Ladies and gents, it is time for the highlight of your week: the time that you realize that it is Nick Cafardo watching the Red Sox on the Boston Globe, despite the fact that your 11 year old son constructs better logic and that your 15 year old daughter demonstrates more rhetorical skill in her debating than Cafardo does in his handsomely paid gig.
Sadly, my job is in one of its biggest weeks of the year, so I am going to have to abbreviate this piece a bit this week. As always, questions in bold, Cafardo in italics, and myself in plain font.
Dustin Pedroia said this week he’s batting with less power due to a thumb injury after a first base head-first slide against the Yankees. I saw this play. I think it was 10-0 Red Sox at the moment. Can somebody tell Dustin to be aggressive when it’s important? He’s hurting the team playing like this.
Alain, Deux-Montagnes, Quebec
They haven’t needed him to hit for power. He’s hitting very well. Off to a great start. I don’t see where he’s hurting the team in any area. Not sure what your gripe is.
Dan Podenheiser dealt with this question very well the other day. It is a very legitimate point. Pedroia plays hard, which is very appreciated by Bostonians, but the Red Sox need him playing. 10-0 games are no time to be [stupidly] sliding into first base.
Further, he is not playing that well. There is some serious concern that his OBP is higher than his Slugging %. That is not good, especially since Pedroia’s OBP is simply very good, and not other worldly [.393 headed into Sunday’s action, versus a .345
SLG]. There have been 8 infield hits so far this season. 8! Subtract those, because they rely on placement and luck, and Pedroia is on base only .354.
There is great reason for concern, Nick, and this is no gripe. Alain clearly likes the Red Sox and recognizes the importance Pedroia, especially at bat, holds with the team. There is no gripe, just legitimate, reasoned concern.
Why do writers irrationally defend Pedroia? Listen, we ALL love him. People that hate the Red Sox routinely concede to me that they like Pedroia. He is probably close to Papi in terms on popularity inside of RSN. We want him to play, and we want him to sustain his high level. Avoidable injuries that lead to .345 SLG concern the invested fan base.
I noticed that Clay Buchholz pours water on the hip of his jersey pants between innings. He then goes to this spot with his pitching hand before the pitch. Is this legal? Is this common among pitchers?
Kevin, Greensboro, N.C.
Never noticed. If he’s throwing a spitter, it isn’t legal. He often complains about not getting a good grip on the ball, so I’m not sure what he does to ensure that. I know before every game he lathers up his glove with shaving cream and rubs it in.
Well, shucks. Jack Morris sure noticed. So, so, so amazing that the week that a Red Sox fan asks Nick about this, it blows up in Toronto, and Nick has never noticed. Do you watch the games?
But, thanks for informing us about shaving cream that has nothing to do with water on the pants.
My favorite part of the game is defense. Nothing like hitting the cutoff or a crisp 6-4-3. For a long time, fielding stats haven’t been listed. Why so? Most people don’t remember that Nomar was just adequate at short.
Bill, Torrington, Conn.
You’re right. Never been a sexy baseball stat, but significant. You can go on FanGraphs and get the UZR and range factor stuff, which is very interesting.
UZR is “interesting.” Can’t say more than that, or we would wonder if he ate his mom’s pancakes on his way up the stairs and out the door this morning.
BTW – Nomar simply needed to be adequate at SS as valuable as he was at the dish.
Do you think the Red Sox will win the World Series?
Ethan, Saint Johns, Fla.
In April?
Nope, he is referring to the one coming this October. Are you incapable of projections or prognostications?
It’s interesting to watch the Oakland series and all of the ex-Red Sox players like Crisp, Moss, Reddick, and now Lowrie. It seems Billy Beane has found success with tapping the talent the Red Sox don’t want. Do you think Iglesias will end up there, too?
Rick, Rochester, N.Y.
Hope not. He should be Boston’s longtime shortstop.
What, huh? Not Xander Bogaerts? Iglesias, hitting .235/.278/.397 in AAA? Well, at least he is slugging better than Pedroia, who apparently does not get criticized, only griped about.
Join us next week for our full installment of Analyzing Nick’s Magical Mail Bag, where reason dies, laziness is king, and and the few people left who ask him questions are called “gripers.”