07/16/19 Blue Jays (Waguespack) @ Red Sox (Cashman)

[d-money]

NFL training camp starts next week!!!!!

[vegasbob]

One surprising takeaway from OB was that the Sox were 18-9 (now 18-10) for last 27/28. That's a pace that will win pennants (See 108-54). Why do they feel so much like a .500 team, losing at home, if they are not ??

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

If the SOX packaged JD and Beni together, they could probably land a damn good starter.

[jung]

One surprising takeaway from OB was that the Sox were 18-9 (now 18-10) for last 27/28. That's a pace that will win pennants (See 108-54). Why do they feel so much like a .500 team, losing at home, if they are not ??

 

Because the rest of the AL is such crap, 18-10 does not mean a damned thing anymore unless you are maintaining a pace like that for the entire season. Plus we don't steamroll anybody. Half the games we win, we could just as easily be losing regardless of who we are playing. If you can't pitch you can't win consistently. OB can rave about our hitting till the cows come home. It doesn't matter. Our starters suck and our bullpen sucks.

 

As for Dana, in any other professional team sport if the entire asset a coach was responsible for sucked ass as much as our pitching sucks ass, would that coach survive?

[Swiharts Ghost]

If the SOX packaged JD and Beni together, they could probably land a damn good starter.

 

This man has the fire !! Yess yesssss that lands Noah freaking Syndagaard.

Edited July 17, 2019 by Swiharts Ghost

[d-money]

Our starting pitching has been a joke lately. Just a joke. Cora took it easy on these guys before the season. Pampered them. This team really struggles against s***** teams and good teams. Just a bunch of underachievers.

[Swiharts Ghost]

Our starting pitching has been a joke lately. Just a joke. Cora took it easy on these guys before the season. Pampered them. This team really struggles against s***** teams and good teams. Just a bunch of underachievers.

 

D who do we trade that's the stuff now .

[Oscars]

JDM stinking it up in July hitting .238 with 1 HR and 2 RBIs

[d-money]

JDM stinking it up in July hitting .238 with 1 HR and 2 RBIs

 

Uffff wow. That’s god awful.

[TylerD]

Uffff wow. That’s god awful.

 

Yup. Ugly performance. Starting rotation is right there with him. All around trash. That wild card is slipping away. Jays give us struggles. How in the hell are we going to beat Tampa and the Yankees coming up? Give me a break. I’ll keep rooting for this team because I’m a fan but honestly at this rate stick a fork in them.

[TylerD]

NFL training camp starts next week!!!!!

 

Thank god.

[Oscars]

JBJ had a great June but is slumping again hitting .186 in July Edited July 17, 2019 by Oscars
Spelling

[d-money]

Yup. Ugly performance. Starting rotation is right there with him. All around trash. That wild card is slipping away. Jays give us struggles. How in the hell are we going to beat Tampa and the Yankees coming up? Give me a break. I’ll keep rooting for this team because I’m a fan but honestly at this rate stick a fork in them.

 

That’s my thought. If they’re struggling to beat Toronto how on earth will they beat the rays and Yankees? How will they win series against them. I bet they split these next two games. It’s a joke. Also Cleveland and Oakland look good.

[jad]

Sadly very accurate this year

 

Yup. 19 homers, and a BA (.291) one point lower than his career numbers. Obviously in steep decline.

[jung]

JBJ had a great June but is slumping again hitting .186 in July

 

The "other" JBJ is almost fully out again.

[Maxbialystock]

Our starting pitching has been a joke lately. Just a joke. Cora took it easy on these guys before the season. Pampered them. This team really struggles against s***** teams and good teams. Just a bunch of underachievers.

 

The "pampered in ST" thesis is grossly exaggerated. ERod pitched a regular ST this year and his ERA is higher than last year when he had no ST, which I would interpret as maximum pampering.

 

Price was also pampered in ST this year, but his ERA is down from 2018, thus again suggesting that pampering is good.

 

Porcello pitched just 12 innings this year vs. 16 in 2018, which to me ain't that big a deal. But no question he is having a bad year, ERA 5.37 vs. 4.28 last year.

 

Sale threw 6 innings this year vs. 15 last year, and no question his ERA has shot up from 2.11 last year to 4.27 this year. However, we also know that he flat ran out of gas last year and in 2017 with great numbers thru June-July and lousy numbers afterward. Plus, as Cora said, everyone pitched extra last year while winning the ALDS, ALCS, and WS--a total of 14 additional games and 26 additional innings for Price, 15, for Porcello, 15 for Sale, and 10 for ERod. We also know for a fact that Sale's fast ball isn't as fast as last year, which I seriously doubt can be charged to a truncated ST.

 

No question, however, that our rotation is been at best inconsistent and way too much like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. At the same time it's worth noting that John Henry is paying Price, Sale, Porcello, ERod, and Eovaldi a combined total of $88M this year. Caveat Emptor.

[Maxbialystock]

A disheartening loss. OUr new starter was lousy, but I'm not sure he's as bad as he looked last night although giving up that dinger right after the home team scored 3 to tie the score was definitely not good timing.

 

Sox team ERA of 4.64 is 18th best in MLB. Sox are also ranked 18th in quality starts with 34, tied with the Yankees, but rumor has it their bullpen is a tad better than ours.

 

Interestingly, the Guardians have exactly 0 quality starts this year, but a team ERA of 3.88, 4th best in MLB. Could it be that DD spending $88M/year for our rotation (Price, Sale, Eovaldi, Erod, and Porcello) was not the best move long term?

[Slasher9]

The "pampered in ST" thesis is grossly exaggerated. ERod pitched a regular ST this year and his ERA is higher than last year when he had no ST, which I would interpret as maximum pampering.

 

Price was also pampered in ST this year, but his ERA is down from 2018, thus again suggesting that pampering is good.

 

Porcello pitched just 12 innings this year vs. 16 in 2018, which to me ain't that big a deal. But no question he is having a bad year, ERA 5.37 vs. 4.28 last year.

 

Sale threw 6 innings this year vs. 15 last year, and no question his ERA has shot up from 2.11 last year to 4.27 this year. However, we also know that he flat ran out of gas last year and in 2017 with great numbers thru June-July and lousy numbers afterward. Plus, as Cora said, everyone pitched extra last year while winning the ALDS, ALCS, and WS--a total of 14 additional games and 26 additional innings for Price, 15, for Porcello, 15 for Sale, and 10 for ERod. We also know for a fact that Sale's fast ball isn't as fast as last year, which I seriously doubt can be charged to a truncated ST.

 

No question, however, that our rotation is been at best inconsistent and way too much like Forest Gump's box of chocolates. At the same time it's worth noting that John Henry is paying Price, Sale, Porcello, ERod, and Eovaldi a combined total of $88M this year. Caveat Emptor.

It’s the lackadaisical approach to ST and the season that WTF relayed to the team that has been the cancer to this season.

It’s not about IP (or lack thereof) in ST...it’s the “we don’t need to do anything and we will walk away with the division” attitude that has destroyed our season. Ya think?

[TylerD]

That’s my thought. If they’re struggling to beat Toronto how on earth will they beat the rays and Yankees? How will they win series against them. I bet they split these next two games. It’s a joke. Also Cleveland and Oakland look good.

 

Ya at this point with how bad the pitching is it’s pointless to even make playoffs. We will be destroyed. If not in the wild card round then by whoever we face in round one. Of course I hope we can turn it around but constantly winning games 9-8 type thing because of the offense isn’t cutting it. At some point these f***ing pitchers need to go longer than 5 damn innings and win is a game

[jung]

It’s the lackadaisical approach to ST and the season that WTF relayed to the team that has been the cancer to this season.

It’s not about IP (or lack thereof) in ST...it’s the “we don’t need to do anything and we will walk away with the division” attitude that has destroyed our season. Ya think?

 

That and DD's reliance on his old formula of overpaying for star and would be star starting pitchers right in the face of MLB generally having to face up to the damage done to MLB pitching over the last ten years. That was a pretty risky MO for DD to continue to push with this bunch and in this time. What he has gotten for his trouble is an overpaid, underperforming rotation which under the circumstances was more likely than either a performing to expectations or over-performing rotation. They have basically all crapped out with the exception of ERod who is the only guy that has improved on his 2018 capabilities. Can't call Price an improvement at this point and the rest of them are just a disaster, having folded like a closet full of cheap suits.

[Bellhorn04]

It’s the lackadaisical approach to ST and the season that WTF relayed to the team that has been the cancer to this season.

It’s not about IP (or lack thereof) in ST...it’s the “we don’t need to do anything and we will walk away with the division” attitude that has destroyed our season. Ya think?

 

So how come the offense is good and it's the pitching that sucks?

 

It's nonsense to try to tack it on all on Cora and his ST approach.

 

We've got pitchers who are just not getting it done and I'm sure they're pretty damn frustrated about it.

[Slasher9]

So how come the offense is good and it's the pitching that sucks?

 

It's nonsense to try to tack it on all on Cora and his ST approach.

 

We've got pitchers who are just not getting it done and I'm sure they're pretty damn frustrated about it.

It’s not all on him. But he did set a tone. The mental aspect of baseball is pretty significant.

[bkzwhitestrican]

Damn Cora holding back Cashner in ST, what an idiot!!

[Bellhorn04]

It’s not all on him. But he did set a tone. The mental aspect of baseball is pretty significant.

 

I fail to see what any of that has to do with the ongoing struggles of Sale, Porcello and the bullpen.

[TylerD]

Damn Cora holding back Cashner in ST, what an idiot!!

 

One start, can't give up on him yet. It was a very ugly start, but hopefully they all won't be like that.

[dgalehouse]

Without question, the starting pitching has been a big disappointment. Spring training may have been a part of it . It is also true that expectations for them were unrealistic. A look at their career numbers would suggest that they are just not as good as we thought they were . Add in Sale ' s and Eovaldi's arm issues and there were certainly some question marks all around. As for the bullpen ; I think that is on D.D. more than it is on Cora .

[illinoisredsox]

So how come the offense is good and it's the pitching that sucks?

 

It's nonsense to try to tack it on all on Cora and his ST approach.

 

We've got pitchers who are just not getting it done and I'm sure they're pretty damn frustrated about it.

 

It’s not all on him. But he did set a tone. The mental aspect of baseball is pretty significant.

 

I agree with the old 2nd baseman. The ST approach might explain April; it has nothing to do with now.

[Slasher9]

I fail to see what any of that has to do with the ongoing struggles of Sale, Porcello and the bullpen.

 

It may have zero. And it may have something. There is a lack of fire & desire from top to bottom. The tone for lack of fire was set in ST with the cavalier/country club attitude.

[Bellhorn04]

It may have zero. And it may have something. There is a lack of fire & desire from top to bottom. The tone for lack of fire was set in ST with the cavalier/country club attitude.

 

What I'm saying is that they're scoring plenty of runs, but the pitching sucks. If the pitching was better the W-L record would be where it should be.

[jung]

So I have made a point about the demos in the ratings from baseball before. This game from last night: The 18-49 male demo only pulled a 2.1. The 65+ demo (meaning me) did an 11.8. So while I have pointed out that the 65+ demo is pulling down 5x the numbers of the demo MLB should actually want, last night my demo actually exceeded 5x the 18-49 demo.

 

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT MLB! Oh yea, Manfred, this is working. Get your head out of your ass and fast because it won't be long before my demo is pushing up daisies.