Random thoughts from the first week of Red Sox baseball

The 2015 edition of the Boston Red Sox is only 8 games old, but so far the early signs are positive. The team has raced out of the gate at 6-2, the best mark after 8 games since 2006.  Coming into the season, the biggest question mark was the pitching, specifically the starting pitching, so that’s where we’ll begin. 

 

 In year 1 AJL (after Jon Lester), the immortal Clay Buchholz has taken the reigns as the supposed “ace” of the staff. Through two starts, the Buchholz we know and love is back and better than ever. Opening day Buchholz tossed a gem, granted against the lowly Phillies, allowing zero runs in seven innings. The next time out against New York, Clay was shelled for 10 runs (nine earned) in a brutal loss in front of the entire nation on Sunday Night Baseball. That’s Clay Buchholz in a nutshell, consistency is almost never there with him. There’s no way the Sox can continue with him as their ace. Wade Miley had also struggled, and is getting roughed up by the Nationals as I type this, but the bullpen has been an early bright spot. Tazawa, Uehara, Varvaro, Breslow, and Ross have a combined ERA of precisely 0.00 in albeit limited action.

  

While the pitching has struggled at times as we all expected, the lineup has more than covered for them. For the first time in what seems like three years, Pedroia is finally healthy, and is back to being the laser show we have all come to love. Hanley Ramirez is one of the most purely talented hitters in the game, and is proving that so far. The only thing you have to worry about with him is his attitude if things happen to go south, which is usually the case at some point over a 162 game season. But the bat making the most noise so far is that of Mookie Betts, the 22 year old phenom who can literally do it all. He has all five tools, as he showed in the home opener, robbing a homerun off the bat of Bryce Harper, hitting a HR of his own, and stealing two bases on one play. Mook should be very fun to watch both this year and years to come. An encouraging sign is that this team has been scoring runs without much contributions from Ortiz or Napoli thus far. Once they heat up, watch out American League.

  

One guy I’m absolutely sick of is Shane Victorino. Yes, he was a massive part of the 2013 championship team. That grand slam against the Tigers will be remembered around here forever. But just because you did something two years ago, doesn’t mean you have a free pass for the rest of your life. Victorino has become entitled simply due to the fact he was on a duckboat, as if a guarantees him a job for life. In case you’re wondering, he’s hitting .100 this year. He even hinted that he would be ok trading away young outfield pieces for Cole Hamels, showing that he doesn’t want a competition with the likes of Betts and Rusney Castillo. You just don’t say things like that about guys on your own team. At the end of the day, I am forever grateful for what he has done, but baseball is a business, and you have to hit better than what Victorino is hitting right now. Once Rusney returns healthy, I expect to see him as the everyday RF on this team. Sorry Shane, but your time has passed.

As far as the AL East goes, it is wide open, and there for the taking. The pitching needs to improve if this team wants to reliably compete, but they should be at least in the mix come September, and this season is sure to be one of the most fun to watch in recent memory.

Go Sox

Stanley Cup Playoffs Western Conference First Round Previews

Apologies to March Madness, but the best tournament in sports is upon us. In a little over 24 hours, the puck will be dropped on the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs, and we are sure to be in for two months of non-stop action. Now, even though our beloved Bruins didn’t make it, there’s still plenty of great hockey to be played, especially out in the wild, wild West. The defending champion LA Kings missed the cut, so the title is wide open. All four matchups bring something special to the table, here’s what to look for in each.

C2 Nashville vs. C3 Chicago

Game 1: Wednesday 8:30 (Eastern), NBCSN

   

 

In a classic battle of offense vs. defense, the Chicago Blackhawks take the short trip South to visit the Nashville Predators.  The big news out of the Windy City is the return of maybe the best pure scorer in the league, Patrick Kane. After missing weeks with a broken clavicle, Kane has been cleared for full contact and expects to play game 1. This is obviously a huge deal for the Hawks, anytime you get your best scorer back in your lineup that makes a huge difference. Nashville has the home ice due to an incredible start to the season, but have somewhat faded down the stretch. Nashville is one of the best defensive teams in the league, and has a very strong core led by Seth Jones and Shea Weber. The Preds have the distinct advantage in the net, as Pekka Rinne is capable of being the best goalie in the league, while Corey Crawford has holes in his game including the weakest glove in the NHL. However, Crawford is the only really weakness the Hawks have. They boast two of the best players in the game in Kane and Jonathan Toews, and also have a strong defensive unit led by Duncan Keith. Nashville is very tough at home, which is why I think they hang on for a few games, but eventually the better team prevails.

Prediction: Blackhawks in 6

P2 Vancouver vs. P3 Calgary

Game 1 Wednesday 10:00 USA

   

 

In maybe the most intriguing matchup of the first round, two teams who missed out on the playoffs a year ago will do battle in the Canadian Northwest. For Vancouver, they are looking to get back to where they were a few years ago, 2011 cup finalists. The shine of the franchise has worn off, but the Sedin twins remain, always dangerous.  On the other side, the Flames are making their first postseason appearance since the 2009 season, ignited by an amazing rookie season by last year’s Hobey Baker winner and this year’s Calder favorite Johnny Gaudreau. What makes this team so special is their resiliency. They don’t have a very talented roster, but you can never count them out. On top of the tendency of Vancouver to under perform, I am picking the upset.

Prediction: Flames in 7

C1 St. Louis vs W1 Minnesota

Game 1 Thursday 9:30, NBCSN

   

 

The St. Louis Blues have had one of the league’s most stacked rosters for a few years now. From Paul Stastny to Vladimir Tarasenko to American hero TJ Oshie to David Backes, the Blues have the horses to compete for the whole thing. Each of the last two years, they have run into buzzsaws known as the Los Angeles Kings and Chicago Blackhawks. With that not the case this year, the Blues hope to get off the schnide and make some noise in the tournament. The Minnesota Wild were floundering for most of the season. A playoff team from a year ago was in danger of missing out, until the immortal Devan Dubnyk stepped on the scene. The journeyman goaltender has had by far the best year of his career, posting a 1.78 GAA and .936 SV% in 39 games. Dubnyk gives the Wild a chance, but in the end the Blues have too many weapons for Minnesota to compete.

Prediction: Blues in 6

P1 Anaheim vs W2 Winnipeg

Game 1 Thursday 10:30, CNBC

   

 

Like the Blues, the Ducks have a complete roster, but have not made a deep playoff run in the last few seasons. However, there is a different look to this team this season. Adversity was thrown their way with the mumps outbreak early in the season, but they overcame everything to grab the top seed in the West and almost the Presidents’ Trophy. It is time for Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry to prove why they belong on a list of the best players in the league. Anything short of the cup finals is a disappointment. Their opponent is the Winnipeg Jets, a team that snuck into the playoffs over the defending champion Kings. This team relies on the rabid atmosphere of their home barn in the Peg, a city that hasn’t seen playoff hockey since 1996, during the original incarnation of the Jets. It will be wild games 3 and 4 which might be enough to level the ice a little bit. Dustin Byfuglien is a major presence for the Jets, and needs to be his usual physical presence in order for Winnipeg to have a chance. I think they put up a good fight, but the Ducks live to see another round.

Prediction: Ducks in 7

Western Conference Final Prediction: Blues over Ducks in 7

Buzz WCF predictions

Nick: Vancouver over Chicago in 6

Tock: Chicago over Calgary in 5

Westy: Chicago over Anaheim in 6

Meaves: Chicago over Anaheim in 5

Keep on the lookout for Meaves’ Eastern Conference preview tomorrow

  

Peter and Claude have to go

    

Much has been made about the failures of the 2015 Boston Bruins. A franchise that had been to the cup final twice in four seasons, and the defending Presidents’ Trophy winners are now going to be watching the Stanley Cup playoffs from their couches for the first time in eight seasons. In a market like Boston, that is not going to pass without someone paying the price. In my opinion, it’s time for a fresh start in at least two places.

The first culprit of the disaster that was the 2014-2015 Boston Bruins is the general manager, Peter Chiarelli. For the first half decade of his tenure, Chiarelli built the organization back up from the cellar of the NHL, and ultimately helped win the team’s first Cup since 1972. However, in the four years since the championship, Chiarelli has been anything but impressive. First of all, the drafting has simply not been good at all. Since his first draft in 2007, Chiarelli has drafted a total of four (!!) players who ended up playing 50 or more games in the NHL, and only one, Dougie Hamilton, remains in the organization.  Chiarelli’ most notable draft failure was his first selection with the Bruins, Zach Hamill 8th overall. Hamill’s career stats? 0-4-4. Later selections have not been much better, but 2014 first round pick David Pastrnak has turned into a diamond in the rough. Too little, too late for Peter if you ask me.  Chiarelli’s chronic inability to find cheap young talent leads to his second fatal flaw as a GM…

 

…Overvaluing his own players.  Throughout the years, Chiarelli has often times had too strong of a commitment to the guys on his roster. For example, Chris Kelly, a third liner at absolute best, was on the books for 3.5 million this year, just an absurd amount. A contract like this makes Kelly virtually immovable, because his skill set can be easily found and replaced. Contracts like this, along with commitment to bottom of the lineup “glue guys” such as Dan Paille and Greg Campbell, has put the Bruins in severe cap jail.  Almost every deadline, the Bruins are in need of some major piece, and nearly every year, Chiarelli doesn’t deliver, instead acquiring a “puck moving defenseman” who will most likely end up on the third defense pair (see: Tomas Kaberle, Andrej Mezsaros).  

   

 

The last, and most prevalent issue in the minds of most Bruins fans, is Chiarelli’s history of trades. Two main examples stick out in my mind. One would obviously be Tyler Seguin. Seguin, at the time of the trade, was 21 years old, and had all the potential in the world. For reasons that might not have had to do with Chiarelli (I’ll get to that later), Peter was in a position to move him. My issue with Julien is the return he got back. Loui Eriksson and Reilly Smith are nice players at times, but only ponies compared to the horse that Seguin is capable of becoming.  The second move that had a bigger impact than people realize was the Johnny Boychuk trade to the island.  On the eve of the season, JB was dealt to New York for two second round picks, a fatality of cap jail. Not only was Boychuk a top pair defenseman on the ice, but truly one of the real leaders in the room. With the departure of Boychuk and aging enforcer Shawn Thornton, the Bruins lost the heart and soul of the last five years.  This move, along with failing to replace 30 goal scorer Jarome Iginla at RW was the first nail in the coffin of the black and gold this season.

While Chiarelli had done a horrific job building the organization in the last few years, the team still had a decent amount of talent. A core including defending Vezina winner Tuukka Rask, as well as perennial Selke nominee Patrice Bergeron was still in place. The roster was that of a middle of the road playoff team, which should’ve been competing for home ice advantage in the first round. Instead, they finished barely ahead of the Florida Panthers for 9th in the East. At some point, an underperforming roster falls on the coach, and this year falls on Julien to some degree. Over his tenure, Julien has been blessed with two of the greatest scorers in the game, Seguin as well as Phil Kessel before him. However, neither fit Julien’s sacred “system”, and were both chased out of town. The trademark of Julien’s regime is a defensive oriented, hard nosed team. While that’s all great, at some point we all must realize the game is changed. Look at the successful teams in the league, most have great speed. On top of this, many teams have one player (Patrick Kane in Chicago) who isn’t particularly skilled defensively, but can give you goals on a consistent basis. Julien is unwilling to accept this change. Also, Julien has a strange fear of change, particularly with his lines. Late in the year, Milan Lucic, David Pastrnak, and Ryan Spooner found amazing success on a line together. But Claude wanted the lines back to their original construction, when the three were separate. On the biggest night of the year, against Washington with points absolutely necessary, he decided to split the one line having success, and return to the lines that had struggled all year. The black and gold scored precisely zero goals that night. Claude had a good run, that’s not up for debate, but his message has gone stale and it’s time to move on.

In December, with the Bruins on the edge of the playoff picture, Charlie Jacobs declared that missing the playoffs would be unnaceptable. Well, it happened. Time for Jacobs to stick to his guns and move in a fresh, new direction.

  

2015 Masters Recap

Birds may be chirping, the sun may be shining, but it not truly spring until we reach the second Thursday in April. For four glorious days we get to watch the best players in the world attack the world’s most beautiful golf course in hopes of attaining the elusive green jacket. It is a tradition unlike any other, the Masters. And then just like that, as sudden as it arrived, it’s over, but not without plenty of highlights from four phenomenal days of golf.

As is usually the case at a major golf tournament, most of the talk revolved around a golfer who hasn’t won a major since the Bush administration. That’s right, Tiger Woods.  A tournament that used to basically be the Tiger invitational has not seen a Woods victory in a decade, but he remains the center of attention. Woods came into this years masters having just returned from a lengthy tour absence, and expectations were low. Tiger played well the first two days and exploded on Saturday, leaving him -6 and paired with world #1 and fellow Nike ambassador Rory Mcilroy. However, his game faltered on Sunday, and in classic Tiger fashion, the excuse train began to rev its engines. On the 10th hole, after a bad shot into the pine, Tiger came up with a mysterious wrist injury, and was in evident pain throughout the rest of the round, in an effort to portray himself as some sort of “hero”.  There is no other explanation for someone to injure themselves more playing the game of golf. Tiger’s game, along with his hopes for a 15th major, faded more and more as the day went on, and Jack Nicklaus’ record of 18 majors only gets more out of reach.

Speaking of the world’s best golfer, McIlroy came into 2015 playing the best golf of his career. Following back to back major wins at the British Open and PGA championship, Rory was the heavy favorite at Augusta. But as he so often does early in the season, he started slowly. At the turn on Friday, he was +3, in serious danger of missing the cut. Finally the Rory magic came to life, as he finished the remaining 45 holes at -15, good for fourth. The Masters is still the one Rory needs to complete the career grand slam, and the more years go by, the more he may be haunted by his 2011 collapse. The quicker he wins one, which seems inevitable, the better. However, his game seems to be back and he should be fun to watch dominate the rest of the year’s majors.

 

Pick any year, any tournament, and the odds are good you will find Phil Mickelson near the top of the leaderboard. One of the most consistent players on tour proved it once again, with a finish that was tied for second. It was his 10th second place finish in his career, not quite good enough to top our run away winner for 2015…

…Jordan Spieth. What can you really say about Spieth that hasn’t been said? At 21 years old he just tied the all time low score at a major, and he seems to be getting better and better. At no point during the entire week did he seem even a bit caught up in the moment, ridiculous for a kid who should be a college senior. One of the cool stories surrounding Spieth is his caddy, a former middle school teacher, now caddying for a PGA champion. In the big picture, golf has found its rivalry for years to come. Spieth vs. McIlroy. American vs European. Both age 25 or younger. With Phil and Tiger passing the torch, I can’t wait for a future Masters, with Jordan and Rory going shot for shot on the back nine. A new era of golf is upon us.

 

BC hockey 14-15 recap (damage assessment)

4 national championships since 01. 8 title games since 98. The winningest coach in the history of college hockey. NHL talent up and down the roster. Dozens of alumni currently in the show. You could make the case that Boston College Hockey is the most successful program in all of college sports in the past two decades. When you look at it that way, the 2014-15 campaign was nothing short of a complete and utter disaster, especially when you compare it to that other school down the street and all the success they had. Anytime you lose the likes of Johnny Gaudreau and Kevin Hayes, you know you’re going to struggle, especially offensively. But this program should never sink to the depths it did this year. 

  

The biggest problem BC had time and again was goal-scoring. With the loss of maybe the greatest line in the history of college hockey, the rest of the roster could not fill those giant shoes. All too often they relied too heavily on good defense and goaltending, and it seemed they never scored the important third period goals. Too much was put on the shoulders of freshmen forwards Alex Tuch and Zach Sanford, who had impressive seasons (Tuch led the team in points) but in the end were the only guys contributing on a nightly basis on the front end.  Thatcher Demko battled early season struggles, but rounded into form as the season progressed behind a solid defensive unit, but couldn’t overcome the lack of goal scoring, which came back to bite this team repeatedly, usually when it mattered most.  Sure, we inched into the top 10 late in the year, but in Chestnut Hill that’s not enough. First round losses in the Beanpot, Hockey East tournament, and NCAA tournament are unacceptable. But enough about this year, time to look at next season and how this team can improve (it won’t be hard).

Forwards

   

 

The front line was BC’s most obvious weakness this year, but it is in for a MAJOR upgrade next season. A trio of incoming freshmen promise to turn the Eagles back into the offensive juggernaut it was a year ago. Miles Wood (Devils prospect) and Colin White and Jeremy Bracco (2015 Draft Eligible) headline one of the best recruiting classes in years. Along with returning forwards like Tuch, putting the puck in the net should not be a problem next year.

Defense

  

One of the lone bright spots of this season, the defense core will remain mostly intact. Loss of captain Mike Matheson to the NHL will hurt, but mainstays Ian Mccoshen, Steve Santini, and Teddy Doherty will once again man the blue line. The Eagles will once again have a rock solid defensive unit to complement what should be an offense loaded with fireworks.

Goaltending

 

After an incredible freshman season, Thatcher Demko (Vancouver, 2nd round 2014) followed up with another stellar year in 14-15. With Demko in net again for a third season, the Eagles have a reliable rock at the last line of defense and someone who can be counted upon to make the big save, as he has done for two years.

The Eagles came into 2014 with high expectations, as they do every year, and fell very very short of their goals. But what makes this program so special is its ability to bounce back. Mark my words, we will be back. I hope BU enjoyed their moment in the sun with #9, because starting next year, the Eagles return bigger and better than ever.

Dynasty Reign