I think this acquisition of Blaine Neal might be bigger than we think. Just a hunch. Of course it is exciting to have someone named Blaine on the Sox, sparking memories of Ducky in Pretty in Pink. "Blaine. His name is Blaine. That's the name of a major appliance."
Seriously though, his numbers are pretty decent in the minors and his major league numbers last year are a bit skewered by a couple of bad outings. And the last pitcher we picked up from SD (Embree) turned out to be pretty decent. In Boston, Neal could be that extra arm to get us through the 6th or 7th inning.
And if it doesn't work out, all we did was give up Hydzu who wasn't going to make the team and was out of options.
Speaking of pitching, how's Kim doing? He looked like he had a decent outing last time (induced two double plays off of left-handed hitters), two innings...Is he a Sox guy this year or what? I haven't seen much else on him...
ReplyDeleteAlso, Schilling is pitching today. That moves him back for eligibility during the regular season. If he pitched the minor league game he was supposed to, his official DL stint would continue. This (sort of) starts it over...But, he is now in line to pitch the home opener against the Yankees (*I think, however, that this was promised to Wakefield)...
No real standouts in camp...By this I mean that the team that was supposed to be the team for this year going in, is going to be the team. No wild cards...Any disagreement?
From what I read, Kim had poor velocity yesterday. He just can't seem to get back into the 90's. I think he is done w/ the parent club. He can refuse Pawtucket, but I'm not sure he will. The Sox apparently will eat the $6MM if they can get a mid level prospect back.
ReplyDeleteIf Schilling pitches today, they are talking about April 14. He would be eligible for the home opener if he comes of the DL, but every fifth day puts him on that 14th (also against the empire).
I think it has been a decent camp. Of course there weren't any position/rotation battles, but there were only some minor injuries which is to be expected.
Funny, I haven't followed it as closely as I have in the past, but it seems that there have been fewer injuries than normal this year. Sure we have had Trachsel, and Bonds as well as everyday Eddie, Dallas McPherson and some others getting hurt, but it really has been quiet all around.
Okay, enough with the irrelevant posting! Back to Blaine Neil...
ReplyDeleteFunny, the Blaine association for me is Waiting for Guffman. As in "Red, White, and Blaine". Or "There are five letters in the word Blaine. Now, if you mix up the letters in the word Blaine, mix 'em around, eventually, you'll come up with Nebali. Nebali. The name of a planet in a galaxy way, way, way... way far away..."
Start at the top at Blaine...
ReplyDeleteRemember the bad hair school in Boston with the low budget local commercials? Nice...
Could this guy be the last Blaine on earth? Not even close...Try a nice Google search if you don't believe me...
Who knew I would be opening a Pandora's box with a posting on Blaine.
ReplyDeleteWho knew I would be opening a Pandora's box with a posting on Blaine.
ReplyDeleteWho knew I would be opening a Pandora's box with a posting on Blaine.
ReplyDeleteThat was a mistake to post three times. I kept getting an error message. Sorry.
ReplyDelete