When I read that evaluation, I thought it was over-the-top and far too negative.
Has the offense been bad so far?
Yes, yes it has.
As I wrote in another article, the Sox have scored one or fewer runs 12 times this year, dropping all of those games.
But it's only early June here—there's a lot of time for this offense to get it together. If just one of the three who haven't been hitting—Thome, Konerko, and Swisher—really get their act together, this offense will be good enough to carry the Sox to the postseason.
2. In the loss to Tampa Bay on Saturday, Ozzie Guillen pinch-hit Jim Thome for Alexei Ramirez in the seventh inning, despite Ramirez's recent hot streak and Thome's year-long slump. Thome proceeded to strike out in the at-bat. Do you think that Guillen is sometimes too loyal to his established players, especially in cases like these?
There isn't anything wrong with Jim Thome. He's on pace for 90-something walks and 28 or 29 home runs. The low BABIP is probably going to correct itself over time.
Alexei Ramirez has a .255 OBP, hot streak or not. If you are trying to win baseball games, Jim Thome is your hitter. Had Jim Thome hit a weak single through a hole, no one would have even questioned the move. Hindsight is 20/20.
Nonsense, man. You've got to roll the dice and play the averages sometimes, and even though Thome struck out in the seventh, he came up aces in the 10th, legging out a leadoff double.
Sitting Thome for a long period won't help him get his batting rhythm, and I think he's coming around. As for being too loyal to his established players, look at 2007 for that: the established players were gone by early June if I'm correct.
Yes, Ozzie has been notorious of relying on veterans anyway, and this year it's biting him in the rear. When Guillen said he's "not protecting anybody anymore," I was wondering if he was talking about guys like Thome, whom he has continued to stick up for much of the season despite Thome's horrific season.
Perhaps it is a sign that Ozzie is going to continue to stick with the hot bats and put egos aside.
At times yes, but at other times I've seen him go with the player that's doing the job, as evidenced by Ramirez playing still even though Uribe is off the DL and healthy.
He has gotten away from the style of managing that won him a World Series in '05. He never "played the odds" (pinch hitting a lefty against a righty pitcher, etc). I think it simply comes down to Ozzie over-thinking himself.
He should have continued to play the hot hand (Ramirez), rather than try for the win via the long ball (Thome, Konerko, etc).
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