Castillo vs. Pivetta, both righties.
Huge edge to Seattle in pitching, just like last night. Pivetta stinks, and the Sox bullpen is in a state of collapse.
First time facing Pivetta, opposing lineups' collective OPS has been an unreal 1.061. 2d time through, OPS .789. 3d time through, OPS .634. If those numbers hold true again tonight and Pivetta gets hammered, I think Cora will leave him in for at least 100 pitches to save the bullpen arms.
Last edited by Maxbialystock; 05-16-2023 at 10:06 AM.
"Broke, busted, disgusted, the bullpen can't be trusted, and now Cora wants to go to Plan B. Casas can't take it; he says he'll have to fake it. We hoped he'd hit eventually. And now World Series dreamin' has become an unreality." Apologies to John Phillips.
What plan B?Originally Posted by SPLENDIDSPLINTER
Chuck in the towel (again) if there's an early deficit (again)?
Championships since purchase by John Henry group: Red Sox 4 Yankees 1
The Red Sox are 8-1 in their last 9 postseason games against the Yankees.
Nope. I'd start Bello tonight and Paxton tomorrow night because both have had or will have had the requisite 5 days rest. Bello's last start was May 10th and Paxton's was May 12th.
And I'd put Pivetta in the bullpen for long relief. I've said this elsewhere but it bears repeating. When Pivetta starts, his OPS against for the first time through the opposing lineup is 1.062, so maybe coming out of the bullpen would be good for him. In addition, right now the bullpen is absolutely desperate for arms and the rotation is not.
Plan A was to make a run at the PO's. Plan B is to just stay around .500.
Probably true. But I believe rather emphatically that Plan B is driven by the collapse of the bullpen which has put this team into a nosedive.
Casas has hit really well the past two weeks. All of his metrics (k%, EV, WOBA) of trending in the right direction even as some of these other guys are going the other way.
May:
wRC+ 147
OPS 915
k% 17.5
Thanks. I had that impression but not the data.
I think Casas does better when he swings at the first good pitch, and looks like he wants to hit instead of taking too many pitches, and looking like he’d rather take a walk. He’s taken a lot of called third strikes.
You think!!?? Good word because what you say is as good an explanation as any about Casas's hitting.
Maybe he views walking as one of his big strengths, which it is, but he does hit first pitches very well, when he swings. If he tries to swing at more, it does not mean he will do better. He has a good eye, and swinging at bad pitches will not help.
BTW, he has swung at 38 first pitches out of 132 total, this year.(.878 OPS)
He's at .834 career in 59 swings in 227 PAs.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
Pivetta is due a good game, so hopefully it’s tonight. Someone, anyone has to be a stopper. Rotation, or the pen it doesn’t matter.
Exactly.
FWIW, the Mariners are ranked 15th in MLB in runs scored and 25th in team OPS.
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