6/23 SOX @ Reds 1:40PM ET

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Kelly vs Lodolo(LH)

Duran
Refsnyder(DH)
O'Neill
Devers
Wong
Gonzalez(2B)
Smith
Rafaela
Hamilton

BP game for SOX. Lodolo has been very good this season with a 2.76 ERA.
Good to see Refsnyder at DH.

Go SOX!

[vegasbob]

Let's see if we can pull out a series win on a BP game. The BP got somewhat used yesterday due to Pivetta's short start . I think the issue of either extending Nick as part of the rotation, being trade bait at the deadline or left out in the cold to wander this winter is being decided by Nick himself.

This would be a good game for the bats to break out early and get a laugher win.

[Thunder]

I made it! My alarm didn’t go off but thankfully I didn’t sleep very late

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

At this point in the season I have no anticipation of Devers coming thru with RISP. Hopefully, he can change my mind set, ASAP.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Angels in the outfield? Nope, now there's a bunch of Angels calling balls and strikes behind the plate.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

So far, Wong can do no Wrong!

[vegasbob]

Bernandino seems to have some issues when brought back out for a second inning, even after closing the previous inning with just one batter.

[vegasbob]

Watching the Reds reminds me of where Boston was in '22/'23. Physical and mental errors, failure to execute with MoB, weak support for good pitching.

It does highlight the marked improvement in the '24 Sox, even with significant injury problems causing a lot of usage of AAAA players

[vegasbob]

Devers is in a slump. Needs a day or two off while Duran is carrying the team. Look at Raffy's last 15 games stats .

[vegasbob]

Refsnyder turns a close game into a small laugher with a nice shot into the seats, scoring Duran, who in turn score Rafaela. Now the BP guys just need to finish it.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Might want to remove 'Killer' from the game.

[moonslav59]

Duran has really been an incredible story and turnaround in almost every aspect of the game.

You'd have to try hard to not become a big fan of his.

That great catch he made was not a fluke. He has remade himself into an excellent defender in an amazingly short timespan.

I don't remember a young player who tweaked and readjusted his batting approach, stance and attitude more than Duran.

Add the baserunning maturity and aggressiveness and we have one of baseball's best all around players in less than 2 full seasons.

He's not a young kid, anymore. He turns 28, soon, which is considered prime. We are so blessed to have him for 4 arb years (through 2028.)

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Nice job by Kelly.

[jgar658]

Likewise Duran

[moonslav59]

The Yoshida Issue may end up solving itself, if he does nothing over the next 1-3 weeks. It's hard to imagine the leash being longer than that, if he keeps doing little or nothing.

It would be one thing, if he was replacing players hitting in the 5 or 6 hundreds, but he's not, and I'm not just talking "hot hand," here. Some of these guys are hitting better than he is and better than his career .754 for this full season.

Of course, we have to realize some of the guys hitting better than him may be on unsustainable paths, and can come crashing down to earth, at any moment. If they do, even Yoshida at .600 to .650 might be an upgrade, but it's hard to project this to happen, right now. Valdez, DHam and Romy don't seem to be letting up. Ref and O'Neill are both hitting like they deserve a FT slot in the order. Abreu is back off the IL and absolutely kills RHPs.

If Yoshida could play 1B, we could play him there, until Casas returns, but he doesn't. Our OF is already squeezed with the Abreu return and Ref going nutty, again. Moving Rafaela to SS helps a bit, and squeezing Vadlez/DHam/Romy looks to be better than squeezing Duran/O'Neill/Abreu/Refsnyder. It looks like DH is the only place for him, but it had been a place to get Ref, O'Neill, Valdez and others some more playing time, and they have been rocking the joint.

To me, when healthy, these guys need to play almost exclusively FT:

Devers 3B
Wong C (as much as we can without burning out his legs)
Casas 1B
Duran LF (CF when Rafaela plays SS)
Rafaela CF/SS
O'Neill LF/RF/DH
Refsnyder DH/LF/CF

That's seven slots taken.

Abreu should start vs all RHPs, and Valdez & DHam have done well enough to keep playing vs RHPs, too, but Yoshida will get the look over them, if possible. Since Yoshida does not play 2B, he won't beat them out, there. Sadly, it will come down to benching an OF'er vs RHPs, so Yoshida can DH.

Oddly, Yoshida has a better situation to DH vs LHPs, due to the unbalanced nature of our batters, especially the OF. Since Abreu sucks vs LHPs, he's an easy platoon choice. Valdez has not earned the right to start vs LHPs, either, so DHam and Romy can play 2B or 2B & SS, as Rafaela plays CF (or SS.) We could play Rafaela at SS, Duran in CF, Refsnyder in LF and O'Neill in RF with Yoshida at DH.

It's too early for me to say we should DFA him, if nobody takes him off our hands at 10-20% of his cost, or even 5%. He could still find a groove and redeem himself, but at whose expense?