5/27 vs Braves

[Natick to NC]

You can have first place Yankees. We will take the wildcard for now.

 

If we don't win the best record in AL we will not win the World Series and will likely not even make it past the first round again .I give this team a 65 percent chance to win it all with AL tittle and Homefield .

Edited May 27, 2018 by Natick to NC

[Natick to NC]

Sale was destroyed in the playoffs last year ...If today is a look behind the curtain as to who Sale really is ? I'd say we need to make a move to improve this rotation it's way to inconsistent.....hate to beat a dead horse with the catching situation but the same goes for them both ..we must and I mean have to cut bait with Vaz and Sandy . Edited May 27, 2018 by Natick to NC

[Sox75]

What the f*** is that YELPING in the stands?

 

Glad I did something else!

 

A s*** game, & -those *******s are still yelping and screaming in the background....

 

WTF?

[Natick to NC]

come on Bradley.. UGLY game..

 

Let's all face it he's done also in Boston the minute we get a taker ....this is not a player we can count on ever .

[Natick to NC]

Devers ...has been really bad ....Demotion soon ?

[Jasonbay44]

I can only imagine why no one comments on game threads lately, they're so delightful.

[Natick to NC]

There should be a closed to media meeting directly after the game ...id put the entire team on notice today was unacceptable..Blake Swihart ....if that's all you have ??? I'm ashamed to have ever carried your water you POS.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

May not have mattered today, but having the team's two best hitters not starting is not how to manage to win. How exhausting would it have been for JD to DH. C'mon, Cora, use your head.

[vegasbob]

A real phone it in, dog ate my homework effort. But keep winning series no matter how and they will keep the East title.

[vegasbob]

I can only imagine why no one comments on game threads lately, they're so delightful.

 

You just did and this particular game truly sucked

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I should have said that it's stupid to not at least have one of your two best hitters in the line-up.

[Station 13]

I should have said that it's stupid to not at least have one of your two best hitters in the line-up.

 

Would it helped Sale not pitching terrible?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Would it helped Sale not pitching terrible?

 

It probably added a little more pressure for Sale knowing he probably wouldn't get too much offense w/o at least having JD in the line-up.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Btw, can't help wondering if Sale, when seeing the line-up backing him up today, perhaps thought that Cora doesn't like me.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Also, sometimes one has to tip his/her cap to the opposing pitcher.

[jung]

One thing we should keep in mind, though I don't know if true, Cora is very likely a Manager that tells his player the night before when he is going to be rested in the next game in an effort to get the full benefit of resting the player. You can argue whether that makes sense or not and different managers do it different ways. But with Mookie's late scratch it likely made little sense to then insert JD if Cora had informed him the night before that he was not playing today.

 

So once Mookie was scratched late, there was just so much Cora could do under the circumstances.

 

Sale could have pitched better. The LH hitting lineup could have hit better. The team could have played better. But not much of that happened today.

[d-money]

s***** game! Again this team will be judged by what they do in the post season. They have won 186 games the last two seasons and have one win to show for it. They will make the playoffs. I have no doubts about that.

[moonslav59]

I hope all this rest pays dividends in October.

 

The one guy I felt needed the most rest is near the league lead in IP and pitches thrown (Sale).

 

I love Cora, but I'm scratching my head, here.

[jung]

I hope all this rest pays dividends in October.

 

The one guy I felt needed the most rest is near the league lead in IP and pitches thrown (Sale).

 

I love Cora, but I'm scratching my head, here.

 

You have absolutely got a point. But I just don't know what to do about it because IMO its a bigger issue than just a starting pitcher in a particular game.

 

Sale had 8 K's in 4 innings and was pitching a lousy game. That tells you something about the downside to this emphasis on power pitching. Nobody gets to hit into an out or at least not with the frequency they used to. They either K their way to an out or hit the ball out of the park. Often as not, if they hit into an out they hit the ball into the teeth of the shift. Regular plain old outs the way we used to see them are getting rare. Excessive K's mean excessive numbers of pitches and these power pitchers always have the hammer down.

 

So how does that jive with trying to get Sale through a season? It was easy to see that Sale would accept being pulled out of this game today. What did he have to complain about? But, how about games where he has gotten to the 6th inning, is pitching reasonably well and does not want to come put just because Cora is trying to preserve him. How is that going to work? You are not going to get Sale to accept skipping whole rotation slots to preserve him. He might do that once or maybe MAYBE twice in a season.

 

I just think there are things about the direction MLB has determined to push this game that have not been thought through. Its not even clear that they are having the desired impact on attendance or popularity. It is clear that it is intentional. This is not some happenstance or baseball phenomenon.

[Bellhorn04]

You have absolutely got a point. But I just don't know what to do about it because IMO its a bigger issue than just a starting pitcher in a particular game.

 

Sale had 8 K's in 4 innings and was pitching a lousy game. That tells you something about the downside to this emphasis on power pitching. Nobody gets to hit into an out or at least not with the frequency they used to. They either K their way to an out or hit the ball out of the park. Often as not, if they hit into an out they hit the ball into the teeth of the shift. Regular plain old outs the way we used to see them are getting rare. Excessive K's mean excessive numbers of pitches and these power pitchers always have the hammer down.

 

So how does that jive with trying to get Sale through a season? It was easy to see that Sale would accept being pulled out of this game today. What did he have to complain about? But, how about games where he has gotten to the 6th inning, is pitching reasonably well and does not want to come put just because Cora is trying to preserve him. How is that going to work? You are not going to get Sale to accept skipping whole rotation slots to preserve him. He might do that once or maybe MAYBE twice in a season.

 

I just think there are things about the direction MLB has determined to push this game that have not been thought through. Its not even clear that they are having the desired impact on attendance or popularity. It is clear that it is intentional. This is not some happenstance or baseball phenomenon.

 

The only tinkering with the game that MLB itself-the 'powers that be'-might be responsible for, that I can see, would be juicing the baseballs.

[jung]

The only tinkering with the game that MLB itself-the 'powers that be'-might be responsible for, that I can see, would be juicing the baseballs.

 

Not dealing with the advanced shift is another one. It would be easy to curtail the shift as Joe Maddon reinvented it and they just won't do it. They want to encourage hitting over it which feeds the whole power game mentality.

 

Accepting the idea of the Quality Start as a stat worth something is another one that feeds the power game mentality from the pitcher's end of the equation. The idea that you are going to recognize a starter's performance for going 6 innings means that going 5 is not that bad and even 4 is not terrible. So what is a bad start now.....3 innings. Heck 3 innings could be once and a couple batters through the lineup.

[Bellhorn04]

Not dealing with the advanced shift is another one. It would be easy to curtail the shift as Joe Maddon reinvented it and they just won't do it. They want to encourage hitting over it which feeds the whole power game mentality.

 

Accepting the idea of the Quality Start as a stat worth something is another one that feeds the power game mentality from the pitcher's end of the equation. The idea that you are going to recognize a starter's performance for going 6 innings means that going 5 is not that bad and even 4 is not terrible. So what is a bad start now.....3 innings. Heck 3 innings could be once and a couple batters through the lineup.

 

4 innings stinks. Bullpen killer. Cashman was just publicly lamenting how Yankees starters haven't been going deep enough in games. They're averaging 5.4 per start.

[moonslav59]

Not dealing with the advanced shift is another one. It would be easy to curtail the shift as Joe Maddon reinvented it and they just won't do it. They want to encourage hitting over it which feeds the whole power game mentality.

 

Accepting the idea of the Quality Start as a stat worth something is another one that feeds the power game mentality from the pitcher's end of the equation. The idea that you are going to recognize a starter's performance for going 6 innings means that going 5 is not that bad and even 4 is not terrible. So what is a bad start now.....3 innings. Heck 3 innings could be once and a couple batters through the lineup.

 

Personally, I'd prefer 5 IP and 2 ER over 6 IP and 3 ER as "quality," but the taxing of the pen is a killer, at times.

 

Maybe a QS should be this:

 

5+ IP 2 ER

7+ IP 3 ER

9+ IP 4 ER

 

This would take away the 6 IP 3 ER QS as well as 6.1 and 6.3 with 3 ERs.

[Natick to NC]

s***** game! Again this team will be judged by what they do in the post season. They have won 186 games the last two seasons and have one win to show for it. They will make the playoffs. I have no doubts about that.

 

D money ...this is the single greatest post ever here .Thankyou and bud you get it .

[Natick to NC]

s***** game! Again this team will be judged by what they do in the post season. They have won 186 games the last two seasons and have one win to show for it. They will make the playoffs. I have no doubts about that.

 

D money ...this is the single greatest post ever here .Thankyou and bud you get it .

[Bellhorn04]

Maybe a QS should be this:

 

5+ IP 2 ER

7+ IP 3 ER

9+ IP 4 ER

 

 

I concur with this.

[Natick to NC]

News flash ....Chris sale is built like a twig ...he's always been aweful late in seasons ....we need another starter or two of our own to pitch like they never have before ....we are kinda screwed right now if playoffs started today ...we need Sale ,Price ,Porcello and one more guy to pitch out of there minds now ...I lament it's partly catching ...improve that and we may be the leaders in the clubhouse .

[jung]

Personally, I'd prefer 5 IP and 2 ER over 6 IP and 3 ER as "quality," but the taxing of the pen is a killer, at times.

 

Maybe a QS should be this:

 

5+ IP 2 ER

7+ IP 3 ER

9+ IP 4 ER

 

This would take away the 6 IP 3 ER QS as well as 6.1 and 6.3 with 3 ERs.

 

That is not a bad idea.

 

Here are the shfit numbers by year since Joe Maddon reinvented the thing just to explore this shift thing a bit more.

2011, 2350 shifts

2012, 4577

2013, 6882

2014, 13,297

2015, 17,826

2016, 28,130

2017 (through sept 10) 27,187

 

That is just ridiculous and it robs away from exciting play unless you always think hitting the ball over the shift or around it is exciting. If the hitter hits the ball through a big hole away from the shifted infield then a fielder does not even make an attempt at fielding the ball. He is too far away from it. If the ball is hit into the shifted infield it is practically hit right at somebody. So you rob away all those plays that reward an infielder's speed and quickness both left and right, his glove dexterity, his ability to throw from awkward positions and replace that either with no play made on the ball at all or a play that I could make! All to encourage hitters to hit the ball in the air in effect an effort to mitigate the effect of the shift.

 

It would be so stupid easy to rule change the shift back to something more normal and less pervasive that it is clear the only reason MLB won't do it is because it does not want to do it.

[illinoisredsox]

That is not a bad idea.

 

Here are the shfit numbers by year since Joe Maddon reinvented the thing just to explore this shift thing a bit more.

2011, 2350 shifts

2012, 4577

2013, 6882

2014, 13,297

2015, 17,826

2016, 28,130

2017 (through sept 10) 27,187

 

That is just ridiculous and it robs away from exciting play unless you always think hitting the ball over the shift or around it is exciting. If the hitter hits the ball through a big hole away from the shifted infield then a fielder does not even make an attempt at fielding the ball. He is too far away from it. If the ball is hit into the shifted infield it is practically hit right at somebody. So you rob away all those plays that reward an infielder's speed and quickness both left and right, his glove dexterity, his ability to throw from awkward positions and replace that either with no play made on the ball at all or a play that I could make! All to encourage hitters to hit the ball in the air in effect an effort to mitigate the effect of the shift.

 

It would be so stupid easy to rule change the shift back to something more normal and less pervasive that it is clear the only reason MLB won't do it is because it does not want to do it.

 

Well, while they're at it, they should rule change the slider and/or the split finger fastball. The game changed with the advent of those pitches Or how about any pitch over 95 is now illegal. Ridiculous? Of course it is.

 

It's up to the hitters to adjust. If they fail to do so, it's on them.

[moonslav59]

That is not a bad idea.

 

Here are the shfit numbers by year since Joe Maddon reinvented the thing just to explore this shift thing a bit more.

2011, 2350 shifts

2012, 4577

2013, 6882

2014, 13,297

2015, 17,826

2016, 28,130

2017 (through sept 10) 27,187

 

That is just ridiculous and it robs away from exciting play unless you always think hitting the ball over the shift or around it is exciting. If the hitter hits the ball through a big hole away from the shifted infield then a fielder does not even make an attempt at fielding the ball. He is too far away from it. If the ball is hit into the shifted infield it is practically hit right at somebody. So you rob away all those plays that reward an infielder's speed and quickness both left and right, his glove dexterity, his ability to throw from awkward positions and replace that either with no play made on the ball at all or a play that I could make! All to encourage hitters to hit the ball in the air in effect an effort to mitigate the effect of the shift.

 

It would be so stupid easy to rule change the shift back to something more normal and less pervasive that it is clear the only reason MLB won't do it is because it does not want to do it.

 

It also just seems wrong to change the rule, to me. Players should be able to stand anywhere they want.

 

If a batter can't hit it to a wide open spot on the field, then so be it.

 

I know it's frustrating to see a Sox player rip a line drive right at a "misplaced" fielder, but I think we noticed it more, because we were kind of late on applying the shift on opposing teams.