Twice in as many nights, a blown save. He's lucky Pedey saved his ass last night going 5-5, hitting 3 laser shots in a 10-inning, 13-11 victory at Coors Field. He got the undeserved win, and a loss the night before bringing his record to 3-4 with 16 extremely shaky saves.
The Fenway Faithful always erupt when he comes out in the ninth, but I think that's just become a reaction to hearing the Dropkick Murphys' "Shipping Up to Boston" echoing through the Park. The slow look in, with the tough guy face. The 4 second pause before he snaps off his quick delivery. The quick reaction of most hitters to seeing a 96mph middle-in fastball on almost any count.
Papelbon is still a premiere closer, but his act has gone to his head. Hitters have finally got their dials set on Paps' station. If Terry Francona is going to send someone to the hill to close a game out in the ninth, relying on basically just a fastball, then why not Daniel Bard? The kid has proven himself time and time again, and learns from his mistakes. Oh yeah, and he can throw 101mph heat. Papelbon needs to focus more on his game, not on his image if the Sox want to hang on to these 1 or 2 run ball games.
No comments:
Post a Comment