A Yankee/Red Sox Mid-May Comparison

Today is Monday, May 12th and with the off day yesterday for both the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox, it's a great time for the two teams to be compared...just a simple comparison, not a detailed analysis. The biggest area that stands out to me are the respective bullpens. In head to head battles, New York's bullpen has an ERA of 6.04 (gasp!) and Boston's bullpen ERA is a tremendous 3.29. No surprise there! The Yankees have a 'pen of retread pitchers while the Red Sox have depth and quality galore. The Yankees' record is 15-16 and they're just 2-6 since May 2. The Red Sox are 20-12, 18-6 since April 14, not bad, not bad at all.

Jason Bay has emerged as a true slugger, fading the Manny memories like an early morning haze evaporating completely under the strong summer sun. Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting and running the bases well and when JD Drew is healthy, he gets huge hits. Mikey Lowell is improving with every game but Julio Lugo is still getting his wheels under him. Newcomer Nick Green has been more than an adequate fill-in at short while we wait for Jed Lowrie to heal. The best infield right side will be back, and soon. Jason Varitek has contributed some big hits and I'd want no one else back there than him, unless Wake is pitching. Matsuzaka had another great outing with Pawtucket and after one more start there, he'll be back with the big club. John Smoltz will see action sometime in June, providing all continues to go well.

All in all, Boston Red Sox fans should be very happy, even with the injury plague that continues to infect the team we love. Yankee fans, on the other hand, should be seething at "what could have been but isn't." Remember this...it's only May 12th. SO MUCH can and will happen in this wacky world of baseball, that game we love and could not live without.

The pitching matchup for tonight's late game against the LA Angels will feature Justin Masterson versus Jered Weaver. I'll have the other pitchers for the remaining two games soon. Click on this post's title for more Sox news from the Boston Globe and as always, BE WELL. Your comments are welcome...I'll read and answer every one. Thanks for stopping by...I'll see you soon. GO SOX.