year's Olympics, which allows teams to start each inning from the 11th on with runners on first and second base.

After, the Red Sox manager joked that he had gotten a pretty good idea what the rule was like just by watching Matsuzaka.

The Japanese pitcher ran his record to 15-2 Tuesday, but, just as it's been all season long, the win wasn't very pretty. He lasted just five innings, facing runners on first and second in each of the first three frames and escaping a bases loaded jam in the fourth. He made hitters miss plenty -- striking out six -- but he continued handing out free passes at an alarming rate -- walking six.

"It's kind of a tightrope act sometimes," says Francona. "He has the ability to make pitches. He has power on his fastball."

The problem with a tightrope act like Matsuzaka's season-long one is that when his luck runs out, it could be spectacularly ugly for the Red Sox. Here are the worrisome details:

Our MLB editor provides weekly dispatches from major league games in Notes From the Clubhouse.

The Red Sox have decided to push back Josh Beckett's next turn in the rotation to Tuesday because the pitcher is feeling some tingling and numbness in his throwing arm.

Manager Terry Francona said the 2007 ALCS and 2003 World Series MVP slept on his throwing arm awkwardly on Saturday night. He started Sunday against the Blue Jays, allowing eight earned runs in 2 1/3 innings in arguably his worst performance in a Red Sox uniform.

Francona indicated that the decision to push Beckett back from Saturday at Toronto to Tuesday at New York was more precautionary than anything else.

"It's not something we're real worried about, we just don't want to do something rash," said Francona. "If we let him pitch just because he's a good pitcher and he will pitch, I just don't think that makes much sense."

The ace's usual side sessions were postponed a few days as a result of the tingling and the team wanted to put him on a normal throwing schedule in between starts.

For Beckett's part, he sounds a little more concerned. "Anytime it's something with your arm ... especially with a pitcher, you think the worst," said the pitcher. But he went on to say that club officials have assured him the numbness isn't anything to worry about long-term.

Beckett has been outperformed, at least on a results basis, by both Jon Lester and Daisuke Matsuzaka, but there's no doubt Boston will need him at his best to secure a playoff spot and succeed should they get to the postseason. So how worried should Red Sox fans be?

To fans and the media, what a team does in the MLB Draft pales next to a big free-agent signing or blockbuster trade.

Part of that is the gaudy figures thrown around during the hot stove season. The Red Sox, this year's top spender in the draft, couldn't even buy one year of Gil Meche if they shifted their draft outlay to the open market. Most of it stems from immediacy, though. A big winter signing answers the question who will help me today? A big haul in the draft answers who will help me tomorrow, but in most cases tomorrow is years away, if it ever comes at all.

Still, as the cost of free agents escalates, the draft continues to become the most important way to ensure long-term success. With that in mind, and with the deadline to sign picks in the books, here's a look at three teams who won and three teams who lost in the 2008 draft

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

I've been a White Sox fan my entire life, and through my years of watching the team, I've generally always had a good feel for what kind of team they are. Usually by the time July rolls around, I know exactly what I'm dealing with. Sometimes they're a good team, but I have no expectations for them to win their division. Sometimes I think they're going to win the division, but not do anything else. Thankfully, it's a rarity that I realize the team sucks some years, and I should be happy if they get 75 wins.

Back in 2005 I was telling anyone that would listen that the Sox were going to win the World Series as early as May. Nobody believed me, nor should they have. I mean, they hadn't won a championship in 88 years at that point, so my proclamations were generally met with blank stares or a pat on the head and a "Sure they are, Tom. Sure they are."

This year, though, this year I have no idea what this team is capable of. Two weeks ago they were busy getting worked over by the Cubs at Wrigley Field, and everything that I thought was wrong with the team was apparent those three days. Now the Sox have won their last seven games (the third time they've had such a streak this season), winning their last two in dramatic walk-off fashion, and they look like world beaters.

Will they continue their dominant play of late tonight as they start a four-game series with the Oakland A's, or will they continue to confuse me? Find out after the jump.

The suspensions that stemmed from the Red Sox - Rays brawl this past week will end up keeping plenty of stars out for a few games. Such is the nature of fighting in baseball (or any professional athletics for that matter); if you throw punches, you are going to miss time on the field.

Jon Lester, though, does not believe that Major League Baseball is handling their disciplinary actions properly. Oddly, he is not appealing his five game suspension, just going straight to the media.

"[Major League Baseball vice president of rules and on-field operations Bob] (Watson) said, 'You hit [Carl] Crawford with a curveball and guys are hitting guys with curveballs now.' It's stupid," Lester said. "They have no idea. (Watson) didn't watch the video. He doesn't have a feel for the game. He doesn't understand baseball."

[...]"It really is B.S. that I got suspended and [James] Shields, the guy that hit somebody, only gets one more game than me," Lester said. "I didn't throw any punches, and didn't hit anybody on purpose. You have to talk to them and find out why."

That's a fair point, especially considering Shields' decision to appeal will allow him to not miss a single start, based on the way the Rays rotation shakes out. That sort of decision is exactly why Lester is not appealing; by simply taking the suspension he gets an extra two days rest before jumping back in the rotation.

Personally, I think it is kind of B.S. that pitchers, especially those who hit the batters, are not given at least a one start suspension, assuming MLB is going to continue to suspend position players for five full games. But I also back throwing baseballs at the batter when the old school retaliation rules are in full effect, so it's a tough choice.

H/T: LBS

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Philadelphia Phillies (35-26) vs. Cincinnati Reds (29-31) - 1:05PM Est.

You can't blame the Reds for trying to strike while the iron is hot, especially given the way that Jay Bruce has lit the world up since making his debut with the big league ball club last week, and they'll hope that success carries over to the pitcher's mound as well. Today the Reds will be handing the ball to Homer Bailey as they just called him up from Louisville and they're hoping he'll do a lot better in his second tour of duty.

Bailey was supposed to be Edinson Volquez when the Reds brought him up last season, and though he showed some signs of why the Reds are so high on him, his first season in the Majors wasn't that great.

He'll look to get his career started this afternoon against one of the most potent offenses in all of baseball.

Oh, and there's the whole Ken Griffey Jr. looking for homer # 600 as well.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups.

St. Louis Cardinals (30-21) at Los Angeles Dodgers (25-23) - 4:10 PM ET

Yeah, so I gave this matchup top billing for the second day in a row, which exposes a severe lack of imagination on my part. For that, I apologize. But really, you should watch this game if you want to check out Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw making his major league debut. Kershaw is such a prized prospect for the Dodgers, that they put out a decree to keep him under 25 innings a month at AA Jacksonville to prepare him for a pennant run in L.A. And he's been great down on the farm so far, putting up a 2.34 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP while averaging over a strikeout an inning. And in his 42 and 1/3 innings of work in AA, he has given up a grand total of zero home runs. For a Dodger rotation which has been slogging along lately (Derek Lowe has one quality start since April 12th, and Brad Penny's last quality start was April 26th), this team could use Kershaw to become the next big thing.

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Boston Red Sox (29-19) vs. Kansas City Royals (21-24) - 7:05PM Est.

Let's take a look at how the first two games of this series have gone for the Kansas City Royals. On Monday they were no-hit by Jon Lester, and on Tuesday they were beaten by rookie Justin Masterson as he picked up the first win of his Major League career.

Today things get no better as the Royals are preparing to uncomfortably bend over an examining table, and get their colon's checked by the Round Mound of...um...Pounds? That's right! Bartolo Colon is back, and he's ready to make his very first start as a member of Red Sox Nation.

Will he be responsible for the Royals leaving Boston walking uncomfortably, or will the Royals come out of their check-up with flying colors and salvage a game in Beantown?

Immediately after Jon Lester's no-hitter, announcers were quick to point out that Jason Varitek became the only catcher in major league history to catch four no-hitters in his career. But as we pointed out, Ray Schalk has been credited in the past with catching four no-hitters, as well. What gives?

As Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe explains, Major League Baseball tweaked its guidelines for what constitutes a no-hitter in 1991, defining it as "a game of nine innings or more that ended with no hits."

The definition eliminated 38 shortened no-hitters and 12 games in which a pitcher threw nine no-hit innings, then gave up a hit in extra innings.

That's what happened with one of Schalk's no-hitters. In 1914, Jim Scott of the White Sox had a no-hitter through nine innings, but gave up two hits in the 10th. After '91, that no longer counted as a no-no.

That stings -- I'm guessing Scott didn't talk to the White Sox hitters for a week. If we relaxed the rules to include Schalk's four no-no's, Varitek still might have him beat. After all, Varitek caught a fifth "no-hitter" back in 2006 on the final day of the season when Devern Hansack threw five no-hit innings against the Orioles before the game was called due to rain. Hansack was officially credited with the complete game and the shutout, but due to the strict definition that robbed Schalk, he was denied an official no-hitter.

There's nothing like a no-hitter. You get an email around the seventh inning saying that Jon Lester's doing something "wink-wink" and flip the TV on. You turn into a fan of history, regardless of team, and throw your hands up to celebrate when the 27th out finally comes.

And then I read Will Carroll's take on Baseball Prospectus.

I'd love to see the Sox give Lester a start off or at least some extra rest. Maybe they can just shorten him up next time out, pairing him with a long reliever to keep his pitch count down and make sure he recovers. At 24, we'd hate to see this be the highlight of Lester's career.

Carroll knows a ton about baseball injuries, more than I do certainly, but c'mon. When the old goats we all tease as being out of touch say that sabermetrics take the fun out of the game, this is what they mean. If looking at that picture makes you think more about Lester's next start than the one just finished, you may have a problem.

You'd hate this to be the highlight of Lester's career? He's beaten cancer, won the clinching game of the World Series and thrown a no-hitter at 24, he's had more highlights than most players can even dream about. He could have thrown 65 pitches last night and there's a fair chance it will never, ever get any better than this for Lester. So be it. You have to take joyful moments when they come in life.