A Realistic View at 2021: Part II

[Kimmi]

2 out of 3. Need it. At home. This team has really fought hard to get to this point with all the adversity. I’m amazed they still have this opportunity in front of them.

 

I would love to win the series, but my feeling is that we just need to avoid getting swept. The Yankees and the Jays will be playing each other next, and one of those teams is guaranteed to lose 2 games. Good news for the Red Sox!

[Sox75]

93 wins! That's my call, & I'm sticking to it.

 

 

Well.... I missed it by 1, and almost blew it by talking about it a week or so ago.

 

Now.... it comes down to this!

 

1 off for the Wildcard spot against the Yankees

 

Same record as the hated Yankees and Yankee fans who said we couldn't wipe their asses.

 

No need to throw their predictions of absolute dominance in the faces of Jacks or others.

 

Good luck to them, and I hope it's one hell of a game!

[Sox75]

WHAT A YEAR! Yes.... we almost blew it down the stretch, but we're still alive! If we win, we deserve it. If we lose, well.... we still had a hell of a year.

 

We'll still be crushed if we don't get it done, but ya just gotta love getting to this!

[notin]

Lots of great calls Jax.

 

He said something similar before 2018 as well. When it comes to prognostication, he’s far, far short of the foretelling abilities of the Magic 8 Ball…

[mvp 78]

He said something similar before 2018 as well. When it comes to prognostication, he’s far, far short of the foretelling abilities of the Magic 8 Ball…

 

But he got everything exactly right for the past 5 years?!?!? He told us so!

[Bellhorn04]

He said something similar before 2018 as well. When it comes to prognostication, he’s far, far short of the foretelling abilities of the Magic 8 Ball…

 

A perennial candidate for the Nostradumbass Award.

[jacksonianmarch]

Lots of great calls Jax.

 

I nailed the pen and that they would get worse and worse. I did not nail that they would start out the year like gangbusters

[jacksonianmarch]

51-31 first three months. 41-39 last 3 months. But yes, I was wrong. I think every non sox fan under the sun picked the sox to finish under or at .500

[moonslav59]

51-31 first three months. 41-39 last 3 months. But yes, I was wrong. I think every non sox fan under the sun picked the sox to finish under or at .500

 

We had a lot of question marks, but so did just about every team, except maybe 3-4.

 

Sure, we got a big season from Eovaldi, and Sale did well upon his return, but the rest of our starters barely met expectations, at best.

 

Our pen did about as expected, although not evenly during the year. Whitlock surprised, but others underperformed.

 

Vaz hit about 140 points less than his previous 2 year average. Bogey declined while in prime. Devers did very well, but not a career year as he might have been expected to have at his age. JD followed a normal bell curve decline for his age.

 

Renfroe surprised- Verdugo under-performed.

Kike did well, which I expected, but many did not.

Dalbec declined from 2020, but had a solid year.

2B was a position in flux, all year.

We got less than nothing from Cordero, Marwin, Santana, Duran and others.

 

All-in-all, it looks like our players did about as expected- some better- some worse.

 

Cora made a big difference. Bloom's mid-season additions made a big difference, despite the early struggles and harsh criticisms from fans and the media.

 

Knowing what we know now, and taking into account the 41-39 record to end the season, if we ran back the season, with the team we have right now (no Marwin,Cordero, Andriese...), how many wins would you project? (Assuming Schwarber, Sale, Houck and others for the whole season)

[harmony]

The Red Sox played precisely .500 ball after the All Star break until getting a final chance to feast on the NL East. With the sweep of the Washington Nationals the Sox finished 37-34 after the All Star break and 16-4 against the NL East.

 

Good luck in the postseason.

[notin]

A perennial candidate for the Nostradumbass Award.

 

I was going to say something to that exact effect, but I felt it was a bit harsh...

[notin]

51-31 first three months. 41-39 last 3 months. But yes, I was wrong. I think every non sox fan under the sun picked the sox to finish under or at .500

 

And we didn't respect their opinions either...

[mvp 78]

And we didn't respect their opinions either...

 

What they were experiencing was the RECENCY EFFECT where they just forgot that the Sox are a good franchise who can turn it around quickly.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

What they were experiencing was the RECENCY EFFECT where they just forgot that the Sox are a good franchise who can turn it around quickly.

 

Sarcasm? What I was experiencing in 2020 was the worst pitching staff on any Red Sox team I've ever seen, and that includes over half a century of watching and listening.

 

I didn't expect ERod to lead the team in pitching wins (even though he wasn't as good as '19) or anything at all from Sale.

[moonslav59]

The Red Sox played precisely .500 ball after the All Star break until getting a final chance to feast on the NL East. With the sweep of the Washington Nationals the Sox finished 37-34 after the All Star break and 16-4 against the NL East.

 

 

This obsession cannot be healthy.

[mvp 78]

Sarcasm? What I was experiencing in 2020 was the worst pitching staff on any Red Sox team I've ever seen, and that includes over half a century of watching and listening.

 

I didn't expect ERod to lead the team in pitching wins (even though he wasn't as good as '19) or anything at all from Sale.

 

I expected them to not roll out Mazza and Weber again.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I expected them to not roll out Mazza and Weber again.

 

Me neither. But the only new guy they really brought in to start was coming off a major injury... and Richards turned out to be a flop. A huge part of the turnaround came from unexpected sources in the bullpen: Whitlock in multi-inning relief and Barnes with a lights-out first half.

[moonslav59]

Me neither. But the only new guy they really brought in to start was coming off a major injury... and Richards turned out to be a flop. A huge part of the turnaround came from unexpected sources in the bullpen: Whitlock in multi-inning relief and Barnes with a lights-out first half.

 

Pivetta had only started 2 games for us in 2020 (none for Philly), so I kinda view him as a new addition to the 2022 team and staff.

 

We also had no ERod or Sale in 2020. This is part of the reason we were able to dump many pitchers from 2020 and only added Richards, Whiltock and Sawamura (+Andriese) over the winter.

[Sox75]

I nailed the pen and that they would get worse and worse. I did not nail that they would start out the year like gangbusters

 

Speaking of nails....

 

Last one in the Yanks coffin.

 

You mocked 93 wins? How ya like me now? "How ya like them apples," big Apple ?

 

Honestly.... I'm generally not for rubbing it in. BUT! In this case, I'd love to hear a dramatic reading by Morgan Freeman of your ******** through the year?

 

Talk about poetry? Oh yeh! POETIC JUSTICE!

 

93 BABY! NAILED IT! Check the date & time!

Edited October 6, 2021 by Sox75

[Sox75]

Of course the season thread right before the season started was moved right at the end of the season.

 

Hell of a year!

 

Turns out Bloom did a hell of a job, and we were 1 or two pitching pieces away from a WS.

 

SO disappointing, but then again.... SO MUCH DAMNED FUN! So encouraging!

 

Very proud of Cora, all our players, and... Bloom.

 

We'll get em next year!

[dgalehouse]

If it makes folks feel better to say that this season was wonderful and the team exceeded all expectations , so be it . Personally , I don't care for the notion that this was a band of gutty , gritty underdogs who shocked the world. It actually was a team of very talented and very highly paid players who performed much better than last year , but came up short. The areas where improvement is needed are readily apparent. Don't ever be happy with finishing tied for second .

[d-money]

Let’s hope for a good offseason becausse these other teams in the division will likely try to get better including the evil empire. The AL East is a tough division and probably will be the best division in baseball next year as well.

[moonslav59]

Let’s hope for a good offseason becausse these other teams in the division will likely try to get better including the evil empire. The AL East is a tough division and probably will be the best division in baseball next year as well.

 

Toronto has already claimed they will be spending more.

 

(Siemien and R Ray are bot FAs, so they need to- just to stay even,)

[Bellhorn04]

If it makes folks feel better to say that this season was wonderful and the team exceeded all expectations , so be it . Personally , I don't care for the notion that this was a band of gutty , gritty underdogs who shocked the world. It actually was a team of very talented and very highly paid players who performed much better than last year , but came up short. The areas where improvement is needed are readily apparent. Don't ever be happy with finishing tied for second .

 

I respect that view, but I don't think it's completely realistic.

 

Since Henry bought the team we've won 4 rings and made it to the ALCS 3 other times including this year.

 

And we're pretty well set up going forward.

 

I'm happy.

[Dojji]

I respect that view, but I don't think it's completely realistic.

 

Since Henry bought the team we've won 4 rings and made it to the ALCS 3 other times including this year.

 

And we're pretty well set up going forward.

 

I'm happy.

 

I agree. No one can win the World Series every year. We weren't set up to be a frontrunner. We made it to the CS as a Wild Cart team. That's overachieving.

 

The Red Sox weren't one of the 4 best teams in baseball this year and they won a play-in game and a postseason series, including beating one team (TB) that was way better than us on paper. Since we weren't a frontrunner this year, I'd call that success. I think you'd be had pressed not to be proud of this team. Especially if you're old enough to remember when getting to the CS with a fighting chance was something of a high water mark.

[moonslav59]

I respect that view, but I don't think it's completely realistic.

 

Since Henry bought the team we've won 4 rings and made it to the ALCS 3 other times including this year.

 

And we're pretty well set up going forward.

 

I'm happy.

 

Well said.

 

I really like the "going forward" aspect of this team most of all.