8/23: CC vs. Josh

CC Sabathia takes on Josh Beckett.tonight in the rubber game of the series. The Yankees could put the division away, or they could let the Red SOx linger around in the distance, giving them a slight chance.

8/21: Tazawa vs. Burnett

8/21: Penny vs. Pettitte

The Red Sox look to get back into the division race this weekend. Making the playoffs is most important, but the division would be great to take.

The Sox look for the sweep.

8/19: Buchholz takes on third straight ace.

Roy Halladay, current ace, takes on potential future ace, Clay Buchholz. Buchholz has been drawing aces for the past three starts now. Before this, he faced off with CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander, losing both games, but pitching decent enough.

8/18: Beckett vs. Romero

Two pitchers with sub 4.00 ERA's go at it in Toronto. One needs to win for their team more than the other...

Johnny Damon or JD Drew?

Johnny Damon has played much better, on the wrong side of 30, then most would have expected. In fact, he has been a better player the past two seasons, than he was the previous two. But how could anyone have foreseen that? How could anyone have known that he would age so well?

The Red Sox made a choice to let Damon walk, they let him accept more money. And that is the other part of this equation; the Yankees offered him more money and an extra year if I recall. So naturally, Damon went elsewhere.

But comparing him straight up to Drew isn't necessarily fair. Coco Crisp was Damon's successor, not Drew. Crisp was brought in, and the results were mixed. Sure, he couldn't hit much at all. But Crisp was arguably the most valuable defender in all of baseball during a 2007 World Series run that resulted in a bunch of rings. Crisp was then moved to give the role to Ellsbury of course. So let us just say that it could be much worse in center field. Ellsbury is still learning the game, and should be a solid all-around player, eventually.

Thanks, Brad Penny. But it may be time to move on.

Luck hasn't been on his side, I will give him that. Penny has had to deal with a .326 BABIP, while surrendering line drives on only 18 percent of batted balls against. And his LOB percentage is at 66, which is far too low. Eventually, he should strand a few more base-runners.

But it is his love with the fastball, and the home run that is killing him. Do you know how often Penny throws the fastball? 73 percent of the time! This is the American League East, Brad. There has to be somewhat of a reliance on the breaking stuff too. Maybe he doesn't feel comfortable throwing it. And he doesn't always seem to have command of it. But his curveball has a "Pitch Type Value" of -15.4. That is horrendous.

Point is, he has no viable pitch outside of the fastball, and at times he even struggles with that. That is why he is so reliant on it. he simply cannot do anything positive with the breaking ball.

8/16: …

Junichi Tazawa makes his second start of a very short career. Once he settled in, and the defense actually started to play defense behind him, he looked good in his first start.

If Youkilis had any chance at MVP, even though Mauer is clearly the best player, then I think it went out the window with his helmet throwing incident. Now he is suspended, and because Drew is hurt, the lineup won't be as strong the next few days...

...But that is just one man's opinion.

8/15: Penny tries to give us a quality start.

Since Brad Penny's best this season seems to be six innings, three earned. Then that is what I expect from him. I just hope that he doesn't fare worse. It is a critical game, in terms of the Wild Card, so let's get a W!