Who is the Biggest Problem Right Now?

[sk7326]

Miley and Porcello are a good bet to bounce back. Masterson and Kelly should be nowhere near an MLB rotation.

 

Miley at his price is totally reasonable. I actually like him. There have been a couple of horrific starts. But he has swing and miss, and there is that sort of toughness that you saw out of a guy like Lackey. The ability to cobble together a workable start on a day when his command is basically nil. Of the pitching acquisitions and extensions, his is harder to quibble with.

[cp176]

Either release Masterson or give him one last look in the bullpen. Kelly could make a nice addition to the pen but getting him to buy into that might be an issue. Find out if he is a team player or not. These two guys are so easily replaceable.

[Palodios]

Why is Masterson still starting ? It is as if this organization doesn't actually want to win the games he starts. I would rather a knuckleballer who throws 80mph than a sinker ballet who throws 80 mph.

[iortiz]

Miley 4.53

Kelly 5.67

Porcello 6.08

Masterson 6.14

Pretty scary going forward.

[sk7326]

You know ... if they got any sort of improvement from Porcello, a Buchholz-Rodriguez-Porcello-Miley Top 4 is workable, especially with the uptick in the lineup production

[a700hitter]

You know ... if they got any sort of improvement from Porcello, a Buchholz-Rodriguez-Porcello-Miley Top 4 is workable, especially with the uptick in the lineup production

A rotation is 5 guys. Who is the 5th guy? You can't just say that a top 4 is workable if you are filling the 5th slot with a 5 ERA guy. And that top 4 is workable if you want a 4th place team. Buchholz and ER don't need to improve. They have been good, and this is still a last place team. The problem is that the other 2 guys are 4.5 ERA guys even if they improve and the 5th slot is a disaster. You are in denial as is the FO.

[sk7326]

A rotation is 5 guys. Who is the 5th guy? You can't just say that a top 4 is workable if you are filling the 5th slot with a 5 ERA guy. And that top 4 is workable if you want a 4th place team. Buchholz and ER don't need to improve. They have been good, and this is still a last place team. The problem is that the other 2 guys are 4.5 ERA guys even if they improve and the 5th slot is a disaster. You are in denial as is the FO.

 

5th there are options ... Wright, Johnson, Owens ... guys you haven't thought of yet ... skip a turn from time to time ... I am not delusional here. As you noted in a previous post, the months where the Sox have hit, they have been an above-average team. No reason to think that will change given that condition.

[Thunder]

A rotation is 5 guys. Who is the 5th guy? You can't just say that a top 4 is workable if you are filling the 5th slot with a 5 ERA guy. And that top 4 is workable if you want a 4th place team. Buchholz and ER don't need to improve. They have been good, and this is still a last place team. The problem is that the other 2 guys are 4.5 ERA guys even if they improve and the 5th slot is a disaster. You are in denial as is the FO.

 

Who are your 4? I mean, we have Masterson back now, and he's look decent so far. In my view, he's more than capable of holding down that last spot for the foreseeable future, although you are right that Miley and Porcello must improve, or at least be more consistent.

[cp176]

Who are your 4? I mean, we have Masterson back now, and he's look decent so far. In my view, he's more than capable of holding down that last spot for the foreseeable future, although you are right that Miley and Porcello must improve, or at least be more consistent.

 

Buccholz - Rodriguez-Miley-(pick) one -Wright, Johnson, Owens-Porcello holds down the number 5 spot for a while. Masterson goes to the pen or is released outright.

[Palodios]

Who are your 4? I mean, we have Masterson back now, and he's look decent so far. In my view, he's more than capable of holding down that last spot for the foreseeable future, although you are right that Miley and Porcello must improve, or at least be more consistent.

 

He got shelled again yesterday, and single handedly lost the game. He is not a solution.

 

Johnson? Wright? Owens? Any of those guys can put up a 4.50 ERA at worst and give us a shot at winning games.

[Thunder]

He got shelled again yesterday, and single handedly lost the game. He is not a solution.

 

Johnson? Wright? Owens? Any of those guys can put up a 4.50 ERA at worst and give us a shot at winning games.

 

Before we drop the hammer on Masterson, stop and realize that he was shelled by the best offense in the AL, and the best team in the AL. In his first start back, he handled the Rays pretty well, a team that was in 1st until they ran into the Bronz this weekend.

[a700hitter]

Before we drop the hammer on Masterson, stop and realize that he was shelled by the best offense in the AL, and the best team in the AL. In his first start back, he handled the Rays pretty well, a team that was in 1st until they ran into the Bronz this weekend.

The stuff isn't there anymore. He's lost too much off his fastball, and it isn't coming back. They are wasting their time with him.

[a700hitter]

5th there are options ... Wright, Johnson, Owens ... guys you haven't thought of yet ... skip a turn from time to time ... I am not delusional here. As you noted in a previous post, the months where the Sox have hit, they have been an above-average team. No reason to think that will change given that condition.

With improvement from Miley and Porcello, they are still a rotation with about a 4 ERA and that is not good enough to be competitive in today's game. That is why you are in denial. I never said you were delusional. This isn't 2002-2008 where a 4 ERA is middle of the pack. It is below average now. It is not mediocre. It kinda stinks. It would be a huge improvement from what they have been putting up, which has been horrendous. Stink would be a marked improvement, but it would still be stink. You can't compete with a 4+ ERA today.

[mvp 78]

He got shelled again yesterday, and single handedly lost the game. He is not a solution.

 

Johnson? Wright? Owens? Any of those guys can put up a 4.50 ERA at worst and give us a shot at winning games.

Owens has a 4.8 BB/9. He could do way worse than 4.50 right now. He's not ready.

[SoxHop]

You have to get Porcello out of there for a bit.

 

Wright can't do worse than Masterson or Kelly. He's up already.

 

Give Johnson a shot... and hope he pitches like E-Rod and pitches like a ace pitcher for a bit.

 

Or go trade for a very good pitcher.........

 

Winning at 500 percent aint gonna cut it any more...........

[cp176]

Owens has a 4.8 BB/9. He could do way worse than 4.50 right now. He's not ready.

 

He has been better of late. Walked 6 in his last 26. Not great and he may not be as ready as some one would like him to be but he still is a better option than Masterson for sure. I don't think that he will ever be great but better than what we are currently getting from Porcello, Masterson, and Kelly when he is there.

[mvp 78]

Really? He's not better than Joe Kelly. Kelly is down in AAA and outperforming Owens. How could Owens the be called up to Boston and be expected to be better than Kelly? Makes no sense. Owens would be Webster 2.0 at best.

[sk7326]

With improvement from Miley and Porcello, they are still a rotation with about a 4 ERA and that is not good enough to be competitive in today's game. That is why you are in denial. I never said you were delusional. This isn't 2002-2008 where a 4 ERA is middle of the pack. It is below average now. It is not mediocre. It kinda stinks. It would be a huge improvement from what they have been putting up, which has been horrendous. Stink would be a marked improvement, but it would still be stink. You can't compete with a 4+ ERA today.

 

You look at the months where they hit - they have.

 

If 4.00 is the magic number, 3 of the 6 teams at 4.00 or above have .500 or better records. Lots of ways to win. Hell, the leading and 6th best ERAs in the league have worse records than Boston.

[Behindenemylines]

Its the players. There are too many of them that are producing below expectations. Who is having a good season? Maybe you can say Bogaerts. The offense (The believed strength of the team) has under produced. The starting pitching questionable to start, has dealt with the loss of both catchers (Big hit) and has been inconsistent the whole season.

[Bellhorn04]

Its the players. There are too many of them that are producing below expectations. Who is having a good season? Maybe you can say Bogaerts. The offense (The believed strength of the team) has under produced. The starting pitching questionable to start, has dealt with the loss of both catchers (Big hit) and has been inconsistent the whole season.

 

The offense has been producing for several weeks now. Betts, Holt and Bogaerts have become a formidable top of the order. Papi has heated up.

[cp176]

Really? He's not better than Joe Kelly. Kelly is down in AAA and outperforming Owens. How could Owens the be called up to Boston and be expected to be better than Kelly? Makes no sense. Owens would be Webster 2.0 at best.

 

We have seen Kelly's act long enough. You might be right - you might be wrong but the same old tired act sucks.

[cp176]

We have seen Kelly's act long enough. You might be right - you might be wrong but the same old tired act sucks.

 

Doesn't have to be Owens. He would not be my first choice. Actually I would have him behind Wright and Johnson(if Johnson's ok)

[mvp 78]

We have seen Kelly's act long enough. You might be right - you might be wrong but the same old tired act sucks.

 

Today, Kelly is better than Owens by far. Next year? Who knows.

[sk7326]

The offense has been producing for several weeks now. Betts, Holt and Bogaerts have become a formidable top of the order. Papi has heated up.

 

And as it has happened, the team has played better ... when the team has hit like the offense they were supposed to be, this team has been above average ... which is not ideal, but at least something you can consider making an in-season trade to bolster.

[sk7326]

We have seen Kelly's act long enough. You might be right - you might be wrong but the same old tired act sucks.

 

Kelly could be an excellent bullpen piece - they just have to make the move

[Spudboy]

A rotation is 5 guys. Who is the 5th guy? You can't just say that a top 4 is workable if you are filling the 5th slot with a 5 ERA guy. And that top 4 is workable if you want a 4th place team. Buchholz and ER don't need to improve. They have been good, and this is still a last place team. The problem is that the other 2 guys are 4.5 ERA guys even if they improve and the 5th slot is a disaster. You are in denial as is the FO.

 

Yup. Sox need two legit pitchers. Although one top guy would help.

[Kimmi]

With improvement from Miley and Porcello, they are still a rotation with about a 4 ERA and that is not good enough to be competitive in today's game. That is why you are in denial. I never said you were delusional. This isn't 2002-2008 where a 4 ERA is middle of the pack. It is below average now. It is not mediocre. It kinda stinks. It would be a huge improvement from what they have been putting up, which has been horrendous. Stink would be a marked improvement, but it would still be stink. You can't compete with a 4+ ERA today.

 

Once again, you can post that as many times as you want, but that won't make it true. In the last 3 weeks or so, since the Sox lost 7 games in a row, they have a 12-7 record. Their ERA over the course of those games is 4.31, yet they are playing .632 ball, which incidentally would be 102 wins over a full season, and 88 wins if they continued at this pace for the remainder of the season. During that stretch of 19 games, they are scoring 5.5 runs/game.

 

The reason why we are in last place is because of the putrid offense that we had in May. I'm not saying that the pitching is good. I even agree that Porcello needs to be taken out of the rotation until he gets it figured out. However, if the pitching can stay in the low to mid 4 ERA range, this team can win games if the offense does its job.

[Kimmi]

Enigmas.

 

Which of those guys did you expect to have ERAs that high, much less all of them?

 

No one expected all of them to be that bad. The fact that they are is an enigma.

[Northern Star]

Once again, you can post that as many times as you want, but that won't make it true. In the last 3 weeks or so, since the Sox lost 7 games in a row, they have a 12-7 record. Their ERA over the course of those games is 4.31, yet they are playing .632 ball, which incidentally would be 102 wins over a full season, and 88 wins if they continued at this pace for the remainder of the season. During that stretch of 19 games, they are scoring 5.5 runs/game.

 

The reason why we are in last place is because of the putrid offense that we had in May. I'm not saying that the pitching is good. I even agree that Porcello needs to be taken out of the rotation until he gets it figured out. However, if the pitching can stay in the low to mid 4 ERA range, this team can win games if the offense does its job.

 

No offense can score 5 every night, and I think it's unrealistic to expect it. Obviously, having good hitters is important, but I believe the number of teams that won with good hitting and average pitching are vastly outnumbered by the teams that won with good pitching.

[User Name]

And they're both vastly outnumbered by the teams that won with good balance.