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Your Morning Dump... Where Iglesias is changing his reputation

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

The knock on Jose Iglesias has been that he is all glove and no bat.  Performances like the one he showed in Thursday’s 9-3 loss to the Cardinals, while not completely erasing those kinds of reports, are at least helping to dispel them.

“I think the other at-bats, as well,” Valentine said. “He didn’t get results out of his second and third at-bat, a fly ball [to center field] and a line drive that he hit, wind was blowing in. But he took the first pitch [in the eighth], bases loaded and he got another fastball in and really nice swing. He’s really been staying close to being decent.”

Asked who Iglesias compares to, Beckett replied:
 
“I played with Alex Gonzalez for about seven years. He was pretty good. I haven’t seen Jose enough. I know I saw Alex Gonzalez for a long time. He was pretty good, pretty special.
 
“Yeah, [Iglesias is] really, really good.”
 
“He’s erasing some of the preseason reports,” Valentine said.  “Trying to erase them. Hasn’t erased them yet.”

CSNNE - Valentine: Iglesias 'erasing some of the preseason reports'

Regardless of whether or not Jose starts the year in Pawtucket or Boston, this is a great building block.  His confidence has to be sky-high right now, and as a young prospect who's struggled a bit, a confidence boost may be all he needs to turn the corner.

I'm a huge fan of Jose Iglesias, which some people (like Chuck) think is absurd since the kid hasn't even been decent in the minors yet.  But what excites me about him is the thought of having that slick-fielding shortstop making multiple highlight reel plays every afternoon.  How much fun did we have watching Pokey Reese diving around in the dirt?  And he was Pokey Reese!  To be able to watch someone who is constantly compared to Rey Ordonez and Ozzie Smith?  Sign me up.

Jose still has a long way to go if he wants to start the season in Boston.  And as it's been stated ad nauseum, playing out another year in Pawtucket is probably best for Jose. 

But all you can ask of him at this point is to do exactly what he's doing: improve upon his weaknesses (mainly hitting) and continue making solid plays in the field.  If he can keep that up, he'll be in Boston soon enough.

On Page 2, McClure is changing things a bit

So long, Curt Young

We've hated Curt Young from the very beginning of the season, but it looks like he's not going to be our problem much longer.  Curt is applying for his old gig: Oakland A's pitching coach.  Heading back to a town where he doesn't have to deal with, you know, actual expectations.  And, to be fair, the likes of John Lackey.  Or video games.  Or fried chicken.  And it looks like the Red Sox seem pretty eager to let him go.

If you go back to that original story, and read the quote from Tito about how Young "stepped back" from the veterans because "they're used to what they're doing" we should have seen these shenanigans coming long ago.  But that's all in the past now.  Assuming he gets the job, Curt can go back to whittling twigs in the Oakland dugout, where no one will care.

Via The Herald:

Even though he has one more year remaining on his contract, Young confirmed yesterday that he has received permission to talk to the Oakland Athletics about their vacant pitching coach job. If Young departs, the Red Sox will begin next season with their third pitching coach in as many years.

Young served the A’s in that role from 2004-10 before joining the Sox last November to replace John Farrell, who left to become the manager of the Blue Jays.

Under Young’s watch, Sox pitchers combined for a 4.20 ERA, ninth in the AL. And the pitching staff, particularly the starters, faltered badly in the last month. Seven starters notched an overall 7.08 ERA, as the Sox endured the worst September collapse in history.

And the most damning quote of the entire Curt Young era, courtesy of Clay Buchholz:

“They were two different coaches. Hard to compare guys that are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum,” Buchholz said. “I have nothing bad to say about Curt. He talked to me about whatever I needed to talk about. With John it was, I don’t want to talk to him unless I have to because I’m scared of him.”

Just as we suspected all along, Curt was a little too much Oprah, not enough Lombardi.

Good Riddance Best of luck in all of your future endeavors.

Curt Young: Still Suspect

AP Photo/Dave Martin

Here's the thing about Curt Young: I still have no idea how effective or ineffective this guy really is.

Back in mid-April, as the Sox were enduring an epic struggle out of the gate, I brazenly put Curt Young "On Notice".  At that time, I absolutely felt like this guy was in over his head.  Boston is a far cry from Oakland; and I don't just mean that geographically.  While some were applauding Young's hands-off laid-back approach, I looked at it as a plausible reason that the Sox pitching staff was struggling so mightily.

A month and a half later, the Sox ship is sailing in a completely different direction, but I'm not convinced much of, if any, is Young's doing.

Let's a take at our starters:

1. John Lackey - In the second half of last season, if nothing else, Lackey was shaping up to be a serviceable pitcher.  He dropped his ERA under 4, shaved 45 points off of his BAA, K's were up, walks were way down, and he just looked far more comfortable on the mound.  This year?  Well, if you've ever even glanced at our site, you know how god-awful Lackey has been.  Sure, we may be able to chalk that up to his personal issues, but you can't ignore how terrible he's been.  Young Effect: Negative

2. Dice-K - Through his seven starts, he had been as maddening and inconsistent as he's ever been.  Farrell could never figure him out, and clearly Curt hadn't either.  Young Effect: None

3. Clay Buchholz - Last season Buchholz looked like a future Cy Young winner.  This season, he looks like a solid #3 or #4 pitcher.  Granted, many predicted a decline for him entering this season, and thus far his numbers are looking better than his PECOTA projections, so there's that.  On the flip side, through 11 starts, Clay has already surrendered more home runs than he had through 28 starts last season, and his ERA is more than a point higher than 2010.  I don't know that any of us know who the real Clay Buchholz is yet, and maybe his dropoff was unavoidable, but the numbers don't lie.  Under Young he's simply been less effective than he was with Farrell.  Young Effect: Negative

4. Josh Beckett - It's still early, but Josh is clearly having the best season of his career.  I don't think we can chalk this up to the Beckett-Odd-Year Corollary either.  Beckett's a proud man, and I know he's putting the team on his back and wanting to make sure that his struggles last season are a memory.  But you can't discount any impact Young may have on him.  I think this is one of Young's great triumphs.  Young Effect: Positive

5. Jon Lester - Scott documented Lester fairly well this morning, so I don't want to re-hash the same points.  To simplify his performance: he seems to be a less effective version of the 2010 Jon Lester.  His approach seems similar, but he's just not as good.  And as Scott said, he just doesn't look like himself on the mound.  Something's surely not right.  Young Effect: Negative

Out of our five starters entering the season, Young has one success, one with little to no impact and three that are worse for having worked with him. 

The bullpen is a mixed bag.  Plenty of successes, and just as many failures.  Papelbon has been phenomenal, but we all know he's in his contract year.  Rich Hill has been a god-send, but Bobby Jenks was an embarrassment.  Bard has been pretty disappointing too (although we may be able to chalk some of that up to his being over-worked).  Overall, the relief numbers are fairly equal compared with last season.  Better in some categories, worse in others.  However, with the influx of talent, and the success of Papelbon, you'd expect the bullpen to be much improved over last year.  Don't see the positive effects of Young here either.

Maybe Curt Young is the genius pitching coach the Sox hailed him to be when he was hired.  Maybe two or three years from now, when Young has some real time to get acclimated with the staff, the Sox will have 3 or 4 annual Cy Young candidates.  Maybe I'm simply judging him too early.

But let me tell you something, Curt Young. You're suspect.  I don't know what your reputation is in this league, but after the shit you've pulled this season, you can bet I'll keep looking into you.

To be continued...

Curt Young, You're On Notice

Here's what I know about Curt Young:

He's the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox.

Under his watch, the Red Sox pitching has been historically bad.

That's pretty much it.

I also kind of hate the man.  Which, considering what little I know of him, is a pretty harsh statement.  But it's true.  As of this moment, Curt Young sickens me. He's taken something near and dear to me and is destroying it.  I mean he's just mashing the heel of his boot into the crotch of Red Sox Nation.  It's painful.

Unfortunately, Terry Francona doesn't echo my sentiments.

Via the Globe:

Francona praised the “quiet confidence’’ and “the real easy demeanor’’ with which pitching coach Curt Young has handled the rotation. “Well, he won’t panic, either,’’ Francona said of Young, who came to Boston from Oakland after John Farrell took over as Toronto’s manager. “I mean, we all want to do our jobs as best we can, but there’s a reason he’s here. We think a lot of this guy and a time and a half through the rotation won’t change how we feel.’’

Here's a suggestion, Curt.  How about a little less "quiet confidence", "easy demeanor", and "lack of panic" and a little more of getting your shit together and coaching?

Want more terrifying news?  From the Providence Jounal:

“In spring training, he was understandably stepping back a little bit, especially with some of the veterans because they’re used to what they’re doing,” Francona said. “He doesn’t miss too much, though.”

Ah, these guys have been pitching their whole lives.  They know what they're doing.  I'll just be over here, sipping my latte and whittling some twigs (he does look like a whittler, doesn't he?).

Even if things don't improve (and really, that has to be a near impossibility), I don't see the Sox axing their new pitching coach during his first season.  They have to ride him out, unless it just turns into an even larger mess.

I'm still not sure how much blame we can heap on Saltalamacchia (I'm sure quite a bit).  He's an abomination himself.  But Curt Young is the guy in charge of the staff.  He's got to right this ship.  And he has to do it quickly.

Your Morning Dump...Where Daisuke is looking right

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

The Red Sox should conduct a full-scale investigation to discover what turned things around for Daisuke Matsuzaka. Could it be as simple as the change in his between-starts routine, in which Daisuke relented and no longer long tosses and throws a side session on the same day? Pitching coach Curt Young believed that it was sapping him of arm strength, and in each of his final three starts of spring, Matsuzaka has had a live fastball. That could also be the normal progression of spring, but Matsuzaka was at his most impressive Saturday night, giving up an early run to the Twins then clamping down with five scoreless innings. 

Matsuzaka appeared reluctant to ascribe too much to the change in routine, although you never knows what might have been lost in translation. “So far I’m happy with it,’’ he said. 

Matsuzaka walked just one, struck out four, and worked ahead in the count for most of the night. Seems he has a nice comfort level with Jarrod Saltalamacchia, which wasn’t always the case with Victor Martinez. 

Matsuzaka posted a 1.62 ERA in his last three starts, with 13 whiffs and just 4 walks in 16 2/3 innings. More importantly, he is heading into the season healthy, a big improvement over last season, when he opened on the DL and 2009, when he showed up out of shape, hid a hamstring injury, then hurt his shoulder in mid-April. 

“My first objective was to keep healthy..and stand at the same starting line as the other pitchers,’’ Matsuzaka said. “I’m very happy with that.’’ 

If he pitches like this consistently, he won’t remain a No. 5 starter for long. 

“His stuff was sharp, and his fastball had real good finish,’’ said Francona, adding that Young’s message to be more aggressive appeared to be hitting its mark with Matsuzaka. 

Globe - Daisuke deals, Gonzo HRs, Reddick cut, Sox lose cup (and 9th in a row)

Am I dreaming? I don't care if it is spring training, if Daisuke is pitching well in consecutive outings, there is cause for celebration.  Tito also said the Young has been an impact and could be credited to Dice-K's recent success.  ALL HAIL CURT YOUNG! 

Adding to the positives from a 9th straight loss, Gonzo jacked his first homer of the spring to shake off some of the rust that is lingering. Gonzalez still has some rust on the defensive side also, recording two errors yesterday.

Related Links: Projo - Matsuzaka shines in final spring training start

On page 2 - Josh Reddick will start the season in Pawtucket again.