Btw, Rafaela's base clearing hit allowed an extra day's rest for Kenley. Little things like that sometimes get overlooked.
They have performed better than I expected so far. But I just don’t see the talent on this team to finish ahead of anyone but maybe the Jays. And it’s getting old-especially with the dumb “full throttle” comment before the season started. Then we march out Smith and sometimes even Dalbec out there.
I don’t expect legitimate World Series contenders every year but this is a big market team that should compete for a playoff spot every year. And while they are competing for a playoff spot so far by October 1 they’ll be packing their bags to go home.
Again
Agree on most and certainly understand what I call the "big market big payroll" syndrome/expectation. As I've said too many times, it's enough for me at almost 84 to have seen four freaking WS wins. Thus in my view John Henry owes me absolutely nothing.
Plus I think he should be pissed that time and again--recently, say, 2019 to the present-- his FO smart guys signed big arms to big contracts and then watched them collapse while still getting huge salaries for what seems like decades.
I must have missed the "full throttle comment," which absolutely does not jibe with what Chaim Bloom was clearly directed to do since 2019: "do not spend long and big on arms."
Absolutely agree Dalbec and Smith are duds. But I can remember Sox teams whose 7th, 8th, and 9th batters thought "batter" had something to with making cakes. Hit a round ball with a round bat squarely? No way. Anyway, Dalbec is gone, maybe for good. As for Smith, I guess he gets the nod over Gonzalez (who has played 1B) because he's a lefty bat in a righty starter universe.
Last edited by Maxbialystock; 07-03-2024 at 10:24 PM.
Big start By Bello tonight. Hopefully this builds him some confidence going forward.
Connor Wong extends his hit streak to a league leading 18 games.
Rafael Devers has a career high 4 triples with almost half a season to go.
Yoshida has caught fire and it’s made a huge difference having him back in the lineup over guys like Garrett Cooper and Bobby Dalbec.
Only real negative from today’s game? Dominic Smith really sucks. Hopefully Casas is close
Devers now at 49 rbi's. And Rafaela, the punk kid who always gets sand kicked at him at the beach, is just 2 behind him at 47.
Dalbec isn’t gone enough. I think he’s at AAA in Worcester. He should have been released a long time ago.
It was Werner who said it (see below) during the offseason. They need to be much more careful how they spend money. They’re only middle third in payroll but more importantly they have to use better judgement on who they pay for and for how long.
I guess I like winning better than losing even if it means sacrificing a season so we can compete for several years. That’s why I wrote that if Bello continues to struggle he should be sent down to regain confidence.
Right now we haven’t been competing for a playoff spot, realistically, for three years. This team won’t make the postseason. It’s going to be another long summer once they reach their real potential.
“ BOSTON — Red Sox chairman Tom Werner committed to building a competitive team for the 2024 campaign, expressing how the organization understands it will have to be “full throttle” this offseason in order to do so.”
https://nesn.com/2023/11/red-sox-com...rner-says/amp/
Agree Smith sucks, which is all the more reason to play him. On Talksox, especially on game threads, it is essential we have someone to gripe about. Tonight a bunch of guys expected to dump on Bello, who graciously gave up 3 singles and a run in the first inning. So the bunch ran with it the whole game, adamantly refusing to say he had done anything remotely acceptable. First time I can remember 6.2 innings, 1 run, 7 K's, 7 singles, and 1 run was blind stupid luck.
What they actually said is that the Marlins can't hit. Nosiree, not a lick. I looked that up and it turns out "not a lick" is 296 runs in 85 games, which 3.5 runs per game. The best offense in MLB is the Orioles: 440 runs in 85 games or 5.2 runs per game.
Just last week/weekend the terrible hitting Marlins played 4 against the best pitching staff (ERA 3.09) in MLB--the Phillies. They split 4 games, winning 7-4 and 3-2 and losing 0-2 and 6-7. Simple math tells us the no good, worthless Marlins averaged 4 runs per game against the best pitching staff in MLB. So far they've averaged 2.5 runs per game against the rotten, stinking, worthless Sox staff.
Last edited by Maxbialystock; 07-03-2024 at 10:49 PM.
Regardless of how good or bad the Marlins are, you will take a pitcher going 6.2 innings and allowing only 1 run, every single start. The Marlins are an MLB team and even the worst hitters in the MLB are still some of the best in the world. Bello needed a good start and this at the very least should help his confidence if nothing else.
I’m still very high on Bello, and hopefully this gets him going, the Sox NEED him to pitch better than what he’s been doing.
"Middle third" is misleading. The Sox payroll is 11th, which is one slot from top third. That said, I agree it's unarguable the Sox have made a bunch of bad trades/acquisitions recently.
That said, however, the entire Red Sox rotation this season is paid less than the closer Jansen, who gets $16M. The two best starters, Houck and Crawford, each get $750K or so. And the highest WAR, 4.7, on the team is Duran, who is also paid $750K.
And you are dead wrong about not competing. The Sox winning percentage is .541, which translates to 88 wins, which should compete. In addition, the Sox are 1/2 game out of the 3d wild card slot and 1.5 games out of the 2d wild card slot.
Maybe Bello can springboard off this game.
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?