6/16 @ Seattle

[a700hitter]

Not locking down last night's game after knocking out Paxton was a bad omen for the remainder of the series.

[Station 13]

BTW Betts has tomorrow off.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

A.J. Pierzynski is absurdly annoying

 

Yes he is, but so many are. Paul O'neill and Ken Simpleton on YES make me run to the mute button.

[DontCallMeUncleRico]

You might describe it as Dolly Parton like.

 

I suppose. Whatever it is it's not championship caliber. The bottom of the lineup is so pathetically bad that if nothing is done to improve it, i'm going to really lose whatever positive opinion I have of Dombrowski.

[Station 13]

Another wasted pitching performance. The Yankes have 3 SP who ERAs are around 5.

[DontCallMeUncleRico]

Another wasted pitching performance. The Yankes have 3 SP who ERAs are around 5.

 

But it's all about pitching and defense. Jackie Bradley has uber importance because of his otherworldly defense. THE RUNS HE SAVES!!!

[illinoisredsox]

I suppose. Whatever it is it's not championship caliber. The bottom of the lineup is so pathetically bad that if nothing is done to improve it, i'm going to really lose whatever positive opinion I have of Dombrowski.

 

The problem is the cap; not easy to improve when you have no salary room to maneuver, and DD's marching orders from above may be no exceeding the cap. Onone of us know for sure.

 

This is where Sandoval's contract really hurts. Hanley's wasn't great, but at least he was here for most of it.

[Maxbialystock]

Son, you done got whupped by superior talent. Nice try boys, but not quite ready for primetime in Seattle.

 

Really? Sox lost 2 of 3 one-run games on Seattle's home field 3 time zones west of here. If the bullpen hadn't screwed up in game 2 the Sox would have won 2 of 3. In that second game the Sox scored 5 earned runs of what was supposed to be Seattle's ace.

[a700hitter]

Another wasted pitching performance. The Yankes have 3 SP who ERAs are around 5.

Our hitting is a mess. The bottom third of the order is killing this team. They never step up when the big boys go silent.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Seriously, the Cuban guy(I forgot his name) can he be any worse than Swihart or anyone else in the bottom of this batting order?

[a700hitter]

Seriously, the Cuban guy(I forgot his name) can he be any worse than Swihart or anyone else in the bottom of this batting order?

He's in budget purgatory with no hope of seeing the Majors.

[DontCallMeUncleRico]

The problem is the cap; not easy to improve when you have no salary room to maneuver, and DD's marching orders from above may be no exceeding the cap. Onone of us know for sure.

 

This is where Sandoval's contract really hurts. Hanley's wasn't great, but at least he was here for most of it.

 

Good point but dropping Hanley is turning out to be a big time crap move. I'd rather see him in there than another black hole in the lineup like Swihart. This is terrible.

[illinoisredsox]

Seriously, the Cuban guy(I forgot his name) can he be any worse than Swihart or anyone else in the bottom of this batting order?

 

Castillo, and bringing him up has severe luxury tax implications for both this year and next. It's not always as cut and dried as we want it to be.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The problem is the cap; not easy to improve when you have no salary room to maneuver, and DD's marching orders from above may be no exceeding the cap. Onone of us know for sure.

 

This is where Sandoval's contract really hurts. Hanley's wasn't great, but at least he was here for most of it.

 

Pablo and Hanley; the 'coal dust' twins.

[jung]

There aren't THAT many guys out there who throw like that, and there certainly aren't pitching staffs loaded with them.

 

Relax.

 

The other thing that happened immediately after the Maneae game is that pitchers stopped feeding us 0-0 FB's for strikes and started pitching in reverse, showing the FB more often early in counts. Lots of pitchers can do that. This Sox team is going to win a ton of regular season games especially in this league this year. Not at all confident about the post season. Just too many holes that they have to fill and they are just making it too easy to scout them effectively.

[a700hitter]

Good point but dropping Hanley is turning out to be a big time crap move. I'd rather see him in there than another black hole in the lineup like Swihart. This is terrible.

It is proving to be a bad move.

[Maxbialystock]

I would not be going that far just yet. But we do need to do something with Swihart and get more heft off the bench and we are going to have to deal at some point with the entire league knowing we are super vulnerable to LHers that feature the change. If we don't we are going to be seeing them coming out of the woodwork when push comes to shove. Guys will be lining up their pitching staffs to match up with our weakness and we will end up wondering why nobody is hitting.

 

Wow. Is that true? Lefties with good changeups are effective? Stunning.

 

Have you perhaps noticed that the Sox have three lefties who use the changeup and are pretty effective? Or that one of the reasons why Pomeranz has been awful this year is that he doesn't have a changeup?

 

I would go so far as to say that no lefty MLB starter can survive without a changeup and that most righties need one too.

 

I agree this year the Sox struggle against lefty pitchers. I would argue, however, that the problem against Leblanc tonight was that he had a great mix of pitches and exquisite control.

[Maxbialystock]

Not locking down last night's game after knocking out Paxton was a bad omen for the remainder of the series.

 

You said something like that on last night's game thread, and I sadly agree. Last night was a terrible loss--as you have said--because Bogie's 3 run dinger was off their putative ace and gave us a 6-3 lead.

[oldtimer]

Our hitting is a mess. The bottom third of the order is killing this team. They never step up when the big boys go silent.

 

We faced excellent pitching tonight and it shut down the lineup. We have Moreland slumping now as well as the bottom of the order that is weak. Its not all gloom and doom, we lost by 1 run to a very good team at their home stadium while we have been on the road for 6 games and on the west coast for 3.

 

Unfortunately another error for Devers tonight so that was a negative and Bradley's slump is truly an epic one. If we had more financial flexability, I think DD would attempt to strengthen our lineup but I really don't see him being able to do that as we are approaching a Luxury Tax Limit that carries big fines and lost of draft capabilities. Pedey probably is not getting back anytime soon and our minor leagues don't have hitters that are likely to help us. We have to find a way to win with who we have. Our pitching is good and we have core hitters that are very good.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Wow. Is that true? Lefties with good changeups are effective? Stunning.

 

Have you perhaps noticed that the Sox have three lefties who use the changeup and are pretty effective? Or that one of the reasons why Pomeranz has been awful this year is that he doesn't have a changeup?

 

I would go so far as to say that no lefty MLB starter can survive without a changeup and that most righties need one too.

 

I agree this year the Sox struggle against lefty pitchers. I would argue, however, that the problem against Leblanc tonight was that he had a great mix of pitches and exquisite control.

 

No doubt about that. Good pitching will usually beat good hitting. Any pitching will beat the bottom of the SOX line-up.

[jung]

It is proving to be a bad move.

 

The Hanley move would seem to suggest that the Sox think their young players other than Mookie need another year of seasoning and they need the $22m from next season that they would have paid Hanely to sign another serious bat. Pedey is not an answer at his age though it will be good to have his defense back and he can't be worse at the plate than some of the guys we are sending up there now. But if I had to bet, I would bet the Sox really don't think their chances of getting past both the MFY and the Astros are that good this year. The Sox were willing to risk what Hanley could give them this year against having to pay him $22m in 2019. I frankly don't think Hanley would give the Sox a better chance of getting past both the MFY and the Astros this year. If they get past them they get past them. Just don't see Hanley figuring greatly in that calculus.

[a700hitter]

The Hanley move would seem to suggest that the Sox think their young players other than Mookie need another year of seasoning and they need the $22m from next season that they would have paid Hanely to sign another serious bat. Pedey is not an answer at his age though it will be good to have his defense back and he can't be worse at the plate than some of the guys we are sending up there now. But if I had to bet, I would bet the Sox really don't think their chances of getting past both the MFY and the Astros are that good this year. The Sox were willing to risk what Hanley could give them this year against having to pay him $22m in 2019. I frankly don't think Hanley would give the Sox a better chance of getting past both the MFY and the Astros this year. If they get past them they get past them. Just don't see Hanley figuring greatly in that calculus.

He hit the Yankees very well this season. He hit some big bombs.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The Hanley move would seem to suggest that the Sox think their young players other than Mookie need another year of seasoning and they need the $22m from next season that they would have paid Hanely to sign another serious bat. Pedey is not an answer at his age though it will be good to have his defense back and he can't be worse at the plate than some of the guys we are sending up there now. But if I had to bet, I would bet the Sox really don't think their chances of getting past both the MFY and the Astros are that good this year. The Sox were willing to risk what Hanley could give them this year against having to pay him $22m in 2019. I frankly don't think Hanley would give the Sox a better chance of getting past both the MFY and the Astros this year. If they get past them they get past them. Just don't see Hanley figuring greatly in that calculus.

 

You make a good point. However, I think it's too early to say the SOX chances aren't that good. A lot can happen between now and October. Sometimes it's just a matter of a team getting hot at the right time and going into the playoffs with momentum. Also, injuries are always a factor for playoff bound teams, and no one can predict those.

[Maxbialystock]

Sometimes game threads after losses just astound me, and this is certainly one of them. Going into this series I thought most talksoxers would be happy with a split. That's still possible. But not on this thread. Tonight's game apparently confirmed that nobody on this team can hit or will ever hit again.

 

No siree, we now have the worst lineup ever, one that suddenly needs an infusion of fresh blood or, better still, the return of the great Hanley Ramirez because he is better than Swihart, which to me is completely nonsensical. This catastrophic season--or so it seems on this thread--is because of Swihart who barely plays?

 

The Sox currently still have the second best offense in MLB, but on this thread it is described as second worst. And last night, which is apparently erased from our racial memory, that putrid offense scored 6 runs (5 earned) off of a very good pitcher.

[TylerD]

Another loss. At least Wright has been fantastic.

[a700hitter]

Sometimes game threads after losses just astound me, and this is certainly one of them. Going into this series I thought most talksoxers would be happy with a split. That's still possible. But not on this thread. Tonight's game apparently confirmed that nobody on this team can hit or will ever hit again.

 

No siree, we now have the worst lineup ever, one that suddenly needs an infusion of fresh blood or, better still, the return of the great Hanley Ramirez because he is better than Swihart, which to me is completely nonsensical. This catastrophic season--or so it seems on this thread--is because of Swihart who barely plays?

 

The Sox currently still have the second best offense in MLB, but on this thread it is described as second worst. And last night, which is apparently erased from our racial memory, that putrid offense scored 6 runs (5 earned) off of a very good pitcher.

Each of us has our way of dealing with the negative emotions of losing. Most people blame some combination of the players, coaches, manager or umpires. You on the other hand can always be counted on to insult TalkSox members. I hope you feel better.

[a700hitter]

A "Yankees suck" chant just broke out in Arizona at a Dbacks - Mets game. It warmed my heart a bit.

[jacksonianmarch]

Your team requires Beni, Betts, Bogaerts, and JDM to carry you. When they have an off night in tandem, you won’t win. The rest of the lineup is too poor to carry you.

[a700hitter]

Your team requires Beni, Betts, Bogaerts, and JDM to carry you. When they have an off night in tandem, you won’t win. The rest of the lineup is too poor to carry you.

The rest of the lineup is almost entirely inept.

[Slasher9]

Not locking down last night's game after knocking out Paxton was a bad omen for the remainder of the series.

 

Yup. Those type of losses are killer.