* Edgar Renteria: Drawing boos from the fickle Fenway faithful for his inability to lay off breaking stuff away, or down and in ... Seems to be indecisive at the plate and is getting cheated on swings ... Was tossed on Saturday evening after lashing out over balls and strikes calls in the ninth inning ... Lays off fastballs on the outer half of the plate ... Not good balance at the plate of late, especially when fooled ... No longer handling the bat well enough to participate in hit-and-runs ... His hitting scuffles have seemingly affected his suddenly erratic fielding, both with the glove and throwing. He remains blessed with a strong arm ... Notwithstanding his poor play, he's been a hit in the clubhouse ...
* Mark Bellhorn: Loves the ball up in the zone and can drive those pitches ... 50 -- count 'em, fifty K's so far this year ... Unlike most high-K hackers, Bellhorn's a "take machine" with 22 walks and a lot of unquestionable strikes sailing past, unheeded ... As always, the plan has to be to throw him strikes ... Bellhorn after his successful West Coast trip: "I can feel myself being more aggressive" ... Struggles with changeups, which he doesn't always recognize ... Somewhat nonchalant with the glove, leading to occasional misplays at second ... Does not take the best path to popups over his head ...
* Johnny Damon: A no-doubt All-Star this year ... Following his .365/.404/.479 April with a .358/.435/.469 May ... Level swing, and he drives pitches on the outer half all over the field ... Prefers the ball up, yet it's hard to coax pop-ups ... Can sometimes been fooled by sinkers or splitters when they start up in the zone ... Has scored in his last seven games ... Just 4-for-5 on the basepaths as the Red Sox play even more conservatively than last year ...
* Alan Embree: Leaves his slider up too often, which makes him vulnerable to righthanded hitters ... Throws a bigger curve to lefties, and it's effective ... Not the flamethrower he once was ... He's worked five consecutive scoreless innings ...
* Keith Foulke: His velocity isn't quite what it was (only high 80s), and his fastballs are getting hit hard this year ... Shaky location within the strike zone ... Has been pitching better away from home this season ... Still has that nasty changeup that he throws in the low 70s with sinking movement ... Likes to tempt hitters up and out of the zone ...
* Kevin Millar: Lays off pitches on the outer half, and can be frozen there ... The Sox are still waiting for him to regain his power stroke. He's slugging a puny .331 ... Rolling over even on high pitches, pulling harmless grounders to left ... Battling a sore left foot after fouling a pitch off his left instep on Saturday ... Becoming a better defensive first baseman, surprisingly ...
* David Wells: Old "friend" still features that big looping curve in the low 70s, which is hittable when expected ... Fastball was topping out in the 80s during his first start back from a sprained right foot, and he was hammered by Oakland -- Oakland! -- for seven runs in an inning and a third ... Fanball.com: "His next start [against the Jays] seems like a good opportunity for a win." Oh, really? ...
* Trot Nixon: Just 3-for-13 against lefties as he continues to be sheltered from them ... Drapes his bat over his shoulder to remind him to bring his hands up as he starts his swing ... Can really turn on fastballs up in the zone; his swing is quick enough to catch up ... Doesn't like the ball away ... Tremendously athletic outfielder with great mobility and a strong, accurate throwing arm ...
* Bronson Arroyo: Pitching very well, but let's not get carried away with this "top 5 in the A.L." stuff like Bill Simmons has been preaching ... Just eight starts overalll, only one start beyond seven innings, and has only topped five strikeouts once ... Great 12-to-6 curve that works well against lefthanded hitters ... Good at nibbling and inducing hitters to chase ... Considerably quicker to the plate from the stretch ... Downward trajectory on his low-90s fastball ... Will hang his curve if you wait for it ... Coming off a six-game suspension for his involvement in this year's installment of the annual Red Sox/Devil Rays beanball war ...
* Jason Varitek: Sox captain continues to absolutely rake from the right side, using the whole field and drilling line drives ... From the left side, has a bit of an inside-out swing, but nevertheless has tremendous power to all fields ... How do you pitch to him? Righties should work him away and off the plate with tailing stuff. Lefties should keep pounding him away, and hope for the best ...
* Kevin Youkilis: The "Greek God of Walks" is acutally of Romanian Jewish extraction, and he's working on a .463 OBP in limited action ... Good plate coverage, as he can reach outside strikes ... Pull hitter ... Will pull his head off breaking pitches low, where he's vulnerable ... Can be jammed ... Good weight transfer ... Nice reactions at third base, and he really hustles defensively ...
* Wade Miller: Went 6 1/3 IP on Friday night, the longest outing of his comeback ... His two-seam fastball isn't overpowering (upper 80s), and he'll miss with it ... Low 90s with his four-seam fastball, which he keeps down effectively ... Big curve is his signature pitch ... Tight slider that moves almost like a cutter ... Busy delivery that's worrisome given his injury history ...
* Bill Mueller: 13-for-31 over his last nine games (.419) ... Finally hit his first home run on Friday, after already losing his bet among fellow slow starters Millar and Bellhorn as to who'd have the longest homer drought to start the season ... Spray hitter ... More of an upright stance than in the past ... Not great at charging and barehanding slow rollers. He struggles to stay balanced in making the throw on the run ... Good throwing arm when he plants his feet ...
* Mike Timlin: Old friend has gone an incredible 15 consecutive scoreless outings ... That said, he did allow the game-winning (inherited) runs to score when Matt Watson ripped a two-out single last week ... Easy delivery ... Has been staying well down in the strike zone ... Likes to work lefties in on the fists, then down and out of the zone ...
* Manny Ramirez: Despite a career OPS of nearly 1.100 against lefties, he can't hit 'em worth a lick this year ... Lefties have been working in on his fists ... Still obviously a tremendous power threat, as he gets tremendous extension on his swing ... Punishes pitches up in the zone ... Lightning-quick swing, and can turn on anything, even if down in the zone ... As always, adventurous in left ... Has hit an incredible 44 homers against the Jays, most by any opponent in franchise history ...
* David Ortiz: Collected five hits over the weekend ... Has been hitting lefties better of late ... Great-looking level swing, and he thinks right-centre (especially when he's away from Fenway) ... You can't hang any breaking stuff with him -- it's an automatic extra-base hit ... It's imperative to stay down and possibly out of the zone with Ortiz ...
