Rain, Rain, Go Away

I hope that people in this area have made more progress building their respective arks than I have. I feel fortunate to live where I do as I have been relatively unaffected by the near constant rains of the last 10 days. The sunshine on Wednesday and Thursday was wonderful and the temperature was perfect. I finally got to play a round of golf this year. I feel for those individuals who have to deal with flooding and water damage. Stay dry and stay safe.

The Sox have had a quiet week so far. They have only played three games, going 2-1 against the Orioles. They had an off day yesterday and had two games rained out last weekend. Tonight they start a three game series in Philadelphia.

There has been a lot of jibber-jabber by the talking heads inside the radio and TV regarding the lineups that the Sox will or should use against the Phillies. If you believe D&C on WEEI, Youk will sit tonight as Ortiz plays first, then Youk will play 3rd as Lowell sits on Saturday, and finally Ortiz will rest on Sunday as Youk moves back to 1st base.

I disagree with the notion that Ortiz is a complete liability in the field. Big Papi should have dispelled that notion by his play in the 2004 World Series. I do agree that he's a big downgrade defensively from the stellar play of Kevin Youkilis, but he's not a disaster waiting to happen. I think that the rotating lineup is the best bet for this weekend. When the Sox travel to Atlanta and Florida later in the season the health of the team could dictate the lineups. Having a healthy team is a blessing that leads to healthy debate.

I was discussing the impact of the eventual return of Coco Crisp to the Sox lineup with a friend the other day. If Loretta had not broken out of his slump, Youkilis would have been well suited in the #2 spot behind Crisp. Loretta has been on fire lately, though, and I think he's better suited to move runners over with sac bunts and to protect runners when the hit-and-run is called. As it stands now, we figured that Youk would be best suited at #6, as opposed to #7, #8, or #9. His high average and on-base percentage would help keep innings alive and drive in runs behind the big bats in the order. I'd like to see the impact he could have at #6.