Photos from Baltimore
have been posted in the photo gallery. Because of the Sox's piss-poor attempt at baseball, I decided to pass on video -- with the exception of the mildly amusing clip to the right. Otherwise, there's no point in making you view the carnage all over again.
And
if you missed it in the comments, I happened to run into
Jeeves from Life in the Cell in Terminal B of the Baltimore airport, of all places. I happened to be wearing my ¡Profundo! shirt; it's funny, because I've only worn it twice, and both times somebody has stopped me to say hello.
Anyway, we both discussed how much better Jose Contreras would look in another uniform before going our separate ways. For what it's worth, he looks nothing like
the only other Jeeves of which I was aware.
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Cross one crusade off my list: I no longer have to point out that
Nick Masset doesn't bring anything to the table at the major-league level, because the Sox are finally aware of it. The not-at-hard-throwing-as-advertised righty
was optioned down to Charlotte after
today's spirit-sucking victory.
That's the good news. Here's the bad news:
The Sox haven’t announced who will replaced Masset on the roster, but
early guesses around the press box are Carlos Vazquez or – the odds on
favorite – Paulino Reynoso.
Vasquez has problems throwing strikes -- he's walked 23, struck out 21 in 38 innings -- but at least he has an insanely high groundball rate and a sub-.200 batting average allowed.
On the other hand, if you thought Masset was painful to watch,
Reynoso is pure torture. Not only does he have control problems (17 walks in 21 innings) and can't get righties out (
.361/.451/.492), but he works sloooooooooooooooowly on the mound. Watching him pitch in Rochester in 40-degree weather is something I hope I never have to endure again -- and he tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings!
If anybody cares, I've
uploaded a five-second clip of Reynoso I took back in April, but never processed. Video of Vazquez and Wassermann is in
the Charlotte-Syracuse video gallery, if you missed it.
Between these two, I'm pulling for Vasquez all the way. However, I still can't grasp why
Ehren Wassermann has yet to receive a shot. He's done
nothing but succeed in the minors, and he's
holding righties to a .519 OPS this year. Sure, his sidewinding junkball stuff isn't exactly intimidating, but considering all the
high-octane wildness we've had to endure this year, you would think he might be a pleasant change of pace.
(Note to Gregory Pratt: See,
I'm not the only one who can't spell "Vasquez.")
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Minor league round-up:- Charlotte 11, Buffalo 4
- Andrew Sisco rebounded from his meltdown to pitch respectably -- four shutout innings, three hits, three walks, six strikeouts.
- Ryan Sweeney hit a grand slam, his sixth homer, and stole base, also his sixth. He drew two walks as well.
- Danny Richar went 4-for-5 with three runs scored, raising his average to .358. Earl Snyder hit a three-run homer.
- Darin Erstad played a whole game without hurting himself.
- Winston-Salem 6, Lynchburg 5
- Kyle McCulloch had his second straight rocky start -- allowing seven hits and four earned runs over five innings. He walked five and struck out two.
- The bullpen threw four scoreless innings, with Matt Zaleski throwing the final two for the win.
- Adam Ricks hit a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth, and Rod Allen made it back-to-back to give the Warthogs the lead.
- Kannapolis 12, Augusta 2
- Lee Cruz hit two homers and drove in three runs; John Shelby Jr. added a three-run homer.
- Brandon Allen went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI; Chris Carter went 1-for-4 with a a walk and two runs scored.
- Matt Long pitched respectably, allowing two runs over seven innings, walking one and striking out six.