6/24 Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim @ Boston Red Sox

[Station 13]

I'd rather have Leon pinch hit there.

[Bama Boy]

What a s*** game. Only 1 error charged but felt lie there were at least 3 made which lead to runs

[illinoisredsox]

I'd rather have Leon pinch hit there.

 

Possibly. But if you do that and Leon extends the game without touching them all, you are stuck trying to score Sandy, who may be the slowest guy on the team, with the tie run. You can't run for him.

 

In any event, Young was going to hit for Marrero no matter what, and unfortunately, he didn't get the job done.

[d-money]

This team's allergic to first place! The yankees have stunk up the joint and they still in first place.

[Maxbialystock]

Possibly. But if you do that and Leon extends the game without touching them all, you are stuck trying to score Sandy, who may be the slowest guy on the team, with the tie run. You can't run for him.

 

In any event, Young was going to hit for Marrero no matter what, and unfortunately, he didn't get the job done.

 

Well said.

[SoxHop]

Box scoring this one. And it this game isn't all his fault, but Abad is trash....

[Bama Boy]

Win one lose one. Such is the way of this team.

[Emp9]

Look on the bright side. Sox are still tied for 1st place and they can still win this LAA series today.

[Bellhorn04]

Possibly. But if you do that and Leon extends the game without touching them all, you are stuck trying to score Sandy, who may be the slowest guy on the team, with the tie run. You can't run for him.

 

In any event, Young was going to hit for Marrero no matter what, and unfortunately, he didn't get the job done.

 

I think letting Vazquez hit there was Francona-style managing. The percentage move would be to hit for him, but giving Vazquez a shot, showing some confidence in him, might be better for the team in the long run.

[Maxbialystock]

I would love to blame this one on Price, but I blame 2 of his 3 runs on Bogaerts, first for the two errors causing an unearned run, then for the runner who advanced from 2d to 3d (and later scored) on a grounder to Bogaerts when he had a good play at 3b to nab him.

 

The other problem is the Angels starter had good stuff, fast ball 95-98 mph, excellent slider he used a lot and to good effect, and a curve and changeup he used now and then.

 

I think Price for all his faults could have gone 7 innings last night--without Bogie's 2 errors and mistaken play that allowed those 2 runs and which would have saved Price some extra pitches--giving up just 1 run. Assuming a 1-1 tie, I like our bullpen against theirs with Kelly in the 8th and maybe the 9th, Kimbrel in the 9th or 10th, etc.

 

At the beginning of the game the Fox announcers said one key for the Sox was simply scoring 4 runs because the Sox were/are 37-10 in games in which they score 4 or more runs.

 

We are getting close to the midway point, 81 games, in this season and it is becoming more and more evident that this team will continue to rely much more on its pitching, which is actually pretty good despite all of my (and others) whining, than on its hitting.

 

I think the biggest problem with the hitting is the absence of a big bat in the middle of the order and the weakness of the 8th and 9th slots which more and more opposing teams have come to rely on as a ready source of outs.

[S5Dewey]

Look on the bright side. Sox are still tied for 1st place and they can still win this LAA series today.

 

I agree with this. Injuries, etc. have kept this team from being as good as they could be (or we have hoped) but they're doing better than "just hanging around". They're in first place, and even if they don't win today (horrors!) they'll be withing striking distance of 1st place tomorrow.

 

Life could be a lot worse.

[S5Dewey]

I would love to blame this one on Price, but I blame 2 of his 3 runs on Bogaerts, first for the two errors causing an unearned run, then for the runner who advanced from 2d to 3d (and later scored) on a grounder to Bogaerts when he had a good play at 3b to nab him.

 

The other problem is the Angels starter had good stuff, fast ball 95-98 mph, excellent slider he used a lot and to good effect, and a curve and changeup he used now and then.

 

I think Price for all his faults could have gone 7 innings last night--without Bogie's 2 errors and mistaken play that allowed those 2 runs and which would have saved Price some extra pitches--giving up just 1 run. Assuming a 1-1 tie, I like our bullpen against theirs with Kelly in the 8th and maybe the 9th, Kimbrel in the 9th or 10th, etc.

 

At the beginning of the game the Fox announcers said one key for the Sox was simply scoring 4 runs because the Sox were/are 37-10 in games in which they score 4 or more runs.

 

We are getting close to the midway point, 81 games, in this season and it is becoming more and more evident that this team will continue to rely much more on its pitching, which is actually pretty good despite all of my (and others) whining, than on its hitting.

 

I think the biggest problem with the hitting is the absence of a big bat in the middle of the order and the weakness of the 8th and 9th slots which more and more opposing teams have come to rely on as a ready source of outs.

 

Price didn't do a bad job. He didn't do a $31M job - more like a $15M job - but it wasn't bad. I agree that XBo didn't help him any.

 

I'm still trying to figure out whether this team has had the bad luck of running into too many mediocre pitchers who had outstanding stuff that day or they simply can't hit mediocre pitching.

[Kimmi]

Possibly. But if you do that and Leon extends the game without touching them all, you are stuck trying to score Sandy, who may be the slowest guy on the team, with the tie run. You can't run for him.

 

In any event, Young was going to hit for Marrero no matter what, and unfortunately, he didn't get the job done.

 

Good point. We fans tend to forget that there is much more that goes into a decision than what we realize.

[Kimmi]

Look on the bright side. Sox are still tied for 1st place and they can still win this LAA series today.

 

Our team has really not fired on all cylinders yet. The Yankees were firing on all cylinders for most of the first two months of the season. And yet, we are still tied for 1st place having not played our best baseball.

[a700hitter]

Good point. We fans tend to forget that there is much more that goes into a decision than what we realize.

It's not all that complicated.

[Kimmi]

I think letting Vazquez hit there was Francona-style managing. The percentage move would be to hit for him, but giving Vazquez a shot, showing some confidence in him, might be better for the team in the long run.

 

I love this post, and I hope this is the reason why they let Vazquez hit. I think it's important for a manager to give his players a vote of confidence like that.

[Kimmi]

I would love to blame this one on Price, but I blame 2 of his 3 runs on Bogaerts, first for the two errors causing an unearned run, then for the runner who advanced from 2d to 3d (and later scored) on a grounder to Bogaerts when he had a good play at 3b to nab him.

 

The other problem is the Angels starter had good stuff, fast ball 95-98 mph, excellent slider he used a lot and to good effect, and a curve and changeup he used now and then.

 

I think Price for all his faults could have gone 7 innings last night--without Bogie's 2 errors and mistaken play that allowed those 2 runs and which would have saved Price some extra pitches--giving up just 1 run. Assuming a 1-1 tie, I like our bullpen against theirs with Kelly in the 8th and maybe the 9th, Kimbrel in the 9th or 10th, etc.

 

At the beginning of the game the Fox announcers said one key for the Sox was simply scoring 4 runs because the Sox were/are 37-10 in games in which they score 4 or more runs.

 

We are getting close to the midway point, 81 games, in this season and it is becoming more and more evident that this team will continue to rely much more on its pitching, which is actually pretty good despite all of my (and others) whining, than on its hitting.

 

I think the biggest problem with the hitting is the absence of a big bat in the middle of the order and the weakness of the 8th and 9th slots which more and more opposing teams have come to rely on as a ready source of outs.

 

Price was not the problem last night. He is not pitching like an ace, but he pitched well enough to give the offense a chance.

 

This offense is frustrating beyond words. I know they are better than this, even without Ortiz.

[Kimmi]

It's not all that complicated.

 

The decisions are not as simple as you make them out to be.

[a700hitter]

The decisions are not as simple as you make them out to be.

They really are. Decisions that you consider to be complicated are dealt with everyday by managers with 2 or 3 functioning neurons.

[Kimmi]

They really are. Decisions that you consider to be complicated are dealt with everyday by managers with 2 or 3 functioning neurons.

 

I know that the deal with these decisions everyday. I am saying that the decision to pinch hit one batter over another is not as simple as just saying that Batter A is a better hitter than Batter B. A manager takes much more into consideration than what fans do. And they are very adept at dealing with all of the variables to consider.

[a700hitter]

I know that the deal with these decisions everyday. I am saying that the decision to pinch hit one batter over another is not as simple as just saying that Batter A is a better hitter than Batter B. A manager takes much more into consideration than what fans do. And they are very adept at dealing with all of the variables to consider.

Is that really such a complex matter?

[Kimmi]

Is that really such a complex matter?

 

For Farrell, no.

 

That's not my point. My point is that the people who criticize Farrell for making the 'wrong' decision are not considering the other variables. It's not as cut and dry as the arm chair managers think it is.

[a700hitter]

For Farrell, no.

 

That's not my point. My point is that the people who criticize Farrell for making the 'wrong' decision are not considering the other variables. It's not as cut and dry as the arm chair managers think it is.

It is very cut and dry. Granted that the manager might have some information about the players health etc. on that day that we don't have, but other than that we are operating on the same level.

[a700hitter]

For Farrell, no.

 

That's not my point. My point is that the people who criticize Farrell for making the 'wrong' decision are not considering the other variables. It's not as cut and dry as the arm chair managers think it is.

It is very cut and dry. Granted that the manager might have some information about the players health etc. on that day that we don't have, but other than that it is pretty straightforward.