10 Keys to the Back Half

1 Tek’s bat~ We’re not expecting him to hit .295 as he was on May 25th, but ‘Tek needs to get his swing back.

2 Bullpen’s arms~ Oki, not so doki this year. Part of it is that batters are now seeing him for the 2nd season. While his ERA is a respectable 2.82, it is not a complete picture. He needs to get his splitter fixed. Aardsma has been great. Timlin, Delcarmen and Hansen however need to be more consistent. They’ve had great performances, followed by disasters.

3 Papi’s bat~ Let’s hope that his wrist has healed, and that the time off also helped his knees. BP looked good, but Papi needs to come back hitting like he did post slump.

4 Beckett and Dice-K~ Beckett’s pitching mostly well, but he’s not consistently overpowering this year as last. Dice-K has great numbers and an uncanny ability to wiggle out of jams, but those free passes and high pitch counts are giving fans, coaches, and managers grey hair, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

5 Pap’s mouth~ Yes, he is one of the elite closers, but off field remarks and antics cannot overshadow on field performances. Have fun on and off the field, but make sure you’re not stirring up anything unsavory that spills onto the field. Save the theatrics for post-season and post-career.

6 Shortstop~ Hopefully Lowrie will shine in Lugo’s absence. Let’s also hope that upon his eventual return to the line-up, Lugo will have also worked on whatever is causing his on field brain farts, and get hit BA back up to .290 or better.

7 Centerfield~ Tito has done a fantastic job of getting decent playing time to both Crisp and Ellsbury. Ellsbury is the rookie and should be satisfied with his playing time. If Crisp can accept his given role this year, (as it is looking like he may not get traded during this season), keep a clear head, and play to the best of his abilities (i.e. get his BA back up to .290 or better), the outfield will still be good.

8 Manny Being Manny~ Manny’s numbers are up this year. That’s a good thing. He’s a better fielder than most give him credit for. That’s a good thing. But I’m just a bit concerned over a couple of recent incidents. One day he’s looking all happy-go-lucky high-fiving fans, and having fun in the green monster, etc., and the next he’s having scuffles with teammates and office personnel. Those are the actions people will recall before the antics and hijinx. I don’t really care what players do in their personal lives, but if he’s got something is going on that we don’t know about (nor do we need to know about) that affects his public behavior and playing field performance, he needs to deal with it. (Same goes for all players.)

9 No more injuries! DL so far this year: Lowell, Dice-K, Papi, Schilling, Colon, Timlin…

10 Business as usual for Pedroia, Youk, Drew, Wake, Lester, & Lowell.

Previously posted on FenwayWest.com 07/17/08