Thoughts from a week that taught us that Manny’s even weirder than we thought…

Red Sox Stats Pack of the Week (Now with subheads!)

Surprising Stat of the Week:

Dice-K’s averaging only 98.8 pitches per start this season. How can that be? I would’ve guessed it was at least up around 300.

That 98.8 is a little deceiving though. In his starts right before being place on the DL (66) and right after being activated (48), Dice-K threw… um, eight plus six, carry the one… only 114 total pitches. If you take those two starts away, his average pitch count bumps up to 104.3. That looks a little better, although I still figured it would be higher.

Dice K Bonus Stat: Dice-K has given up only five homeruns in 95 innings this season, while fellow countryman Hideki Okajima his allowed four dongs in a mere 39.

Asked what his secret was to keeping the ball in the park, Dice-K replied (through a translator): "I don’t know how to throw strikes."

Warning Sign Stat of the Week:

JD Drew is 3 for 21 since the All-Star break.

Note: Although, in his defense, he was robbed of a homerun by Ichiro on Wednesday afternoon.

Note 2: I get caught off-guard almost every time the Red Sox play a random midweek afternoon game. I never realize it’s on until at least the second inning.

Troubling Stat of the Week: