Tag Archives: injury

Random Red Sox of the Day: Tim Naehring

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“Random Red Sox of the Day” is a new series of articles I will be periodically writing. This one is the first installment in the series. Random doesn’t mean they weren’t good, just that they aren’t names you will hear come up often in this day and age. Tim Naehring, for instance, was a good player for the Red Sox who seemingly adding to his game every season until an elbow injury ended his career prematurely. Read about him more below.

The Early Days

Tim Naehring was drafted by the Red Sox in 1988 out of Miami of Ohio as a shortstop. The Red Sox had also selected a shortstop in the 5th round named John Valentin. Naehring jumped ahead of Valentin in development as Valentin battled an injury shortly after being drafted.

By 1989, Naehring had made the leap to AAA Pawtucket, passing over AA during his midseason callup. Naehring held his own and found himself back in Pawtucket for the 1990 season. After swatting 15 home runs, he got the call to the big leagues in July.

By his third Major League start, Naehring had hit his first career home run. Two weeks later he had his first three-hit game, which he followed up with another three-hit game which included a home run and four runs batted in. He added a four-hit game a few days later before an injury ended his season, something he dealt with often in his early playing days.

Naehring would miss almost the entire 1991 season. He would spend most of the 1992 season on the big league team, serving as a utility player for the Red Sox. Naehring didn’t hit much, but played shortstop, second base and third base. He did win a game with a two-run homer in the top of the 19th in Cleveland in April of that season.

Tim Naehring during his early playing days.

The Beginnings of a Breakout

Tim Naehring was back in AAA for much of 1993, but was showing improvement. He batted .307 with an .873 OPS over 55 games at Pawtucket. After a bit of a sluggish start following his callup, Naehring found regular at-bats in September with the team out of the postseason race and picked up where he left off in Pawtucket. From September 10th through the end of the season, Naehring batted .420 with a 1.047 OPS. He had six hits during a doubleheader on the 10th and wound up with five straight multi-hit games.

Naehring was up for good in 1994 and continued showing the promise from his 1993 season. He played his usual infield positions, but was mostly at second base with Scott Fletcher struggling at the plate. Forming a timeshare with Fletcher while filling in periodically around the infield, Naehring batted .276 with 7 home runs over 297 at-bats. He enjoyed his first multi-homer game on April 19th against Oakland, a game in which he went 4-4 at the dish.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Tim Naehring stands at the plate during game against the Oakland Athletics.

Starting Third Baseman

Before the 1995 season, the Red Sox traded away two-time All-Star Scott Cooper. With the move, Tim Naehring would be taking over as their full-time third baseman. Naehring would not let the opportunity go to waste. Naehring was leading the American League in hitting as late as June of 1995.

He was still batting over .320 into early September of that season before fading a bit down the stretch. Still, Naehring batted .307 with a career high .863 OPS. He got on base at a .415 clip, leading the Red Sox and finishing eighth in the American League MVP race. When the Sox bats went cold in the postseason series with the Indians, Naehring picked up four hits and homered.

Naehring would set career highs in a couple more categories in 1996. He had an 18 game hitting streak early in the season. In June, he hit his first career walk-off home run against the Indians. With the game tied in the 15th inning, Naehring hit a 2-run homer off future Red Sox reliever Alan Embree. He would go on to hit 17 home runs that season, a personal best. His 65 runs batted in and 77 runs scored were also career highs. Those highs may not have held up if it weren’t for injury.

Tim Naehring was always giving it his all out on the field. Here he is colliding with Yankees catcher Mike Stanley on a play at the plate.

The Injury

Tim Naehring may have surpassed some of those career highs in 1997 if not for an elbow injury that ended his season, and ultimately, his career. Injured in late June, Naehring had 9 home runs and 40 RBI, and the team had yet to reach the mid-point of the season. He was batting .286 on 74 base hits with an .843 OPS. He likely would have surpassed his personal bests for both hits and RBI, and might have reached 20 home runs for the first time.

On June 23rd, in a win up in Toronto, Tim Naehring collected three base hits and homered. It would be the final game of his career. Naehring blew out his elbow, and with modern medicine probably would have made it back late the next season. As it was, Naehring held out hopes of making a comeback through 1998, but ultimately had to call it quits. He was 30 years old when he played his final game.

Naehring faced many injuries during his playing days, but some of that likely stemmed from his style of play. He was always diving for ground balls and going all out in the field. He was a good fielder and a good hitter. Naehring had only committed three errors on the 1997 season when he got hurt. At the plate, he seemingly kept improving as well, batting .295/.387/.451/.837 over his final three seasons.

Tim Naehring was always sporting a pair of very stylish shades.

What Role Can Dustin Pedroia Still Play?

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He’s two years removed from playing a full season and clearly his knee has been an issue. However, Dustin Pedroia still has a lot of skills and traits that can still be useful to this team. He’s still locked up for a fair amount of time. He’s going to make roughly 40 million dollars over the final three years of his contract. Can he still produce at a level that merits having that contract on the books? That is yet to be determined, but first and foremost, Dustin has to get healthy. The now 35-year-old second baseman is fortunate for many reasons. Mainly, with Kinsler departing, he faces almost no competition on the roster for his position. If he can get strong over the winter and be ready for the spring, he’ll have his chance to make an impact for Boston like he did back in 2016 and preceded by various season earlier.

Pedroia’s Achilles Heel

Unfortunately for Pedroia, he just can’t shake the pain in his left knee. Father Time isn’t on his side either, by any means, but the two-year-old knee injury has to be frustrating Dustin. In 2016 he hit .318 with an OPS of .825. Both of these numbers are exceptional, even all-star worthy. Then Manny Machado came along.Image result for machado pedroia gif

The collision between the two in April of 2017 appears to be what initially led to the injury for Pedroia. Machado’s late slide, that he claims as unintentional, took out the left leg of Dustin and frankly he has never been the same since. Pedroia has always been one that has struggled with the injury bug here and there. Nothing has ever compared to this, though.

Playing with the speedy, dirt-dog style that he does, his knees have already been taking a beating over the years. This has the potential to possibly sideline him for a good chunk of another season. Which would be similar to his 2018 where he played in only three games. Even worse, this has the potential to be it for Pedroia, at least with Boston.

Having paid him 16 million dollars last year for basically nothing, and 15 million in 17 for a half season isn’t good business. That equates to roughly 23 million in dead money, plus another 40 still on the Red Sox plate in the future. He’s going to have his chance in 2019 but he has to take it, or he could see himself out a similar door to Hanley Ramirez.

Can He Still Be Effective?

Like I said earlier, his last full season in 2016 was very good. Even in 2017, in limited action, he was a decent ballplayer at .293/.369/.760. IF, which is a big if, he can be ready to go for Opening Day AND stay healthy, the numbers seem like an attainable goal. It’s nothing special, and probably not worth the dollar amount he’s making, but it’s more than they got last year.

With Ian Kinsler highly unlikely to return, the door is wide open for Pedroia to take the reigns back. For him, it’ll be a transition to a different role, one as more of only a team leader and less as a contributor. When he could last year, he was always on the bench. He acted like an assistant coach at times for Alex Cora, something that likely had a huge influence on the team that won the championship.

If he can put up the aforementioned triple slash line from 2017, and continue to evolve into a mentor for the young guys like Rafael Devers and eventually Michael Chavis, he’ll be somewhat worth the money they’re paying him. As far as the team goes, they won 108 games and a World Series this year. Adding Pedroia back into the fold can only be a plus for this Red Sox team, and to me, it’s definitely an upgrade from Kinsler.

Patrice Bergeorn

Boston Bruins: Patrice Bergeron Out With Injury

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The Black and Gold are looking pretty bruised up now with more news coming out about Patrice Bergeron. The center suffered a rib and sternoclavicular injury stemming from a hit he sustained in a recent game against the Dallas Stars on November 16th. He will be out of the lineup at least four weeks and will be re-evaluated at the time. The news couldn’t come at a worse time for the B’s as number 37 joins a growing list of injured players.

Patrice Bergeron

(Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Prior to the formal statement on Bergeron, the Bruins put up a huge effort recently against both Dallas and Arizona with a somewhat fractured team. Coach Bruce Cassidy did what he knows best; rearranged lines and got some good plays out of those players. Without many key players, Boston had to dig deep and called up some fresh-new faces. Defenseman Connor Clifton had it first NHL major fight as he nailed Dallas player Jason Spezza during a scrum. Jakob Zboril also made his NHL debut for the Bruins and landed three hits and a shot on goal.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dHLEqWg6y8&w=560&h=315]

During the Dallas game, Radek Faksa heavily checked Bergeron along the boards where he hit the wall hard with his left shoulder. The hit forced Bergeron off the ice during the second period. He did return,  however, he played gingerly on the ice. As the team headed into Arizona, Bergeron headed back to Boston to be initially evaluated.  As the Bruins continue on without their Captain and Alternate Captain, look for the team to recall more players from Providence.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFHZi404YCg&w=560&h=315]

In case you need to keep count, here’s a list of injured players:

Patrice Bergeron

Brandon Carlo

Zdeno Chara

Charlie McAvoy

Kevan Miller

John Moore

Urho Vaakanainen

The Boston Bruins have recalled Providence forward Colby Cave who had appeared with Boston last season. The Black and Gold will be playing the Detroit Red Wings tomorrow night at the Little Caesars Arena with puck drop at 7:30 pm

 

Follow me on Twitter@ Pastagrl88

 

 

Three Takeaways: Celtics 115, Hornets 112

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The Celtics came out with a win in their 2nd preseason game.

The team returned to the TD Garden to take on the Charlotte Hornets. Boston was without Al Horford for the game, who was dealing with a wrist injury. The team, having faced the Hornets on Friday, jumped out to a 64-57 halftime lead. After a mediocre first quarter, the Celtics went for 40 points in the second. The game stayed competitive through the third quarter, with the Celtics unable to pull away. The Hornets took the lead with around 6 and a half minutes remaining the game, and the score remained neck and neck until the very end, when Boston was able to pull away. Here are some key takeaways from Sunday’s game.

1. Boston turns it around from deep, succeeds on free throws

After a poor first game in terms of three-point shooting, the Celtics were able to flip the script. On Friday, the team shot an atrocious 9-47 from deep, for just 19%. Sunday night, however, was a much different story. The team finished with far fewer attempts from deep, going 13-31 on the night. The much higher percentage (42%) was a welcome sight. Also notable was the success from behind the free throw line. Boston converted 18 of 21 attempts from the stripe, a great sign for the regular season.

2. Tatum, Irving shine

Both Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving stood out in Sunday’s game. After a scoreless first quarter, Tatum caught fire in the second quarter, scoring 13 points in three minutes. That spurt included 3 three-pointers and a ferocious alley-oop jam from Terry Rozier. He finished with 16 points and 4 boards in 19 minutes of play.

Irving also had a standout game against Charlotte. He contributed his usual scoring total and made multiple eye-catching passes to set up scores for others. He’ll benefit this year from not always having to be the team’s number one scoring option. It’ll leave him more room to make plays and facilitate the offense. Irving finished with 20/4/3 in 29 minutes.

3. Williams shows flashes of potential

The rookie Robert Williams showed a lot of intriguing play in the game on Sunday. Williams had a nice dunk inside and was extremely active on both ends of the floor. Most notably, he set a lot of good screens on offense and freed up a lot of space on that end. Williams also had a clutch block in the closing seconds of the game to secure the win. He finished with 5 points, a board and an assist, as well as the aforementioned block. Though the numbers aren’t the most gaudy, it was certainly a nice performance that could help redeem him in the eyes of some fans.

Bonus: Marcus Smart is back

Good to see ya, buddy.

Boston will take the floor next on Tuesday night, when the Lebron-less Cavaliers come to the Garden. Horford is hopeful to return to action that night against the new look Cleveland team. The NBA season keeps getting closer and closer!

Jeremy Hill tears ACL, out for Season

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Jeremy Hill was going to tackle Tyrann Mathieu after he recovered a fumble from Rob Gronkowski when James Develin accidentally fell on his leg. He did not return the rest of the game. Yesterday, it was reported that he tore his ACL and is out for the season.

 

Jeremy Hill was signed over this summer and had beaten out Mike Gillislee for a roster spot. He looked to be the premier power back and the go-to-guy on offense in short-yardage situations.

What Now?

Most likely what will happen is that Ralph Webb will get promoted for extra depth. The Patriots could use Develin in short-yardage situations if it’s really necessary. Be on the lookout for any trades or free agent signings for some bigger backs as well.

 

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Patrice Bergeron Hasn’t Missed a Beat

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Patrice Bergeron is one of the premier two-way centers in the NHL. He values the defensive side of his game just as much as the stat line, and sometimes that means blocking a shot. This led to a fractured right foot which sidelined him for a month, but Bergeron is back in full form just in time for the playoffs.

Back in Black

He was slotted back into the lineup while in Minnesota and wasted no time making his presence known. Three minutes into the second period, Bergeron fed Pastrnak a perfect one-time pass in the high slot. Pasta tee’d it up and ripped a slap shot past Stalock for his 30th goal of the season. The scorecard read “Pastrnak assisted by Bergeron and Marchand”, so it doesn’t seem like much changed in a month. Later he assisted on Marchand’s fifth overtime winner- another common occurrence.

(Bruins, MA 12/23/17) Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron #37 celebrates his goal in the third period of the Boston Bruins vs. the Detroit Red Wings at the TD Garden. Saturday, December 23, 2017. Staff photo by John Wilcox.

His play against Tampa offered even more proof that Bergeron hasn’t missed a beat. He finished the night with three points and scored his first goal since returning to the lineup. Bergeron came out from behind the net and was the beneficiary of a beautiful tic-tac-toe play. The puck went from the tape of Marchand, to Krug, to Bergeron, to twine in a matter of seconds. This was one of the biggest wins of the year for Boston and propelled them into first place.

Bergeron continued his prominent return with another tally against the surging Florida Panthers. He extended his goal scoring streak the very next day against the Flyers. With only seconds remaining, Bergeron ripped home a loose puck to tie the game. He has a stat-line of 3-4-7 in five games played since making his return.

Bergeron’s patented two-way game is also perfectly intact. There are always concerns about a players conditioning when they go down with a late season injury, but the lungs are just fine. He’s averaged just under 20 minutes of ice time since returning which is equal to the amount he’s played throughout the season. He even played a total of 22:38 in the overtime loss against the Flyers, so he seems prepared to log the extra minutes that he’ll see in the postseason.

It’s all starting to come together for the Bruins heading into the playoffs. Bergeron’s back, McAvoy’s next, and the team is looking sharp. The top line has carried the B’s all season, and now the trio is back together. With the return of Bergeron, the Bruins are just as deep as any team in the league.

 

Cover image courtesy of NHL.com

Door Open for Young Celtics to Step Up

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WHAT NOW?

Gruesome. Horrific. Shocking. Sickening. These were all adjectives used to describe the scene less than six minutes into the NBA season. As fast as Gordon Hayward was introduced to the Celtic faithful for our first game, he was unfathomably taken away from us. Thankfully he had successful surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. He will almost surely miss his entire first season as a Celtic. The team is now scrambling trying to find ways to make up for the loss.

Losing a player of Hayward’s caliber is like hitting the reset button. This is a button that is not supposed to be hit after a month of training camp, especially when you are actually ready to put it on the floor. The offense will be different without him, so these first few games were almost like a new preseason for the team. Let’s take a look at how the paradigm of this season has shifted since opening night.

KYRIE FOR MVP?

I’m not saying he’s going to win MVP this season, but if he’s not at least in the discussion, as IT was last year, we are not going to be a great team. Obviously Danny Ainge and the Celtics value Kyrie higher than Isaiah. This was shown by how much extra they gave up in addition to him. He was already going to be the man in Boston, but with Hayward out, he has now become THE MAN. When asked if there was a question of whether he took some poor shots after shooting 7-25 in game two, he simply responded “Gotta get ’em up.” He will continue to get a ton of shots up all season. Kyrie needs to improve his looks to improve his percentages.

What is more important though, is getting his teammates involved. He is starting alongside young guys in Jayson Tatum (19), and Jaylen Brown (20), and they will need some help from their point guard in finding their spots. Irving was shook up pretty bad from the injury, and still didn’t seem right the next day. After getting some much needed down time, he should settle in and just play ball.

YOUNG AND YOUNGER

Jaylen Brown looks ready to go in a starting role this season. He is getting the minutes he needs to improve, averaging 34.9 through three games. He worked strenuously this off season. If posting a career high with 25 points in the season opener was any indication, he has already vastly improved since last year ended. He had a game-high 40 minutes in the contest.

Through three games, Jayson Tatum has averaged 35.3mpg, 12.3ppg and 9rpg. He recorded a double double in his first NBA game, something that hasn’t been done by a Celtic since Larry Bird. You could see his confidence grow from the first half to the second in the opener, and even further into the second and third games. Perhaps more startling was seeing him in at the end of the game in all contests. If he continues to start and see heavy minutes, his confidence will continue to grow. With the intangibles and skill set as elite as Tatum’s,  only confidence could hold him back. Brad Stevens will make sure that doesn’t happen.

A lot of this is because of injuries, even beyond Hayward; both Brown’s and Tatum’s minutes figure to take a hit when Marcus Morris returns. Marcus Smart missed the third game with an ankle injury.  Regardless, these guys should continue to see extensive playing time. This is pivotal for the development of young players with as much potential as both have displayed.

PUT ME IN, COACH!

Here is a chart showing some statistics for all 10 All-Star starters from last season during their respective rookie campaigns.

The trend here is minutes. These guys simply need court time to improve and be successful. The best players, outside of the top two or three in the league, didn’t dominate in their rookie seasons. Rather, they received heavy minutes, made mistakes, and were better equipped to dominate in the years to come. It’s all about the coach entrusting the player to work through the bad times on the court. Taking them out is not going to allow them to learn from their mistakes, and will only hurt confidence. Brad Stevens will trust the young players on this team, something that will instill a superior confidence in them.

Jimmy Butler is an interesting case. He hardly played at all in his rookie season, but shot up to 26mpg in his second year. He averaged 13.1ppg in his third year behind 38.7mpg, receiving the minutes he needed to come back in his fourth year as an elite talent. Butler made his first all-star game that year behind 20ppg. Our friend Gordon Hayward followed a similar path. He received just 16.9mpg his rookie year, but jumped to 30.5 in his 2nd year. He has improved on his ppg average every season of his seven-year NBA career.

ROUGH START

The Celtics have had as bad a start to the season as seems humanly possible, losing one of their best players tragically, and subsequently their first two games. Having a back-to-back was rough given the situation. Stevens has had to adjust drastically, literally on the fly, from one city to the next. Not to mention his emotional ties to the situation. Losing a star player for the season is always a tough pill to swallow, especially in such an awful manner. Put this on top of that player being someone you’ve been close to for almost a decade, and you might need a day off.

WE’RE GOING TO BE ALRIGHT

The future looks promising with the young talent of this team, most namely Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. With the Hayward injury, they are now going to be leaned on a lot earlier than anyone expected. It is going to be a learning process, but it is now on the fast track. Ramping up their development should actually prove to be a priceless advantage for the C’s in the future. By the time Hayward comes back, the young players will be much better equipped to contribute to a championship-caliber team.

Getting the first win of the season was huge for this team. The three-day break immediately following is another blessing. They now have the time to take a deep breath, recollect themselves, and game plan for life without Gordon this season. Doing this after a win should infuse some positivity back into this group while they figure it out. They’ve got a big game coming up this week against the Bucks, which you can read about here.  This team needs some positives right now, and they are slowly starting to show themselves in the wake of Gordon’s injury. Get better G, and best wishes to you and your family!