Youth Group: Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie Lead Way for Sox

Lowrie and Ellsbury both tore it up last night in another lopsided Sox win. (SawxBlog Illustration)

The Red Sox continued their winning ways last night with an 8-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals to improve their record to 5-1 in this post-Manny world that we live in. Leading the charge for the Sox were Jacoby Ellsbury and Jed Lowrie who are both the present and future of the organization. Combined this new dynamic duo went 5/8 driving in 5 RBI while scoring 3 runs. I think it's fairly safe to come to two conclusions now:

1. Julio Lugo has lost his job - I'll admit, I really thought that Lugo was going to thrive in Boston but something has just seemed to be missing (a bat maybe?) during his reign here. Granted, we did win the World Series with him as our starting SS, however something just feels amiss with him. Maybe he has a case of the Renteria's, or it could be that world famous "Curse of the Orlando Cabrera", who knows. What I do know is that Jed Lowrie is turning into a bonafide stud. This kid seems to thrive in pressure and always seems to come through when you want him to. Also his defense is about 473% better then Lugo's. Ponder this; both Lugo and Lowrie have 22 RBI on the season. The big difference here is that Lugo's played in 82 games and Lowrie has played in 35. Seems like the case is closed to me. Sigh, another SS who's contract we're most likely going to end up eating.
2. Jacoby Ellsbury is out of his slump - Yeah, yeah I know, could be a little too early to make this call this, but the kid seems to be getting that locked in look, and he's really driving the ball. What really convinced me, aside from stringing some good games together, was the fact that he was able to take a left handed pitcher deep to CF. That's showing me he's seeing the ball really well which is great news. When Jacoby gets on base the Red Sox are a better team, it's really that simple. He's such a catalyst to the offense and if he can be productive in the #1 slot in the lineup again we could be seeing a lot of crooked numbers up on the score board.

Oh yeah, Jason Bay is still a stud too. 2/5 last night with 2 runs scored, give Love the way the Sox are playing right now, it's almost a shame they have an off day today, although I'm sure there's no complaining coming from Youk. Windy City here we come.

Comments

[Melissa]

When Jacoby hit that home run last night, I turned to my husband and said the exact thing you just said Ellsbury is coming out of his slump. Whoo-Hoo!!!

And thank God for it!!! I am going to be attending my very first Red Sox series this weekend in Chicago, I was it was Fenway but I will take what I can get. I have been part of RSN for a long time, and have never had the means or money to go to a game, so I am stoked!!!

Let's go Sox:) the Red one's:)

[Derek Hixon]

That's awesome you guys will be at the game(s) representing the Sox this weekend! My brother lives in Chicago and I wonder if he'll be checking out any of the games? Whatapha?

[Melissa]

Well the Sox will only have 1 person cheering them on, knowing my hubby, he'll cheer for Chicago.

And to divulge my deepest secret. Shhhhh.....
My hubby is a honest to goodness YANKEES fan. Can you believe it?!?
I had no idea he cheered on the Evil Empire until like our 3rd date, LOL.

[Chip]

We at Yankees Beat want you morons to stop coming over to our site, and leaving messages about writing comments to MLB.com as well as MLBPA begging for less spending in baseball, as well as limits on free agents. Remember, We are Baseball, You are a Fad, ..Just like the Patriots. Remember what a New York team did to Them Too.

[Viper]

Tell those idiots from Boston, its a secondrate city of folks that cantmake it in New York. No Manny, No playoffs.

[jeannine]

... says the guy named VIPER

Are you a student of the Cobra Kai, by any chance?

[Derek Hixon]

Dear Chip and Viper (aka the same person with the same IP Address) your above comments are very well thought out and intelligent...oh wait they're not.

Whatever though, I take it as a compliment that you have to come over here to try and knock the defending World Series Champion Boston Red Sox down a few notches. Not that easy though bub.

Either way, let's talk about the fads that were popular when the Yankees were last winning World Series Championships all the way back in the 90's.....

1. Slap Bracelets
2. Neon Colored Umbro Shorts
3. Friends
....
Oh....it's too easy, I'll leave you silly Yankee fans to your past and false blanket statements, you seem to thrive in both.

Joba on the DL = No playoffs for the Yanks, and that be the truth brother man.

[Melissa]

Chip sounds like a real asshole. I'll be over to Yankee Beat in a sec and leave you a nice long message.

[ericinboston]

what idiocy to say they wont make the playoffs w/o manny

he hasnt been the backbone of this offense since '03 and jason bay is arguably a better player.

horses ass

[Kris]

"Remember, We are Baseball, You are a Fad"

That's why you're tearing down arguably one of the hallmarks of baseball history - Yankee Stadium.

You will never see Fenway Park go away. Why? Because it is America's Most Beloved Ballpark. Because the fans are true fans, not rich over-privileged Wall Street douchebags who only go to games to butter up clients (please forgive me Yanks fans from Jersey and Yonkers, Mark I'm looking at you).

I hope the Yankees suffer their own drought of championships (oh wait, they kinda are already). The Red Sox will continue to be a great team because they care about the game and playing it the right way as much as their fans. So, keep signing the Pudge Rodriguezes of the world, and keep throwing your talented bullpen guys into the starting rotation.

Go Sox!

[InsidetheMonster]

Anyone else scratching their heads a little as to why Coco was in the starting lineup last night? Jacoby seemed to finally be finding his stroke and ready to again assume the role of a dangerous lead off hitting. Sitting Jacoby may hinder this process.

As for Jed Lowrie, he has played himself into the starting shortstop role for the rest of the season. I've blogged about both of these topics, feel free to check it out at:

http://insidethesox.blogspot.com/

i'd love to hear your opinions.