Massarotti: Red Sox On Road, Writers Who Hide, Missing Point On Pomeranz
BOSTON (CBS) - Sights, sounds and observations while hoping the Red Sox feast on the Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers in the next week as if carb-loading for the Boston Marathon.
* Is this weekend against the Twins important? You bet it is, and here's why: once the doormat Twins leave town, the Detroit Tigers come in for a three-game series to wrap up this home stand. After that, the Red Sox will play a whopping 41 of their final 63 games on the road. (Is it just me or does that ratio seem to get worse?) Boston will not have a stay at home of more than six days until the middle of September, when they're here for seven.
Here's the good news: incredible as it seems, there are only three teams in the American League this season that have a winning road record. The Red Sox are one of them. So far, the Sox are 21-19 away from Fenway Park. If they can stay above .500 on the road after the gauntlet that is August and September, they are almost certainly going to the playoffs.
* Did we ever find out who failed to vote for Ken Griffey Jr. on his or her Hall of Fame ballot? This weekend, Griffey and Mike Piazza will head the list of Cooperstown inductees (which includes Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy). At some point, the people who failed to vote for Griffey need to show themselves. In the media world, we preach about accountability. Unless, of course, we're the ones who happen to screw up.
* It still amazes me how many people miss the point on the Drew Pomeranz deal. Yes, Pomeranz was the best available pitcher at the time. Yes, Anderson Espinoza may turn out to be a bust. But the bottom line is that Espinoza has more value on the trade market than what the Red Sox placed on him, which is a rather stunning reversal. Usually, teams over value their own prospects, not undervalue them.
* Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon now has an OPS of 1.198 this season, nearly double his career total entering this year. Prior to 2016, Leon had one home run and eight RBI in 235 career plate appearances. This season, he has three homers and 15 RBI in 74 trips to the plate.
* Don't look now, but David Ortiz could have as few as 28 games remaining at Fenway Park in his extraordinary baseball career. In 51 games so far at Fenway this season, Ortiz is batting .367 with 14 home runs, 54 RBI and 28 doubles. His OPS is 1.235. The bottom line? If you've attended a home game this year, it's likely you've seen Papi do something of consequence in the game.
