Mid season report cards are certainly the topic du jour around the blogosphere as the All-Star break gives us a lapse from the everyday grind of game to game commentary.
I have to give Boston.com props for a pretty innovative approach to the report card feature this season. That said, there are a few items that could be improved.
1. Mazz can give a +/- on a letter grade, but we can't? There were plenty that I would have given the same gradient as Mazz had I been able to. I ended up with alot of B's where there was more variation between the players I gave that letter grade than I represented with the straight grade. I guess baseball isn't as "easy as A, B, C" after all.
2. Aggregate grading isn't weighted in structured way. The fact that I gave the Red Sox players most responsible for their performance all A/B grades and the long tail some C/D/F shouldn't aggregate out to me giving the Red Sox as a whole a C+. The formula should be more intelligent (weighted by Win Shares or Innings Played) to derive a team score. Also it would be fun to see some roll ups of Bullpen/Starters/Infield/Outfield/Bench, etc.
Overall, I'll give credit to Boston.com for a very well done interactive feature. Maybe even a B+ (if I could).
Leave it to the Red Sox to give us some news to keep us amped up through the break. They have recalled Clay Buchholz from AAA and he will be starting on Friday at Toronto. This also means that they will be moving to a six man rotation (Buchholz, Penny, Lester, Smoltz, Beckett, Wake) in the second half of the season.
Questions abound.
- Does this mean that a deal is somewhere in the making to push the rotation back to 5?
- What does this signify about Daisuke Matsuzaka's status the remainder of the season?
Thoughts, concerns, speculation?
Throw it at us.
UPDATE: It appears it will be a single spot start for Buchholz and then he'll be back to Pawtucket.
I don't buy it...I think this is some posturing in advance of the 7/31 deadline. I smell smoke...and when there is smoke....you know the rest.
The 2009 Boston Red Sox are halfway through their season, 49-32 through their first 81 games. The Red Sox not only hold a 1.5 game lead over the New York Yankees in the American League East, but also the best record in the American League, trailing over the Dodgers and their .634 winning percentage for the best record in baseball.
The halfway point marks an interesting time to not only take stock of the season that has come to pass, but also to look out at the road ahead and evaluate the terrain that lies between here and the ultimate destination.
