Inside Baseball: Red Sox Not Buried, Close Enough In AL East
BOSTON (CBS) -- Things aren't looking great for the Boston Red Sox at the All-Star break, but don't count them out just yet.
The Sox dropped two of three to the New York Yankees in their final series before the break, and sit 6.5 games back of New York in the AL East. But with such a mediocre division this season, even Tony Massarotti isn't ruling them out just yet.
"They're not done, but I don't know if they're going to make a run," Mazz said to kick off Monday night's edition of Inside Baseball on the WBZ-TV News at 10 on myTV38. "The fact they lost two of three, either way they would have been in last place."
Sitting 4.5 games back is obviously a lot better than 6.5 games back, but even at 42-47 Red Sox are still in striking distance.
"They're still close enough where they're not buried yet. It was a discouraging weekend, but they're hardly cooked," added Mazz.
Mazz and Steve Burton also touched on the following topics Monday night:
On Clay Buchholz:
Mazz thinks Buchholz will be out for at least a month with an elbow strain, and wouldn't be surprised if the righty eventually needs surgery. When (or maybe, if?) Buchholz returns this season, Mazz says don't expect anything close to what we saw over the last month.
"Historically, you're talking about a guy who is a very mediocre pitcher as he comes back [from an injury]," Mazz said of Buchholz, who has landed on the DL for the sixth straight season. "He's 12-14 with a 4.03 ERA when he comes off the disabled list. You're not going to get a Cy Young caliber pitcher when he gets back."
On David Ortiz:
Burton said it's unfair that some members of the media are questioning whether or not David Ortiz was actually sick on Sunday, but Mazz said it's fair game.
"That's what the Red Sox are telling us. Do I know that Ortiz is sick? No, I don't know. If he is there's no issue. But I don't think it's unfair for us to ask the question," said Mazz. "We've seen Red Sox players take the Sunday off before the All-Star break in the past. He clearly had some reservations or reluctance to play first base, and maybe Farrell was going to ask him to play again. To me there are a lot of questions there. Can I prove anything? No, absolutely not. I can't prove a thing. But I think we're allowed to ask the question as to what's going on there."
Mazz and Burton also take a closer look at how the Red Sox pitched to Alex Rodriguez in the weekend series at Fenway. Tune in to Inside Baseball every Monday night on the WBZ-TV News at 10 on myTV38!
