McAdam on Gresh & Zo: Gonzalez Home Run Guarantee 'Out Of Character'
BOSTON (CBS) -Red Sox first baseman Adrian Gonzalez is not known to say much in regards to anything, so his comments about the strike zone, and his home run total, on Wednesday night were a little strange.
CSNNE.com's Red Sox insider Sean McAdam called in to 98.5 The Sports Hub's Gresh and Zolak on Thursday, who was caught a little off guard by Gonzalez' remarks.
"Those were both sort of strange and out of character for him. You don't hear him complain about on-field stuff a whole lot. I think some people would like to see him show a little more emotion; not that he showed emotion during the at-bats. When I heard him complain about the strike zone I was a little surprised because it wasn't anything he showed his displeasure with during the at-bats as it happened."
Read: Gonzalez Calls Out Umps, Promises HR On Thursday
Even more head scratching was Gonzo saying he would start hitting homers, starting Thursday night. He has just 12 home runs in 411 at-bats since the 2011 All-Star break, and just two in 147 at-bats this season.
"(F0r) somebody with two home runs in the first 37 games to pull a Mark Messier and virtually guarantee one tonight was also a little out of character."
It seems as though Gonzalez is at least showing a little more fire, who has been compared to JD Drew for his calm demeanor. Is this a good thing the Sox slugger is opening up more? Or should he just worry about putting up stats and winning ball games?
"That's been the criticism, that he is a little too laid back; a little too Southern-California cliché," said McAdam. "But I think more to the point is that alarming drop off of extra base power and specifically home runs since the All-Star break."
Gresh & Zo: Gonzalez Is Not A Robot!
"He certainly thinks the second half last year was more of the result was weakness in (his) shoulder, having surgery the previous October; that is certainly a plausible explanation," said McAdam. "But this expectation was that this year would be different... and here we are almost a quarter of the season in and he only has two home runs."
Another oddity from Wednesday night's 2-1 loss to the Rays were the three balks the Red sox were called for. How strange is it to see a team called for three balks, after having Daniel Bard called for two just over a week ago?
"Bobby Valentine called it a 'epidemic,' which may have been overstating it a little bit," said McAdam. "But it's not often you see any team get charged with five balks in eight games."
Read: Balk 'Epidemic' Hits Red Sox
"The ironic thing is the third base umpire last night was Bob Davidson, whose nickname is 'Balkin' Bob Davidson' for his tendency to call balks, and he didn't call any of the three last night," said McAdam. "I think it's just kind of a weird confluence."
What did McAdam think of Clay Buchholz' performance, and early exit from the game Wednesday night? And what are his thoughts on the rotation, which looks like it has turned things around as of late? Find that out and more with Sean McAdam on Gresh & Zo!
