The Baseball Reporters Show Recap 5/27

Today's edition of the Baseball Reporters show with Tony Massarotti picked up where it left off yesterday, talking about Jacoby Ellsbury and his injured ribs. The Red Sox completed a 3 game sweep of the Rays last night in Tampa Bay and they are winners of their last 5 games. Also, Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley joined the show to talk about the streaking Sox and Jacoby Ellsbury.

Josh from Medfield called into the show to talk about Ellsbury. He thinks that his agent, Scott Boras, is getting in his head a little bit and is part of the reason why Jacoby is out of the lineup again tonight. Mazz agrees, but adds that at the end of the day it comes down to the player. "The agent works for the player not the other way around. And we always talk about the influence of the agent. The agents only have influence if the players allow them to."

Tony asked Dennis Eckersley on today's show if he thought the Sox would turn things around so quickly. Here's what Eck had to say, "I was hoping that they could stay 7.5, 8.5 out, at the best, when they finished with Tampa. But it goes to show you about this game Mazz. I played it a long, long time and it flips on you. Whether its a player, or team. We knew all along the pitching was going to come. We didn't know it was going to be 7-1 over the last 8 games with 7 beautifully pitched games."

The biggest surprise this season for Tony has been Clay Buchholz. We all know he has great stuff but dealt with confidence issues early in his career after throwing a no-hitter in his 2nd career start. Eckersley admits he's still on the Buchholz bandwagon and that Clay has gotten his confidence back. "I've seen the confidence just on and on and on. I think the playoff game was a big start for him last year. He's got the best stuff on the staff and that's saying something."

Dennis Eckersley believes that this team is in it for the long haul and that they have righted the ship. Mazz still questions the bullpen and would like to see the Red Sox acquire a long reliever. The Red Sox open up a 7 game homestand at Fenway Park tonight vs. the Kansas City Royals.