The Baseball Reporters Show Recap 6/29
Andy Freed of the Tampa Bay Rays Radio Network called into the show today to talk about the upcoming series. Also, Dan Roche stopped in to talk with Tony Massarotti about the Red Sox injuries and losing ground before the All-Star break.
Tony called Tampa Bay an intriguing team. They are loaded with talent, yet they can't seem to get out of their own way sometime. Recently, B.J. Upton and 3B Evan Longoria got into a heated dugout argument after Upton loafed on a ball hit to the outfield that resulted in a triple when it should have been a double. Tony asked Andy Freed to elaborate about the issues surrounding this Tampa team.
Andy Freed on Tampa Bay's issues, "This team is without a Cliff Floyd, it's without an Eric Hinske. It's without some of those guys that we had back in 2008 that would police that. And this team has been in desperate search for someone to be that person. I personally was thrilled to see something happen for this team in terms of a spark. This team has looked so flat. They're not hitting and they haven't for about a month. And because of that, this team has just looked dead on the field. The Rays have had way too many easy outs over the last month. And no one has a great answer for it. I mean, it's the same players, they just have gotten away from the right approach to hitting".
Tony is worried that the Red Sox will start losing ground now that a plethora of injuries have hit this team all at once. The Red Sox are 27-11 in the last 38 games and you just can't give them enough credit for playing their way back in it after a shaky start.
Tony on the Red Sox injury situation, "Martinez is now on the DL. Dustin Pedroia on the DL. Beckett and Ellsbury already were there. Mike Cameron is playing at something less than 100%. Clay Buchholz has a hamstring issue and will miss 1 turn at least. They have 11 games before the break and I don't think you're going to see a lot of improvement on this team healthwise before the All-Star break. The last thing they want to have happen is go 4-7, 3-8, and do damage to all the work they have done here over the last 7-8 weeks. The question is, how much more realistically can they expect out of Daniel Nava? How much more out of Darnell McDonald?".
I guess Red Sox Nation will just have to hold their breath these next few weeks and hope for the best. John Lackey gets the start tonight for the Red Sox and will face opposite James Shields. The game starts at 7:10 p.m. ET.
