8/29 - vs Toronto Blue Jays

[Thunder]

Oh yea.... you mentioned mini-shift and not the full blown shift. I'd be interested in see some stats on how that one hits that takes away.

 

I'm in Austin, Houston is about 3 hours away. We didn't get hit anything like Houston did. At worst I can complain about having to pick up fallen tree debris for a couple of days.

 

Moon is the one deep in the middle of the serious part of it.

 

I know many people that had friend and family in Houston, most of them say their friends and family wished they got out when they could.

 

My older brother, his wife, and step-daughter live in Houston. He travels a lot for work, so he probably wasn't in town, and since I've so busy, it being my first week of college and all, I haven't gotten a chance to get in touch, so I have no idea what's going on with them.

[S5Dewey]

Oh yea.... you mentioned mini-shift and not the full blown shift. I'd be interested in see some stats on how that one hits that takes away.

 

I'm in Austin, Houston is about 3 hours away. We didn't get hit anything like Houston did. At worst I can complain about having to pick up fallen tree debris for a couple of days.

 

Moon is the one deep in the middle of the serious part of it.

 

I know many people that had friend and family in Houston, most of them say their friends and family wished they got out when they could.

 

Moon was questioning his decision to stay yesterday. Fortunately from what he said today he pretty much dodged that bullet. Apparently the water stopped rising just inches from his front door, and even his cat came home. :-)

 

I find it interesting how we're a bunch of internet posters from all over the country but we've also bonded enough to care about one another. Pretty neat, if you ask me! (but nobody did! LOL)

[Maxbialystock]

Tip of the hat to Slasher 9 for turning a 4 game losing streak into 2 wins and counting.

 

Also to moonslav for insisting this team was better than those 4 losses and fundamentally sound enough to persevere in this pennant race.

[SoxHop]

My older brother, his wife, and step-daughter live in Houston. He travels a lot for work, so he probably wasn't in town, and since I've so busy, it being my first week of college and all, I haven't gotten a chance to get in touch, so I have no idea what's going on with them.

 

I'd suggest giving them a call or reaching out to them somehow. Just show some support. Houston just got hit really bad.

[Maxbialystock]

With apologies for no doubt looking too for forward, I checked our 4 starters in the big apple. ERod, Fister, Pom, and Sale. If ERod can just start off well, those are currently our four best in my opinion.

[Slasher9]

Hanley is useless. Only Farrell realizes that much earlier.

 

He leads the team in HR's. he plays a serviceable first base whenever asked. He doesn't say peep when replaced in the game for defense and doesn't say peep when dropped in the order. Is it the dreads that make you despise him????

[Slasher9]

i agree. It's too bad we can't use those guys every night. But using them was the right thing. "don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. It might rain tomorrow".

Otherwise known as, "if you've got a win within your grasp then go get it. You may not need those guys tomorrow, and even if you wish you had them you'll have those two wins behind you."

 

bingo that.

[moonslav59]

Just finished watching the game.

 

Great game by Sale and others. 15 Ks is awesome.

 

HRam shutting down the critics-- for a few seconds anyway.

 

Top of the order coming through.

 

JF's line-up worked.

 

No complaints tonight- despite my street being under 3-4 feet of water.

 

The water is receding, the sun came out late afternoon, Sox starting a winning streak.

 

Life is good for my family and me. My prayers go out to others not far away from me.

[TylerD]

Chris Sale more than made up for his last two performances. What a game!

[a700hitter]

Nice win. Let's keep rolling up the wins against the weaker teams.

[Maxbialystock]

He leads the team in HR's. he plays a serviceable first base whenever asked. He doesn't say peep when replaced in the game for defense and doesn't say peep when dropped in the order. Is it the dreads that make you despise him????

 

Bingo. You nailed my no doubt prejudice. It probably boils down to the locks, but is supported by misadventures in LF, not so bright baserunning, and salary. You properly give him credit he is due.

[Bellhorn04]

I agree. It's too bad we can't use those guys every night. But using them was the right thing. "Don't save a pitcher for tomorrow. It might rain tomorrow".

 

How's that work if you play more than half your games in a dome, like the Jays and the Rays?

[S5Dewey]

How's that work if you play more than half your games in a dome, like the Jays and the Rays?

 

It only works if you forgot and left the windows (or your dome) open.

[S5Dewey]

If you ever want to know what a true optimist sounds like.......

 

 

No complaints tonight- despite my street being under 3-4 feet of water.

 

The water is receding, the sun came out late afternoon, Sox starting a winning streak.

 

Life is good for my family and me. My prayers go out to others not far away from me.

 

You're a good man, Mr. Moon!

[Slasher9]

Bingo. You nailed my no doubt prejudice. It probably boils down to the locks, but is supported by misadventures in LF, not so bright baserunning, and salary. You properly give him credit he is due.

 

LF was so 3 years ago and certainly wasnt his idea. the entire team is guilty of baserunning flubs. i have no issues with his salary. overpay? yes. but it's not even in the same hemisphere as some of the other salary blunders the Sox have done the past handful of years. anyways max, my original reply wasn't even to you.

[Slasher9]

It only works if you forgot and left the windows (or your dome) open.

 

it also works if we blow them out tonight and dont even need a "closer". it also works if we are losing tonights game and never need to bring in a "closer". i prefer option 1.

[S5Dewey]

it also works if we blow them out tonight and dont even need a "closer". it also works if we are losing tonights game and never need to bring in a "closer". i prefer option 1.

 

I like your idea better. And given how bad their BP has been it's a distinct possibility.

[Bellhorn04]

Yanks play 2 today, first one at 1 PM.

[Slasher9]

Yanks play 2 today, first one at 1 PM.

 

odds favor a split so we should pick up at least a 1/2 game if we can throw up another W tonight....

[illinoisredsox]

Yanks play 2 today, first one at 1 PM.

 

odds favor a split so we should pick up at least a 1/2 game if we can throw up another W tonight....

 

The rain out yesterday actually was NOT in the Sox favor. Sabathia was supposed to start the regular game today, but the Yanks are taking advantage of the ability to add a 26th player and are using a AAA guy in game 2, bumping Sabathia to Thursday.

 

Say what you want about his stuff, but the man has been kryptonite against the Sox this season (3, 3-0, 0.90 ERA, 0.850 WHIP in 20 innings). I would rather they not have to face him. Sox will face Sabathia, Gray, Tanaka and Severino. A series split this weekend would be just fine.

[Maxbialystock]

The rain out yesterday actually was NOT in the Sox favor. Sabathia was supposed to start the regular game today, but the Yanks are taking advantage of the ability to add a 26th player and are using a AAA guy in game 2, bumping Sabathia to Thursday.

 

Say what you want about his stuff, but the man has been kryptonite against the Sox this season (3, 3-0, 0.90 ERA, 0.850 WHIP in 20 innings). I would rather they not have to face him. Sox will face Sabathia, Gray, Tanaka and Severino. A series split this weekend would be just fine.

 

Too many of us, but not me, underrate Sabathia. He is a real pro, an experienced starter who has adapted well to losing that blazing fastball because he still has great command of an assortment of breaking balls. Andy Pettite did the same thing for years but didn't have the variety of tools Sabathia has. Sabathia loves to keep the ball down. I think his size and reach may help him hide the ball better during his delivery.

 

He hurts us because because we have a lot of guys who struggle against breaking stuff, which, by the way, can be a pain anyway. Hardest for our guys are balls breaking down (they all do) and near the bottom of the zone. Funny thing is, the righty-lefty thing, meaning righty hitters have an advantage over lefty pitchers because the slider or curve will break toward them and be easier to see and anticipate, doesn't seem to help much against Sabathia. Keeping it low helps him, but he also has a very good changeup, which will break low and away from a righty. And, like Sale, he's good at spotting a slider on the outside corner against a righty batter which tempts the batter to take a called strike.

 

What I like about that first game matchup between ERod and Sabathia is that it will give ERod another chance to see how Sabathia gets thru the first two innings and to concentrate on doing his best--almost as though he is our ace of the day because, against us, Sabathia has been an ace. ERod has pretty good stuff, but vastly over-relies on his fastball in the early innings largely because--my opinion--his command usually isn't there in the early innings. He has a good changeup which can be great against righties, but you almost never see it (or a good one) in the first inning and probably not the 2d either. Sabathia has no such inhibitions.

 

Plus there ain't no free lunch. Moving Sabathia to Thursday against those low-life, no good, rotten Red Sox is all well and good, but also invites Cleveland--with whom we are tied for the 2d best record in the AL and who right now is hot--to get a sweep today/tonight.

[S5Dewey]

 

Plus there ain't no free lunch. Moving Sabathia to Thursday against those low-life, no good, rotten Red Sox is all well and good, but also invites Cleveland--with whom we are tied for the 2d best record in the AL and who right now is hot--to get a sweep today/tonight.

 

This was my thinking. We're in the lead now and every game the Yankees lose is one in our favor in the lost column.

[moonslav59]

Bingo. You nailed my no doubt prejudice. It probably boils down to the locks, but is supported by misadventures in LF, not so bright baserunning, and salary. You properly give him credit he is due.

 

This is just my opinion, but to me, just about every Sox player, except Sale, Kimbrel, Pom and Vaz have deserved some criticism at some point this year, but the two players getting the most (besides Pablo, of course) have been HRam and Young- our 4th OF'er.

 

Think about it. Are those two really the most deserving of criticism? I'm not saying they have played well enough to not be criticized,

but why them so much over others?

[Maxbialystock]

This is just my opinion, but to me, just about every Sox player, except Sale, Kimbrel, Pom and Vaz have deserved some criticism at some point this year, but the two players getting the most (besides Pablo, of course) have been HRam and Young- our 4th OF'er.

 

Think about it. Are those two really the most deserving of criticism? I'm not saying they have played well enough to not be criticized,

but why them so much over others?

 

I already said the locks bother me, but have generally refrained from beating up on Young because last year I thought he was a pretty smart acquisition. He's a good all-around outfielder, especially when he can stand in for Betts (not often) in RF. He can hit too and has for us. Definitely having a down year, the second and last year of his contract. So for now I'm still rooting for him even though I get mad when he doesn't hit. Lurking in my mind however is whether he should return.

 

All that said, a slightly new thought. i just looked at the Sox hitting stats based on number of at bats this season. The first 8 are the usual suspects--Betts, Beni, Bogaerts, Moreland, JBJ, Pedey, Vazquez, and HanRam (but not in that order). Sure enough, just as you keep saying, all 8 OPS's are right around .750. 9th most at bats, Leon, drops down to .660 OPS, but he's a catcher. Then 10th, Young is .720. So he's OK, if a bit lower than the top 8.

 

Here's my point. Next to the OPS's (on espn) are the OWAR's (offensive wins above replacement) for everyone. Of those top 10 at bats leaders, of whom 9 (excluding Leon) have OPS's in the 700's, only 3 have low OWAR's: HanRam at 0.2 (and he has the 4th most at bats), Leon at 0.2, and Young at 0.3. All seven of the other leaders in at bats range from 1.2 (Vazquez and Moreland) to Bogaerts (2.7). We can probably agree OWAR overvalues Bogaerts, but I'm not sure they are undervaluing HanRam.

[Slasher9]

other than 2 outs RISP hanram's "clutch stats" on BR are pretty solid. if you want to blame him for us only being in first place by 4 games instead of 8 games i suppose that is your prerogative.

btw - CY's beard is getting long. like muslim long. not surprised he's getting put on the "hater" list.

JBj best watch himself.

they be working on sounding R-tick-U-lit for y'all.....

 

i wonder if Manny's locks bothered people? oh yeah....they did.

 

but remember: pedroia is latino!!! so we are good with our soft racism.....

carry on.

Edited August 30, 2017 by Slasher9

[a700hitter]

other than 2 outs RISP hanram's "clutch stats" on BR are pretty solid. if you want to blame him for us only being in first place by 4 games instead of 8 games i suppose that is your prerogative.

btw - CY's beard is getting long. like muslim long. not surprised he's getting put on the "hater" list.

JBj best watch himself.

they be working on sounding R-tick-U-lit for y'all.....

 

i wonder if Manny's locks bothered people? oh yeah....they did.

 

but remember: pedroia is latino!!! so we are good with our soft racism.....

carry on.

Speaking for myself, I loved Manny dreadlocks and all except for the one-week each year that he decided that he wanted to be traded. As for the Hispanic second baseman, how dare he appropriate white - privilege to himself.

[illinoisredsox]

other than 2 outs RISP hanram's "clutch stats" on BR are pretty solid. if you want to blame him for us only being in first place by 4 games instead of 8 games i suppose that is your prerogative.

btw - CY's beard is getting long. like muslim long. not surprised he's getting put on the "hater" list.

JBj best watch himself.

they be working on sounding R-tick-U-lit for y'all.....

 

i wonder if Manny's locks bothered people? oh yeah....they did.

 

but remember: pedroia is latino!!! so we are good with our soft racism.....

carry on.

 

This is so full of BS I may need to get out my boots.

 

People are down on Hanley because of one thing and one thing only; he's not performing to expectations. It's not because of dreadlocks, skin color or anything else. People were on him two years ago because he didn't perform. He put up good numbers last year (especially in the second half) and guess what, very little criticism. This has not been a good year and the critics are back. Ditto Young, he's not having a good year and isn't really doing the job he was brought in to do, hit lefties. Nothing to do with his beard (which quite frankly, I had not noticed).

 

What's the excuse for the criticism of Moreland for much of the season? Sale and Pomeranz are loved because they've been pitching well. Porcello has not and guess what, people are down on him.

 

Want to go back to the Manny era, how many people liked JD Drew? Don't recall a lot of "hate" for Pedro, but Schilling sure gets his share.

 

Bottom line in Boston and every other town, if you do well, most fans will love you, if you don't; they won't.

Edited August 30, 2017 by illinoisredsox

[Slasher9]

This is so full of BS I may need to get out my boots.

 

People are down on Hanley because of one thing and one thing only; he's not performing to expectations. It's not because of dreadlocks, skin color or anything else. People were on him two years ago because he didn't perform. He put up good numbers last year (especially in the second half) and guess what, very little criticism. This has not been a good year and the critics are back. Ditto Young, he's not having a good year and isn't really doing the job he was brought in to do, hit lefties. Nothing to do with his beard (which quit frankly, I had not noticed).

 

What's the excuse for the criticism of Moreland for much of the season? Sale and Pomeranz are loved because they've been pitching well. Porcello has not and guess what, people are down on him.

 

Want to go back to the Manny era, how many people liked JD Drew? Don't recall a lot of "hate" for Pedro, but Schilling sure gets his share.

 

Bottom line in Boston and every other town, if you do well, most fans will love you, if you don't; they won't.

 

good post.

[a700hitter]

This is so full of BS I may need to get out my boots.

 

People are down on Hanley because of one thing and one thing only; he's not performing to expectations. It's not because of dreadlocks, skin color or anything else. People were on him two years ago because he didn't perform. He put up good numbers last year (especially in the second half) and guess what, very little criticism. This has not been a good year and the critics are back. Ditto Young, he's not having a good year and isn't really doing the job he was brought in to do, hit lefties. Nothing to do with his beard (which quite frankly, I had not noticed).

 

What's the excuse for the criticism of Moreland for much of the season? Sale and Pomeranz are loved because they've been pitching well. Porcello has not and guess what, people are down on him.

 

Want to go back to the Manny era, how many people liked JD Drew? Don't recall a lot of "hate" for Pedro, but Schilling sure gets his share.

 

Bottom line in Boston and every other town, if you do well, most fans will love you, if you don't; they won't.

Mookie had better not grow a beard until he starts hitting like last year. LOL!!

[illinoisredsox]

Mookie had better not grow a beard until he starts hitting like last year. LOL!!

 

Maybe he ought to try and grow one (although he looks so babyfaced that might be a problem). Anything to get him out of this funk he's been in. That goes for Bogaerts as well, although I think his wrist is the major issue and we probably ought to temper expectations on him for the rest of this year. Time off is the cure for him and the Sox can't afford to give him that right now.