A Realistic View at 2018: Part II

[moonslav59]

The sox big story is that outside of what was known going into the season (Hanley coming off surgery, ERod coming off surgery, and Pedroia coming off surgery), you’ve had a pretty healthy squad. Cora managed to navigate a weak early season schedule while hiding his two replacement starters from good offenses outside of one Johnson vs Orioles start. There was a fortuitous rain out on Monday which allowed you to now run out there your usual starting 5. Having known about the surgeries prior to the offseason, it allowed DD to re-sign Nunez and sign Moreland as depth while the guys got healthy. Hanley didn’t need it. Nunez definitely helped with Pedey sidelined. DD gets an A++ up to now. I said from the beginning that a healthy Price was your wild card. So far, minus a scare vs. NY, he’s been healthy and is 3-1 with 3 dominant performances vs one lost game due to the cold. Porcello has also come out smoking and ERod shook off the rust in his last start. With your pitching rounding into form and getting healthy and your offense turning it on, you might run away and hide with the division by the time we get our s*** together

 

"Pretty healthy squad?"

 

Not really.

 

Yes, Pedey is "coming off surgery," but he's still out and may not ever get back to close to what he was.

 

2 of our top 6 SP'ers have been out all season (Pom & Wright) and ERod just came back 2 starts ago.

 

Thornburg was supposed to be our back-up closer and number one set-up man. He may never pitch more than 10 IP for us. Carson Smith is still, apparently, recovering from his major injury. He was supposed to be our 3rd best RP'er.

 

Maddox and Poyner are both out.

 

Them there's Bogey: he's just the guy that was our best hitter before going on the DL.

 

We may not have as many injuries as the young and strong Yankees, but we've had more than our share thus far.

 

[illinoisredsox]

Per ESPN: With three three-homer games in his Red Sox career, Betts has tied Ted Williams for most three-homer games in Red Sox history.

 

Still amazes me that Ortiz hit 541 home runs in his career and NEVER hit 3 in a game.

[moonslav59]

Still amazes me that Ortiz hit 541 home runs in his career and NEVER hit 3 in a game.

 

Maybe they always walked him after 2.

[kenmeister]

I'm going to revise my early prediction to 159-3.

 

There will be one game where something goes wrong.

 

The record is 116 wins.

 

1906 Chicago Cubs: 116-36, winning percentage of .763

2001 Seattle Mariners: 116-46, winning percentage of .716

 

Can this Red Sox team break either the wins record, the winning percentage record, or both? A .765 winning percentage for a 162 game schedule is 124 games. Our beloved Sox are 14-2 with 146 to go, so they'd have to go 110-36 the rest of the way to break the winning percentage record, and to break the wins record and end up with 117, they'd have to go 103-43.

[Bellhorn04]

Per ESPN: With three three-homer games in his Red Sox career, Betts has tied Ted Williams for most three-homer games in Red Sox history.

 

Get the heck out of here...that's amazing.

[Bellhorn04]

The record is 116 wins.

 

1906 Chicago Cubs: 116-36, winning percentage of .763

2001 Seattle Mariners: 116-46, winning percentage of .716

 

Can this Red Sox team break either the wins record, the winning percentage record, or both? A .765 winning percentage for a 162 game schedule is 124 games. Our beloved Sox are 14-2 with 146 to go, so they'd have to go 110-36 the rest of the way to break the winning percentage record, and to break the wins record and end up with 117, they'd have to go 103-43.

 

Don't even go there. We're off to a fine start, let's just pray for health and enjoy the ride.

[Emp9]

I don’t expect long losing streaks. We didn’t have them last season and we’re an even better team this season.

 

Honestly, IMO, if there was a time for The Rays to take advantage and beat the Sox it would be earlier in the season when both teams are just trying to get their feet on solid ground, get into a groove. They had their opening day spoiler. Good for them. But I’m thinking that WAS the worst time to actually face the Rays.

 

Now the Sox snap the Angels 7 game winning streak, beat Ohtani (every other team has been mystified by him), Sox shut down Angels’ AL leading offense, and trounce to a lopsided win. They’re still the hottest team to beat at the moment (besides us).

 

Look, I do think our true test is facing the Atros and the Guardians. Both of those teams our the true competition. Until the Sox beat them I’ll hold off on WS talk. But the Sox can’t play those teams every week or even every month. That’s not their fault.

[kenmeister]

Don't even go there. We're off to a fine start, let's just pray for health and enjoy the ride.

 

That's how I have fun with the sport. Either insane optimism or dark pessimism.

[moonslav59]

I don’t expect long losing streaks. We didn’t have them last season and we’re an even better team this season.

 

Honestly, IMO, if there was a time for The Rays to take advantage and beat the Sox it would be earlier in the season when both teams are just trying to get their feet on solid ground, get into a groove. They had their opening day spoiler. Good for them. But I’m thinking that WAS the worst time to actually face the Rays.

 

Now the Sox snap the Angels 7 game winning streak, beat Ohtani (every other team has been mystified by him), Sox shut down Angels’ AL leading offense, and trounce to a lopsided win. They’re still the hottest team to beat at the moment (besides us).

 

Look, I do think our true test is facing the Atros and the Guardians. Both of those teams our the true competition. Until the Sox beat them I’ll hold off on WS talk. But the Sox can’t play those teams every week or even every month. That’s not their fault.

 

We'll have a couple rough patches this year. Even the greatest teams have them.

 

Last year, we had these forgettable moments:

 

Lost 4 in a row in late August and 3 in a row in early Sept ( 8 of 12).

 

Lost 4 out of 5 in April

 

Lost 4 out of 5 a couple times in July (12 out of 18)

 

After winning 6 in a row, we lost 5 of 7 to end the season.

 

No, there were not big losing streaks and only a couple extended bad stretches.

When we did have those bad streaks last year, some posters went bonkers. I expect that to happen at times this year.

[S5Dewey]

We'll have a couple rough patches this year. Even the greatest teams have them.

 

Last year, we had these forgettable moments:

 

Lost 4 in a row in late August and 3 in a row in early Sept ( 8 of 12).

 

Lost 4 out of 5 in April

 

Lost 4 out of 5 a couple times in July (12 out of 18)

 

After winning 6 in a row, we lost 5 of 7 to end the season.

 

No, there were not big losing streaks and only a couple extended bad stretches.

When we did have those bad streaks last year, some posters went bonkers. I expect that to happen at times this year.

 

But posters here are pretty level-headed. If the Sox lose 6 in a row they won't be calling for Cora's head on a platter. Much. LOL

[harmony]

The start of the Red Sox season reminds me a bit of the start of the 1984 Detroit Tigers, who went on to win the World Series:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1984-schedule-scores.shtml

[Bellhorn04]

The start of the Red Sox season reminds me a bit of the start of the 1984 Detroit Tigers, who went on to win the World Series:

 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/DET/1984-schedule-scores.shtml

 

Great team, I remember them well. They started 38-9.

 

I think it's way, way too early for the '18 Red Sox to be compared to great starts in history.

[Bellhorn04]

That's how I have fun with the sport. Either insane optimism or dark pessimism.

 

I was raised on the multiple heartbreaks of the '70's Red Sox. The darkness is still in me.

[moonslav59]

But posters here are pretty level-headed. If the Sox lose 6 in a row they won't be calling for Cora's head on a platter. Much. LOL

 

True, and there were posters who wanted JF gone before last season even began, so it's hard to say that just one bad strech was the only reason for calling for JF's head.

[moonslav59]

I was raised on the multiple heartbreaks of the '70's Red Sox. The darkness is still in me.

 

I hear you.

 

Missing the playoffs by a half game during the strike year, when teams played different amounts of games was like a knife in the heart.

 

The '75 loss to the Reds was crushing.

 

Bucky Freakin' Dent in 1978.

 

All the in betweens weren't easy either.

[bkzwhitestrican]

Watching your team continually win games is causing me a lot of unneeded stress. Like it actually ruins my mood thinking about it.

[kenmeister]

I was raised on the multiple heartbreaks of the '70's Red Sox. The darkness is still in me.

 

I was into baseball from a young age, but mostly from a historical perspective, listening to stories about Babe Ruth and Willie Mays and stuff like that. I didn't start following the current Red Sox team until Morgan Magic in 1988 drew me in.

[mvp 78]

@SoxNotes

 

Red Sox MLB Rankings:

.875 win % - 1st

6.19 runs per game – 1st

2.82 ERA – 2nd

+51 run differential – 1st

.831 OPS – 1st

47 doubles – 1st

69 XBH – 1st

[moonslav59]

@SoxNotes

 

Red Sox MLB Rankings:

.875 win % - 1st

6.19 runs per game – 1st

2.82 ERA – 2nd

+51 run differential – 1st

.831 OPS – 1st

47 doubles – 1st

69 XBH – 1st

 

We're up to 10th in HRS, now with 19.

[jacksonianmarch]

I think there’s a strong chance the sox are 22-5 after the Rays series. That’ll be awful hard to catch with that kind of lead.

[jacksonianmarch]

Watching your team continually win games is causing me a lot of unneeded stress. Like it actually ruins my mood thinking about it.

 

It’s annoying, but with the wild card around, I’m not too worried. The sox are built for the regular season. Their top 2, when healthy, are top notch. Their 3-5 are better than almost all team’s 3-5 as long as they stay healthy (we can give them a run for their money when we aren’t playing suck baseball). They have a closer who doesn’t blow games. Their offense got better with JD and some guys are bouncing back. They’ll win 95 games or more this year. I think we can be better, so I’m not gonna cry into my beer if we have to fight it out in the WC this year. We have played awful baseball ,had a ridiculous amount of injuries yet we are still .500. We just need our offense to be more consistent (outside of two games, we’ve gotten nothing from All Stars Sanchez and Stanton as well as usually steady Walker.), our starters to attack the zone (far too much nibbling, not sure if it’s the weather that’s throwing their command off), our defense to field the ball and our relievers to remember who they are. We have had a ridiculous start and we are still .500. When the weather warms and all guys get into mid season form, we will string together long win streaks. The question is whether we can catch the sox. I honestly don’t know and the deeper the hole gets, the less likely that becomes

[moonslav59]

It’s annoying, but with the wild card around, I’m not too worried. The sox are built for the regular season. Their top 2, when healthy, are top notch. Their 3-5 are better than almost all team’s 3-5 as long as they stay healthy (we can give them a run for their money when we aren’t playing suck baseball). They have a closer who doesn’t blow games. Their offense got better with JD and some guys are bouncing back. They’ll win 95 games or more this year. I think we can be better, so I’m not gonna cry into my beer if we have to fight it out in the WC this year. We have played awful baseball ,had a ridiculous amount of injuries yet we are still .500. We just need our offense to be more consistent (outside of two games, we’ve gotten nothing from All Stars Sanchez and Stanton as well as usually steady Walker.), our starters to attack the zone (far too much nibbling, not sure if it’s the weather that’s throwing their command off), our defense to field the ball and our relievers to remember who they are. We have had a ridiculous start and we are still .500. When the weather warms and all guys get into mid season form, we will string together long win streaks. The question is whether we can catch the sox. I honestly don’t know and the deeper the hole gets, the less likely that becomes

 

We were missing 2 of our 3-5 and 3 of our 3-6 starters when the season opened.

 

I also thinkour rotation stacks up pretty well in the playoffs as well. Teams usually can get by with 3 starters and occasional start from the 4th starter.

 

1. Sale (as good as anybody else's #1.)

 

2. Price (when healthy, better than most playoff teams' #2.)

 

3/4. Pom/Porcello/ERod (other teams may have us beat here, but with 3 guys to choose 2 from, we can hold our own here.)

[dgalehouse]

Another day , another win. Ho - hum. Meanwhile , the overrated New York franchise is getting smaller in the rear view mirror.

[cp176]

It’s annoying, but with the wild card around, I’m not too worried. The sox are built for the regular season. Their top 2, when healthy, are top notch. Their 3-5 are better than almost all team’s 3-5 as long as they stay healthy (we can give them a run for their money when we aren’t playing suck baseball). They have a closer who doesn’t blow games. Their offense got better with JD and some guys are bouncing back. They’ll win 95 games or more this year. I think we can be better, so I’m not gonna cry into my beer if we have to fight it out in the WC this year. We have played awful baseball ,had a ridiculous amount of injuries yet we are still .500. We just need our offense to be more consistent (outside of two games, we’ve gotten nothing from All Stars Sanchez and Stanton as well as usually steady Walker.), our starters to attack the zone (far too much nibbling, not sure if it’s the weather that’s throwing their command off), our defense to field the ball and our relievers to remember who they are. We have had a ridiculous start and we are still .500. When the weather warms and all guys get into mid season form, we will string together long win streaks. The question is whether we can catch the sox. I honestly don’t know and the deeper the hole gets, the less likely that becomes

 

Oh no sir doctor - not going to bite on this one. You are trying to lull us all to sleep.

[OH FOY]

I remember the Tigers hot start in 84, 35-5. That's when I would worry, if I was another team.

[Slasher9]

We just need our offense to be more consistent , our starters to attack the zone , our defense to field the ball and our relievers to remember who they are.

 

LMFAO. i dont think even jobu can help with all that.

 

[dgalehouse]

It’s annoying, but with the wild card around, I’m not too worried. The sox are built for the regular season. Their top 2, when healthy, are top notch. Their 3-5 are better than almost all team’s 3-5 as long as they stay healthy (we can give them a run for their money when we aren’t playing suck baseball). They have a closer who doesn’t blow games. Their offense got better with JD and some guys are bouncing back. They’ll win 95 games or more this year. I think we can be better, so I’m not gonna cry into my beer if we have to fight it out in the WC this year. We have played awful baseball ,had a ridiculous amount of injuries yet we are still .500. We just need our offense to be more consistent (outside of two games, we’ve gotten nothing from All Stars Sanchez and Stanton as well as usually steady Walker.), our starters to attack the zone (far too much nibbling, not sure if it’s the weather that’s throwing their command off), our defense to field the ball and our relievers to remember who they are. We have had a ridiculous start and we are still .500. When the weather warms and all guys get into mid season form, we will string together long win streaks. The question is whether we can catch the sox. I honestly don’t know and the deeper the hole gets, the less likely that becomes

The Yankees just need better offense , better defense , better pitching , better managing and better health. Other than that , all is well.

[Bellhorn04]

Another day , another win. Ho - hum. Meanwhile , the overrated New York franchise is getting smaller in the rear view mirror.

 

OTOH, it's April 18.

 

I remember one year we had a 14 game lead on them - in August.

 

Just trying to keep things in perspective here...

[cp176]

OTOH, it's April 18.

 

I remember one year we had a 14 game lead on them - in August.

 

Just trying to keep things in perspective here...

 

Don't go there - that summer should be a forbidden topic to discuss. lol

[Spudboy]

Watching your team continually win games is causing me a lot of unneeded stress. Like it actually ruins my mood thinking about it.

 

When the Yankees go on a tear you will feel normal again.

 

162 games tends to even everything out.

 

In the mean time I recommend good herb and good Bourbon.