9/25 @ tb

[Slasher9]

2 hours and 11 minutes in between the Rays putting the ball into play, either for an out or for a hit.

this is mind boggling to me.

[Slasher9]

I'd rather be "anybody" than "nobody."

 

Don't sell yourself short Judge, you're a tremendous slouch.

[Spudboy]

Don't sell yourself short Judge, you're a tremendous slouch.

 

Plus you get a free bowl of soup.

[mvp 78]

Plus you get a free bowl of soup.

 

Double turds!

[Spudboy]

Double turds!

 

Spaulding!

[Spudboy]

"Hey Wang, I think this club is restricted. So don't tell them you're Jewish".

[Kimmi]

Actually, it might be possible to do both. Tomorrow is a day off for everyone, and right now the Sox are 5.5 up on the Jays, 1.5 up on the Guardians, and tied with the Rangers for the best record in the AL. No one in the rotation is overworked, and probably no one in the bullpen. That leaves the lineup. Betts has the most games, and Bogaerts the second most. Tuesday is Price against a Yankees starter still unnamed. It is possible to rest both in that game and go with Holt at SS and maybe Young in RF with Benintendi in LF and JBJ back in CF. I'm not sure HanRam needs more than tomorrow off, and I'm guessing that applies to Pedey as well.

 

And let's not forget that the last regular season game is Sunday, Oct 2 and that Thursday, October 6, is the earliest the Sox will have a playoff game against the wild card, the Guardians, or the Rangers.

 

All in all, I'm a little worried about this team getting too much rest, as crazy as that sounds. They have thrived on playing without days off and with lots of road games, including Boston one day, Cleveland, the next, and Baltimore the next after that. I think the Sox just played 2 that time in Baltimore and went on to another city.

 

I believe that Farrell is smart enough ( along with his two assistants ) to not only rest his players, win the divison, gain HFA, all while setting up the playoff rotation.

 

If he is not I would be surprised and disappointed.

 

Of course it's possible to accomplish both. That wasn't really my point.

 

My point is that HFA is not the advantage in baseball that it is in other sports. There have been some posts stating or suggesting that the Sox should play for HFA once they lock up the division. My contention is that playing for HFA should not come at the expense of getting some players their much needed rest.

 

In other words, if we had to choose one or the other, I'm choosing resting the players.

[Kimmi]

this is mind boggling to me.

 

The Rays announcers brought this up several times. How bored the Rays fans must have been not seeing a ball put in play for so long. LOL

[Maxbialystock]

Of course it's possible to accomplish both. That wasn't really my point.

 

My point is that HFA is not the advantage in baseball that it is in other sports. There have been some posts stating or suggesting that the Sox should play for HFA once they lock up the division. My contention is that playing for HFA should not come at the expense of getting some players their much needed rest.

 

In other words, if we had to choose one or the other, I'm choosing resting the players.

 

Interesting. Me, I want that HFA, but I have to admit that the Sox right now have the best road record in MLB, even better than the Cubs. And you are probably right that HFA is overrated in general.

 

What about my point that the Sox are guaranteed 3 days--1 day short of an All-Star game break--between Sunday's game and the ALDS? That's just a week away and today is a day off too.

 

And what about my point that this team in particular has thrived on back to back to back ad nauseum games? The most recent example is the 11 game win streak without a day off despite playing 4 games in Boston, 4 in Baltimore, and 3 in Tampa.

[SoxHop]

woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Spudboy]

The Rays announcers brought this up several times. How bored the Rays fans must have been not seeing a ball put in play for so long. LOL

 

There were none present to see any of it.

 

The stands were a see of red.

[Youk Of The Nation]

There were none present to see any of it.

 

The stands were a see of red.

 

As much as I hate the Rays, I do feel bad for them. They've been awful this year, but since 2008 they've at least been in the thick of things for the most part, if not outright contending, and they still can't bring any more people to the stadium then when they were wearing holographic purple uniforms and getting shellacked by the Red Sox and Yankees for 17 out of 19 games every season.

[Kimmi]

Interesting. Me, I want that HFA, but I have to admit that the Sox right now have the best road record in MLB, even better than the Cubs. And you are probably right that HFA is overrated in general.

 

What about my point that the Sox are guaranteed 3 days--1 day short of an All-Star game break--between Sunday's game and the ALDS? That's just a week away and today is a day off too.

 

And what about my point that this team in particular has thrived on back to back to back ad nauseum games? The most recent example is the 11 game win streak without a day off despite playing 4 games in Boston, 4 in Baltimore, and 3 in Tampa.

 

In the playoffs the team with HFA wins approximately 54% of the time, so it's not meaningless. It's just not as important as some make it out to be. Most of that advantage probably comes from the fact that the team with HFA was the better team to begin with.

 

Fair enough point about having too much time off. It's Farrell's job to figure out how to balance the fine line between "rest versus rust".

 

Most of the ideas about a team's momentum are false.