76 games into the 2007 mlb season: cooch's red sox surprises

sox surprises after 76 games...

okajima. seriously. .80 whip and .96 era. 'nuff said.

pedroia. .322 BA with .396 OBP. i thought for sure the sox made a huge mistake letting loretta go. after hitting .191 in a limited sample in 2006 and starting off poorly at the plate, i thought pedroia would be dead weight.

lugo. wasn't expecting great things from this guy to begin with and i think we both questioned this move when the sox made it, but even a career .333 OBP guy w/ a career .270 BA sinking to a .256 OBP and .191 BA is a pretty far dropoff. still not sure why the sox dumped renteria so quick - despite his "bad" season with the sox, he ended up hitting .276, scoring 100 runs, and had 48 extra base hits.

youk. expected a high OBP and average stats all-around, but he's on pace to set all kinds of career highs (albeit a brief career) in impressive fashion. a .419 OBP and the ability to hit in any spot of the lineup has been invaluable for the sox. guy is making next to nothing for salary and is a legitimate all-star. youk is in the top 10 in several mlb batting categories.

kyle snyder. um, he's having a career year - by far. sporting a 2.67 era after 27+ innings in 24 appearences is 2.50 runs better than his best posted era (5.17) in any season.

beckett. we know what he's capable of. but a 3.07 american league era and a 11-1 record? nearly perfect and frontrunner for cy young.

how about a 10 game lead over 2nd place toronto? what, the yanks are 11 games down after 76 games? amazing, given the yankees' payroll hovering around $200mn...