Over?

[Fan_since_Boggs]

I'm not sure if the Red Sox need the bats to wake up as much as they need to put better bats in the lineup.

 

Sandy Leon isn't going to wake up, he isn't a major caliber hitter.

 

You start Swihart at catcher, you start Devers at 3b against a RHP and Holt at 2b against a RHP.

[moonslav59]

...Sandy Leon isn't going to wake up, he isn't a major caliber hitter.

 

You start Swihart at catcher...

 

I was firmly against this idea all season long. I'm even more against the idea, now. You don't switch catchers at this point. Here's how many PAs the opponents have seen with Swihart catching these starters:

 

0 Sale

 

0 Price

 

0 Eovaldi

 

23 Porcello (.863 OPS against)

 

[Fan_since_Boggs]

Against Severino in game 3, my lineup would be:

Betts RF

Holt 2b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Benintendi LF

Pearce 1b (it sounds like Moreland is hurt)

Devers 3b

Swihart C

Bradley CF

 

Against Sabathia in game 4:

Betts RF

Benintendi LF

Pearce 1b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Nunez 3b

Kinsler 2b

Swihart C

Bradley CF

[Bellhorn04]

I do expect to see Holt or Devers or both in the lineup tomorrow night.

[moonslav59]

...Holt at 2b against a RHP.

 

Holt actually hits LHPs slightly better.

 

Maybe he should play 2B vs most RHPs and 3B vs most LHPs.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

I was firmly against this idea all season long. I'm even more against the idea, now. You don't switch catchers at this point. Here's how many PAs the opponents have seen with Swihart catching these starters:

 

0 Sale

 

0 Price

 

0 Eovaldi

 

23 Porcello (.863 OPS against)

 

 

Maybe, maybe not. Having an automatic out in the lineup might be a more incapacitating than taking a risk on Swihart. There are pitchers in the NL who hit better than Sandy Leon.

[Bellhorn04]

Maybe, maybe not. Having an automatic out in the lineup might be a more incapacitating than taking a risk on Swihart. There are pitchers in the NL who hit better than Sandy Leon.

 

A lot of people here said Leon saved our asses in Game One with all the bounced pitches he blocked.

[moonslav59]

Against Severino in game 3, my lineup would be:

Betts RF

Holt 2b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Benintendi LF

Pearce 1b (it sounds like Moreland is hurt)

Devers 3b

Swihart C

Bradley CF

 

Against Sabathia in game 4:

Betts RF

Benintendi LF

Pearce 1b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Nunez 3b

Kinsler 2b

Swihart C

Bradley CF

 

I'd go...

vs Severino

1. Betts

2. Beni

3. Bogey

4. JD

5. Pearce

6. Devers

7. JBJ

8. Holt 2B

9. Vaz

 

vs Sabathia

1. Betts

2. Bogey

3. Pearce

4. JD

5. Beni

6. Holt 2B

7. JBJ

8. Nunez

9. Vaz

 

 

[Fan_since_Boggs]

...Holt at 2b against a RHP.

 

Holt actually hits LHPs slightly better.

 

Maybe he should play 2B vs most RHPs and 3B vs most LHPs.

 

Holt has a better OPS against RHP than LHP.

 

Geez, Kinsler doesn't hit lefties at all. I wouldn't play Kinsler against Sabathia, nor would I play him against Severino. For me, Kinsler sits the next two games and Holt gets the two starts in yankees stadium.

[moonslav59]

Maybe, maybe not. Having an automatic out in the lineup might be a more incapacitating than taking a risk on Swihart. There are pitchers in the NL who hit better than Sandy Leon.

 

Leon gets 3-4 PAs a game. The opponents get 27-40+ when Leon is behind the plate.

 

I'll go with Leon when Sale & Price pitch & Vaz when Porcello & Eovaldi pitch.

 

Besides, Vaz might be a better hitter than Swihart right now.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

I'd go...

vs Severino

1. Betts

2. Beni

3. Bogey

4. JD

5. Pearce

6. Devers

7. JBJ

8. Holt 2B

9. Vaz

 

vs Sabathia

1. Betts

2. Bogey

3. Pearce

4. JD

5. Beni

6. Holt 2B

7. JBJ

8. Nunez

9. Vaz

 

 

 

Yeah, I agree with the idea of giving Holt the two starts at 2b at yankees stadium. (1) Kinsler doesn't hit lefties. (2) Left handed batters can get some cheap HRs in Yankees stadium, just ask Brett Gardner. I also agree with your decision to play Devers against Severino and then Nunez against Sabathia.

[Fan_since_Boggs]

I'd go...

vs Severino

1. Betts

2. Beni

3. Bogey

4. JD

5. Pearce

6. Devers

7. JBJ

8. Holt 2B

9. Vaz

 

vs Sabathia

1. Betts

2. Bogey

3. Pearce

4. JD

5. Beni

6. Holt 2B

7. JBJ

8. Nunez

9. Vaz

 

 

 

I like these two lineups. The only thing I would do differently: (1) against Severino, I like Holt batting second and Benintendi batting 5th, with JD Martinez batting third and Bogaerts 4th. (2) I also prefer Swihart at 1b over Pearce, assuming Moreland can't go against the righty.

 

My revived lineups. Since I know the Red Sox will never start Swihart at C, I'll go with Vazquez.

 

Against Severino:

Betts RF

Holt 2b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Benintendi LF

Devers 3b

Swihart 1b

Bradley CF

Vazquez C

 

Against Sabathia:

Betts RF

Benintendi LF

Pearce 1b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Nunez 3b

Holt 2b

Bradley CF

Vazquez C

[moonslav59]

I like these two lineups. The only thing I would do differently: (1) against Severino, I like Holt batting second and Benintendi batting 5th, with JD Martinez batting third and Bogaerts 4th. (2) I also prefer Swihart at 1b over Pearce, assuming Moreland can't go against the righty.

 

My revived lineups. Since I know the Red Sox will never start Swihart at C, I'll go with Vazquez.

 

Against Severino:

Betts RF

Holt 2b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Benintendi LF

Devers 3b

Swihart 1b

Bradley CF

Vazquez C

 

Against Sabathia:

Betts RF

Benintendi LF

Pearce 1b

Martinez DH

Bogaerts SS

Nunez 3b

Holt 2b

Bradley CF

Vazquez C

 

Pearce has actually hit righties okay this year.

 

I have no faith in Swihart's bat, especially as a 1Bman.

 

Beni seems to be coming around. I like him or Bogey 2nd.

 

I also think JBJ looks much better than anyone else in the 6-9 slots. I'd bat him 6th or 7th not 9th.

[FredLynn]

Wait, I thought you said I was babe?

 

How many posters will you accuse of being babe?

 

Do you look under your bed for him before going to sleep at night?

 

That dude has really gotten into your head, pretty funny!!

 

No. You cannot be Babe.

 

I am Zorro................I mean Babe.

[jung]

Holt definitely plays in games 3 and 4 especially since they are in Yankee Stadium. I would likely go with Devers as well the way the Yankee RH hitters hit in that ballpark.

[Jason33]

Nope I was right in front of the tv yelling at the Skanks and routing on the Sox. Manny Ramirez was my all time favorite player. Say what you want I don’t care. I’ve been a Sox fan for 20 years and would never give up on them. I was just stating what I see. Our BP and starting pitching is mediocre to be nice, except Sale. The Yanks lineup is really good. We all have a deep hatred for the Skanks, but unfortunately it’s true about their lineup and bullpen. They said on the telecast every hitter had 20+ homers. I hope I’m absolutely wrong just as I said in my first post. The one thing I’ll say is I got caught up with being pissed we got smacked and posted with emotion. I think we’re all guilty of that. I’d just like to see more production out of the 5-9 hitters and of course the BP so we can get a win.

[Jason33]

I agree it’s being honest and going with what you see. Although I will say the 2004 and 2007 teams bucked the numbers. I absolutely believe we can win in NY, but the Skanks are clicking. We have to have a dominant performance from Evaldi. That’s definitely not a given. I would of started Porcello Monday. One thing nobody is bringing up is the layoff we had and that always throws hitters timing off. I think it’ll comedown to the bullpen and can they get big outs in NY. It’s been our achilles heel all year. We shall see tomorrow!

[OH FOY]

No problem with me, we all were ticked off last night.

[Jason33]

I completely agree with that because all the pressure is always on the home team. So HFA can absolutely be a disadvantage.

[moonslav59]

He gave up on the Sox. Period.

[bmattioli]

Gut check time. Price to the pen, Porcello pitches a good game and the hitters hit some taters. f*** the Yanks..

[moonslav59]

Gut check time. Price to the pen, Porcello pitches a good game and the hitters hit some taters. f*** the Yanks..

 

Eovaldi is starting game 3- Porcello game 4.

[Kimmi]

I do?

 

I found no fault with the umpire and every fault with Price. You can’t argue he got squeezed when he grooved an 0-2 pitch. And his walks to Gardner and Torres were simply bad pitching.

 

Hopefully he gets another chance against Cleveland or Houston and gets better...

 

No, but you can argue that if a pitcher is getting squeezed, it forces him to start catching more of the plate than he'd like to.

 

Note: I am not excusing Price's poor pitching.

[Kimmi]

It’s like that old George Will quote. “ The beauty of being a pessimist is you are constantly either proven correct or pleasantly surprised.”

 

I love that quote.

[cp176]

I was speaking more about baseball fans outside the Red Sox community not so much about players, although I do think our image might play into some players' choices on where to sign, especially international free agents and players with 2 or more equal offers on the table.

 

I don't really see myself as an overly optimistic. Many objective baseball people know this series is far from over.

 

BTW, although I have been accused of being all stats and no heart/emotion, I do believe in momentum, hot streaks and the non tangible aspects of the game, and how suddenly it all can change. Right now, things look a little bleak, but this team of ours has too many weapons to think we are even close to being over.

 

You have a offered great deal here. You played the game! You were and might still be an athlete. Statistics are important to you for sure but the big but is they don't dictate quite to the extent that the primarily metrics folks think they do the outcomes of games. Home field - the crowd - momentum- how you feel about a pitcher on any given day - these are the things that truly matter. Using statistics might give someone a safe bet from day to day but in the real world of athletics you just never know. I think that David Price is an obviously gifted pitcher. I also believe that he has a thing about the Yankees. It is in his mind.

I guess to some it might seem condescending but I also I guess I don't care. To understand the importance of these types of things , yup I do think that you have to have had some hands on practical experience in the game or games.

[Kimmi]

The crazy thing is, I told you guys all year that your lineup was too top heavy. But when Mitchy no bags was Mitchy 2 bags, your lineup was deeper. Now, you’re 5-9 with an occasional JBJ single is bad. And when your top has a rough game, you’re not gonna score.

 

Our line up is fine. Minus Leon, that is.

[Bellhorn04]

I love that quote.

 

That quote perfectly captures the behavior of a lot of people on baseball forums.

[MADSTORK]

Evoldi starting game 4, Yes it is over!

 

Win 108 games and your 31 million dollar man gives it up "again" in the playoffs. To top it all off you run out a stiff who the Yanks and Dodgers and a very good pitching organization in TB let go. Mind boggling and mis-management at its highest level.

 

I'll quote the greatest Manager in Sox history Terry Francona, "good luck with that"!

[jacksonianmarch]

Eovaldi has dominated us this season. Using Porcello kept you from having to use any other shitbag reliever for 2 outs in a game you won by a run. Cannot really complain there. You need to take 1 game. If any of you were asked about your level of happiness at a Game 5 in Boston with Sale on the mound, I think most of you would take it

[moonslav59]

Eovaldi has dominated us this season. Using Porcello kept you from having to use any other shitbag reliever for 2 outs in a game you won by a run. Cannot really complain there. You need to take 1 game. If any of you were asked about your level of happiness at a Game 5 in Boston with Sale on the mound, I think most of you would take it

 

Yup, just one win in NY and we are looking good.