6/14 @ Philadelphia

[SoxHop]

Six players got on base two or more times tonight.

 

Are people feeling better about the offense now?

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think you are asking the wrong crowd.

 

We got blanked by two crappy NY pitchers before we met up with the hapless Phillies.....

 

playing the Phillies isn't real life, it's kind of fantasy. Don't get caught in a landslide. Or there will be no escape from reality. Open your eyes to better teams that are more of a threat....... and see.....

[Spudboy]

Barnes is up.

 

Who we getting? Good Barney or making my dog hide Barney?

 

Hahahaahahahahahahahahahaha!1!1!!!

[Spudboy]

The Phillies suck, but they're still an MLB team, all the wins count the same. Its encouraging to see them beat this s***** team, as they should.

 

People conveniently overlook this fact.

 

The Sox need to beat them almost every game.

[Spudboy]

So where is everyone who said Valazquez was garbage?

[moonslav59]

The offense that had trouble in the previous 2 games? Same as before this game. Betts is perhaps stringing together another great year, but everybody else is down.

 

Betts is not the only player on the rise:

 

JBJ .537 to .807 since May 14th.

 

Pedey .638 to .759 since May 3rd.

 

Leon .496 to .639 since May 5th.

 

HRam frrom .641 to .750 since April 28th.

 

Pablito from .616 to .647 since June 9th.

 

Vaz from .754 to .788 since may 20th.

 

One of our most consistent hitter this year, Moreland, has gone up from .765 on May 16th to .877 today. He was at .807 0n June 4th.

 

Even Bogey is back on the rise after going from over .870 to .812 a couple days ago. He's up to .834 after tonight.

 

Yes, I cherry-picked the sample dates, but we're 16-7 in the last 23 games, and our offense has improved just about top to bottom.

[moonslav59]

So where is everyone who said Valazquez was garbage?

 

Here.

 

I'll be here his next game too.

Edited June 15, 2017 by moonslav59

[Spudboy]

Here.

 

I'll be here next game too.

 

Have you been following him in Pawtucket?

[moonslav59]

Have you been following him in Pawtucket?

 

Yes, and I was before his last call-up too.

[Spudboy]

Yes, and I was before his last call-up too.

 

So in your expert opinion he is garbage and has no place as a fill-in in Boston.

 

I get it.

[SoxHop]

Have you been following him in Pawtucket?

 

His Pawtucket numbers are great.

 

He got absolutely jacked by the A's, and was lucky to leave the game as undamaged as he did.

 

Tonight..... well........ it was better............. he had more control and maybe some command.

 

But Valasquez better be buying some rounds for the defense behind him as they kind of saved his ass....

 

I can't say I'm super happy for the guy. At least he throws strikes. But if I thought about it, Benni, Mookie, Xander, Pedey all had GG grabs to help him out.....

[SoxHop]

Have you been following him in Pawtucket?

 

Wait wait...... you like this guy Spud???????? His AAA is so promising.............. I really haven't seen much in his two times he moved up.

 

I do have to say. THat first game he had no control, or command. Which is why the guy was brought up cause he had both in AAA. I could call the first game jitters for sure...

[moonslav59]

So in your expert opinion he is garbage and has no place as a fill-in in Boston.

 

I get it.

 

I guess then I could say your point is he'll pitch like Cy Young the rest of the way.

 

I get it.

[Jasonbay44]

I am not high at all on Velazquez, he was good tonight, albeit against a bad lineup, but he got rocked in Oakland, and doesn't seem to have great stuff. I don't think he has much of a future but we don't really have a choice.

[OH FOY]

I'm not going too get to high or too low on Velazquez, but this team needs a guy like this. These Starters don't go deep enough into the games. Some are close too 100 pitches by the 5 inning. Johnson last time I was listening at Lunch had 70 pitches in the 3rd inning.

Maybe Velazquez niche is to go through a line-up 1 time, eat some innings, don't let opponents face him a 2nd time. Save this BP.

You need a strike thrower, contact is good just as long as it's not going out of the yard. Let the Defense do their job.

By the way cant wait till I see Derek Fisher for the Astros, when we play them, this weekend.

Edited June 15, 2017 by OH FOY!

[BOSOX11]

Red Sox win - Yankees lose. Thank you, Angels.

[moonslav59]

ThaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH

 

Yankees

 

Lose!!!!!!

[Maxbialystock]

Betts is not the only player on the rise:

 

JBJ .537 to .807 since May 14th.

 

Pedey .638 to .759 since May 3rd.

 

Leon .496 to .639 since May 5th.

 

HRam frrom .641 to .750 since April 28th.

 

Pablito from .616 to .647 since June 9th.

 

Vaz from .754 to .788 since may 20th.

 

One of our most consistent hitter this year, Moreland, has gone up from .765 on May 16th to .877 today. He was at .807 0n June 4th.

 

Even Bogey is back on the rise after going from over .870 to .812 a couple days ago. He's up to .834 after tonight.

 

Yes, I cherry-picked the sample dates, but we're 16-7 in the last 23 games, and our offense has improved just about top to bottom.

 

Cherry-picking is fine as long as you say you are doing it, which you are.

 

So, I agree those numbers are promising, but think they do not refute the notion that Ortiz is badly missed. What we just might be seeing is the team adapting to his absence. With him the Sox led the AL last year in runs scored--by 100 runs! I could be wrong, but my guess is the Yankees have a shot at doing that this year even though Houston is also hitting well. But I think it's apparent the Sox ain't gonna be able to do that this year, not by a long shot.

 

But here's a weird thought. Last year's offense was not propelling the Sox into first place until about the 1st of September, which is roughly when the bullpen was transformed into a really good one and skillfully compensated for our sorry ass rotation. The point is, to win you usually need hitting and pitching.

 

And guess what? The Sox just won three straight in large part because of a magnificent bullpen that did 17.1 innings while giving up 0 runs.

 

And, by the by, in those 16 terrific wins you cite in the last 23 games, the opposing team scored more than 4 runs in just 3 of those 16 wins.

 

I say again, this Sox team is unique in the John Henry era in that it really needs pitching to win.

Edited June 15, 2017 by Maxbialystock

[Bellhorn04]

Cherry-picking is fine as long as you say you are doing it, which you are.

 

So, I agree those numbers are promising, but think they do not refute the notion that Ortiz is badly missed. What we just might be seeing is the team adapting to his absence. With him the Sox led the AL last year in runs scored--by 100 runs! I could be wrong, but my guess is the Yankees have a shot at doing that this year even though Houston is also hitting well. But I think it's apparent the Sox ain't gonna be able to do that this year, not by a long shot.

 

But here's a weird thought. Last year's offense was not propelling the Sox into first place until about the 1st of September, which is roughly when the bullpen was transformed into a really good one and skillfully compensated for our sorry ass rotation. The point is, to win you usually need hitting and pitching.

 

And guess what? The Sox just won three straight in large part because of a magnificent bullpen that did 17.1 innings while giving up 0 runs.

 

To add to that, our offense was not very good in 2014 or 2015 even with Ortiz.

[moonslav59]

Cherry-picking is fine as long as you say you are doing it, which you are.

 

So, I agree those numbers are promising, but think they do not refute the notion that Ortiz is badly missed. What we just might be seeing is the team adapting to his absence. With him the Sox led the AL last year in runs scored--by 100 runs! I could be wrong, but my guess is the Yankees have a shot at doing that this year even though Houston is also hitting well. But I think it's apparent the Sox ain't gonna be able to do that this year, not by a long shot.

 

But here's a weird thought. Last year's offense was not propelling the Sox into first place until about the 1st of September, which is roughly when the bullpen was transformed into a really good one and skillfully compensated for our sorry ass rotation. The point is, to win you usually need hitting and pitching.

 

And guess what? The Sox just won three straight in large part because of a magnificent bullpen that did 17.1 innings while giving up 0 runs.

 

And, by the by, in those 16 terrific wins you cite in the last 23 games, the opposing team scored more than 4 runs in just 3 of those 16 wins.

 

I say again, this Sox team is unique in the John Henry era in that it really needs pitching to win.

 

I've been saying there are other ways of winning besides having one or two big sluggers in the middle of the line-up for some time now. The Sox have never known "that way", and so Sox fans seem reluctant to believe it can be done.

 

I think it can be, but the question is, is our pitching, defense and other areas improved enough to off set the loss of Papi?

 

Only time will tell.

 

I was wrong about our pen's chances at shining this year, and I hope I continue to be wrong on that area.

 

Yes, our recent winning stretch has had a lot to do with our pitching, particularly the pen, but clearly the offense has improved over the last few weeks. Yes, we've had some stinkers here and there, but we seem to be hitting better, and we'll need better hitting to have a chance to win. Better than 2016? Not likely, but with Sale and a strong pen, our chances are pretty strong.

 

I do agree with your statement about the Henry era and pitching, and certainly if this team is to win it all, it will likely be more about pitching than hitting, but I will say this: every one of the 3 rings we won was in a year where we had few injuries to our pitching starters and 2 or more stud starters going strong at year's end: Pedro-Schilling, Beckett-Schilling and Lester-Lackey PLUS a lights out closer: Foulke, Paplebon & Uehara.

 

Sale & Price (or Porcello) and Kimbrell could fit into that mold this year, but we might need more to make up for the loss of Papi (and a Manny type as well).

[moonslav59]

...and many felt the offense of 2013 was weak too, and we only won because many had plus or career years all at the same time.

[OH FOY]

2013 Team was one of the best Mentally tough teams I ever saw. Usually all Champions that season are Mentally tough.

Brains wins a lot of games.

[S5Dewey]

Isn't being "mentally tough" a lot like being "clutch"?

[Spudboy]

I guess then I could say your point is he'll pitch like Cy Young the rest of the way.

 

I get it.

 

No. I just think that teams are comprised of players of various skill levels. Most teams have players that are on the fringe of MLB and Valaquez is one on the Sox.

 

I don't expect all pitchers to dominate. I expect almost all of them to have some level of competency and Valasquez is one of these guys.

 

He may be this years best Sox Dumpster Dive.

 

Sort of like Nava was.

 

I have no problem with that at all.

[mvp 78]

Isn't being "mentally tough" a lot like being "clutch"?

 

No. Mental toughness isn't real.

[Spudboy]

I am not high at all on Velazquez, he was good tonight, albeit against a bad lineup, but he got rocked in Oakland, and doesn't seem to have great stuff. I don't think he has much of a future but we don't really have a choice.

 

And that's cool with me. Every team needs decent fill-ins.

[S5Dewey]

No. Mental toughness isn't real.

 

Hahahahaha

[a700hitter]

No. Mental toughness isn't real.

It is a myth... and a non repeatable one at that!

[OH FOY]

Tell that to Bill Belichick.

[SoxnCycles]

2013 Team was one of the best Mentally tough teams I ever saw. Usually all Champions that season are Mentally tough.

Brains wins a lot of games.

 

Nope, the 2013 team was just "lucky".