Bleacher Tweets: Shaughnessy's finger pointing, intestinal fortitude, Google magic and "intense" closers

Scott Levesque
Managing Editor

After last week's Bleacher Tweets we heard Dan Shaughnessy claim foul on David Ortiz's hot start, Ross and Middlebrooks go down with injuries and we've seen the closer role become the most cursed position on the Red Sox roster. Let's just say there were plenty of topics to discuss on this week's Bleacher Tweets.

If you have a question/s you want to ask then send a tweet to @scottlevesque ending with #BleacherTweets. Who knows, you might see it next week on RedSoxLife.

Seriously, you know you want to...

@lifelongsoxfan - @scottlevesque Do you think Koji Uehara is suited for interim closer role with his intensity? Tazawa lacks closer grit. #BleacherTweets

Intensity? No. I'm interested in strikeouts or ground outs rather than intensity. In my opinion when the word "intensity" is thrown out there it's in reference to Jonathan Papelbon rather than an important closer characteristic. At this moment I'm not sure any pitcher wants to take over the closer role with the Red Sox, and honestly I don't blame them.

Whether it's the current curse of the closer or the constant comparison to Jonathan Papelbon it's rather apparent the Red Sox are struggling to find their "go-to-guy." Until the return of Andrew Bailey (who's pitched relatively well in the closer role) the Sox will use a variety of stopgap pitchers to fill their need - including and mainly Tazawa.

@billythe_kid_ - @scottlevesque Don't you agree Ross and Middlebrooks are being soft? #BleacherTweets

By using the word "soft" are you referring to their intestinal fortitude? I'm going to disagree with your statement, but I understand where you're coming from. This injury came at a terrible time for Middelbrooks as he's been tagged, unfairly, as an injury-proned player. However, this was a freak accident that caused their current injury issues. I'm not sure that the word soft is the right word for this circumstance. I'd say cautious is a better term to use.

The Sox have been stymied by injuries early this season (especially in the pitching department) so I can't blame them for being cautious with both Ross and Middlebrooks. These guys are gamers and I'm sure they both want to be on the field as much as possible.

@mikedunbar554 - @scottlevesque What’s Shaughnessy's accusations against Big Papi? #BleacherTweets

In short, steroids. On May 8th Dan Shaughnessy wrote a piece in the Boston Globe detailing his Q & A conversation with Red Sox slugger David Ortiz. In the column Shaughnessy asked Ortiz a variety of leading questions trying to bait Ortiz into giving, what Shaughnessy would deem, a legitimate explanation for his hot start in 2013.

For Shaughnessy the only reasonable answer to his inquisition would be that of performance enhancing drugs. The problem with that logic is your guilty until proven innocent - an unfortunate byproduct of the "steroid era" in baseball. Although I found the accusations reckless and baseless, because of baseball's recent past, the witch hunt mentality still reigns supreme when dealing with players and the possibility of PED use.

@jules1195 - @scottlevesque How many Red Sox players have been Rookie of the Year? #BleacherTweets

This question is a lot like playing a slow pitch softball game with Mo Vaughn in the batter's box. We all know he's about to knock that ball out of the park, and that's exactly what I did with my answer - with a little help from Google. In all fairness I knew four out of the six listed below before I searched the interwebs for the last two. Please begin the slow clap... now.

Walt Dropo (1950), Don Schwall (1961), Carlton Fisk (1972), Fred Lynn (1975), Nomar Garciaparra (1997), Dustin Pedroia (2007)

@morbidrecluse - @scottlevesque What happen to the "K" card guys over by The Monster? I was at Buchholz near no-hitter - K guys were missed! #BleacherTweets

Listen, I love visual reminders of how well our pitchers are doing in the strikeout department as much as the next Red Sox fan. However, I also know that sometimes you just need to get out and see the world beyond the Green Monster (as blasphemous as that may sound).

I'm assuming the "K" card guys had a nice bro-date in Hyannis where they constantly wondered whether or not you missed their visual diagrams at all. Well guys let it be heard from one end of Fenway to the other, "Never leave without letting us know ahead of time, never!"

@JordanAten - @scottlevesque Why not call up Iglesias and demote Drew? Better defender and will bat the same if not better. #BleacherTweets

Finally. I've been waiting for someone to ask this question for a while now. I don't have a sophisticated and gaudy answer. Instead I've been able to figure out one simply reason for Drew remaining as the Red Sox shortstop - money.

Right now the Red Sox are paying Iglesias just over two million a year. Drew, on the other hand, is making a cool 9.5 million dollars to play shortstop for the Sox. It would be ridiculous to demote a player making almost 10 million dollars to Triple-A Pawtucket this early in the season. Settle in Jordan, you're going to see a lot more of J.D.'s bro in the months to come.

@BenjaminCharett - @scottlevesque How long is the longest game in Red Sox history? #BleacherTweets

Ben's trying to give me a "freebie" to help increase my overall average on these questions. I'm not going to complain but I will say thanks for looking out, Ben. I now know I can count on you to make my day just a little easier, and that's always a plus...

Longest game by time: 6 hours 35 minutes on 08.25.2001 against the Texas Rangers
Longest game by innings: 24 innings on 09.01.1906 against the Philadelphia Athletics

Follow Scott Levesque on Twitter at @scottlevesque.