10/3 at Nats

[mvp 78]

Sale vs Adon

 

Adon’s first career start. Had a 5 ERA in MiLB this season.

 

Sale needs to make up for the Mountcastle HR.

 

Let’s go!!!

[iortiz]

If Sox make the POs and play vs TB I’ll be in Boston. Let’s f go!

[moonslav59]

Going against a no name SP'er scares me as much as the ace.

 

We worked hard this season to get to here. Win and we're in.

 

Don't mess this up!

 

Best case scenario, the Yanks lose, and have to play someone before coming to Boston to play us.

[moonslav59]

Sunday's games all start at 3:05 Eastern Time

 

BOS (Sale) @ WSH (Adon)

 

TBR (Wacha) @ NYY (Taillon)

 

BAL (Zimmerman) @ TOR (Ryu)

 

LAA (Detmers) @ SEA (Anderson)

[Old Red]

Going against a no name SP'er scares me as much as the ace.

 

We worked hard this season to get to here. Win and we're in.

 

Don't mess this up!

 

Best case scenario, the Yanks lose, and have to play someone before coming to Boston to play us.

 

Don’t we want to play the Yankees? It takes the excitement to a whole different level. It is nice to play in Fenway, but I’m not sure if it’s any advantage. The Yankees love to play in Fenway.

[TylerD]

Doesn’t need to be said how important this game is. Let’s go !!

[Thunder]

Sale on the hill to give us home field on Tuesday. Big fan

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Despite the offensive troubles, the Red Sox will be heavy favorites in this one. Sale, making his ninth start since returning from Tommy John surgery, faces the 23-year-old right-hander Adon, who will be making his major league debut. Sale is 5-1 with a 2.90 ERA and has topped out at six innings and 90 pitches so far, so he might not go too deep. Adon, meanwhile, spent most of 2021 at Class A Wilmington, where he had a 4.97 ERA in 17 starts, before making two starts at Double-A and one at Triple-A. He is the Nationals' No. 22 prospect, according to MLB.com. "He's one of our young, up-and-coming guys, so I want to see how he does," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said of Adon. It feels like Martinez is handing the Red Sox a bit of a gift here.

 

If you listen closely, you can hear the ESPN writer fingering the voodoo doll.

[TylerD]

Sale on the hill to give us home field on Tuesday. Big fan

 

Yup!!! Let’s hope he can deliver us 6 strong innings today and give us the best chance to win.

[moonslav59]

Don’t we want to play the Yankees? It takes the excitement to a whole different level. It is nice to play in Fenway, but I’m not sure if it’s any advantage. The Yankees love to play in Fenway.

 

I thought I was a contrarian.

 

You'd rather we play them at NY?

[moonslav59]

Playing vs a righty, I'm going to project this line-up:

 

NOT the official line-up:

 

1. Kike 2B

2. Schwarber LF

3. Bogey SS

4. Devers 3B

5. JD RF

6. Renfroe CF

7. Dalbec 1B

8. Vazquez C

9. Sale P

 

One alternate might be Verdugo in LF, Schwaber at 1B and Dalec on the bench.

 

[Old Red]

I thought I was a contrarian.

 

You'd rather we play them at NY?

 

Stop over analyzing everything. I’m just saying that playing in Fenway against the Yankees is no advantage. If you don’t believe me ask Judge, and Stanton. I want the Yankees, and I’ll play them anywhere. Go big, or go home.

[moonslav59]

Stop over analyzing everything. I’m just saying that playing in Fenway against the Yankees is no advantage. If you don’t believe me ask Judge, and Stanton. I want the Yankees, and I’ll play them anywhere. Go big, or go home.

 

How is asking you if you'd rater us play the Yanks in NY overanalyzing?

 

How did starting Houck over Sale work out for you? Still wanna fire Cora?

 

Man up, and answer some questions and take ownership when wrong.

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

When I first saw on the schedule that the Nats were starting a pitcher named Joan Adon, my first thought was is this the first female to appear in a MLB game? It turned out that Joan was a guy, but either way, the SOX shouldn't lose to a Joan.

Btw, my favorite Joan is Joan Jett.

Edited October 3, 2021 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[Old Red]

How is asking you if you'd rater us play the Yanks in NY overanalyzing?

 

How did starting Houck over Sale work out for you? Still wanna fire Cora?

 

Man up, and answer some questions and take ownership when wrong.

 

 

It worked out with Houck, but I still would have Started Sale. As for Cora I’m not a Cora fan, and wouldn’t have hired him back in the first place. I thought he should have been banned from baseball for a long long time for his trashcan caper, which wasn’t just a simple little stealing of signs, and he got off way to easy, and so did the players.

[Maxbialystock]

How is asking you if you'd rater us play the Yanks in NY overanalyzing?

 

How did starting Houck over Sale work out for you? Still wanna fire Cora?

 

Man up, and answer some questions and take ownership when wrong.

 

 

You're almost as mean as me.

[Maxbialystock]

It worked out with Houck, but I still would have Started Sale. As for Cora I’m not a Cora fan, and wouldn’t have hired him back in the first place. I thought he should have been banned from baseball for a long long time for his trashcan caper, which wasn’t just a simple little stealing of signs, and he got off way to easy, and so did the players.

 

It worked out!!?? Forget Houck and think about the simple fact that Sale does the same amount of good pitching Saturday or Sunday because both games were/are crucial. So why oh why pitch Sale on short rest when he has shown--see moonslav's stats--that he struggles this year on short rest and in fact benefits from an extra day of rest.

 

As for the sign-stealing, I agree it was bad, but guess what? MLB--the Commish himself--made a judgment call on what penalty was appropriate. And let's not forget the Dustin Pedroia was up to his eyeballs in stealing signals a few years ago.

 

Moreover, sad to say, I think MLB is entering a period when it will be harder and harder for pitchers to mask their intended pitches. I have a suspicion, for example, that the Rays, who love video and computer programs, may have discovered a way to determine a pitcher's "tell" no matter how hard he tries to mask it.

 

I personally think the Alex Cora is not only a good manager, but a good guy overall--the signal stealing notwithstanding.

[Maxbialystock]

Going against a no name SP'er scares me as much as the ace.

 

We worked hard this season to get to here. Win and we're in.

 

Don't mess this up!

 

Best case scenario, the Yanks lose, and have to play someone before coming to Boston to play us.

 

That's not what worries me.

 

What does worry me is the Sox bullpen, now about to pitch in their 6th straight game without a break and without the depth they had the first three months of the season or even earlier this month. No matter how good Sale is, it is unlikely he will go more than 6 innings. My guess is he could go 5 and give up 1 or no runs. But this bullpen right now is perfectly capable of given up 2, 3, or 4 runs in the 3 or 4 innings they pitch today. Chances are good the defense will make their jobs even tougher.

 

Meanwhile, the Sox offense is still struggling. Last night they waited until the 9th freaking inning before finally getting some runs. Before that, it was 1 run nail-biter against a team with weak pitching--significantly weaker than the Sox, who are not so hot themselves.

[moonslav59]

It worked out with Houck, but I still would have Started Sale. As for Cora I’m not a Cora fan, and wouldn’t have hired him back in the first place. I thought he should have been banned from baseball for a long long time for his trashcan caper, which wasn’t just a simple little stealing of signs, and he got off way to easy, and so did the players.

 

Thanks for answering one of the questions. I can understand your position on banning him.

 

Now, would you really rather we play NY in NY over Boston?

 

I know either place will not be easy.That wasn't my point, but pointing out I'd rather play them in Boston does not mean I think we'll certainly win there.

[moonslav59]

You're almost as mean as me.

 

I admitted I was wrong after the O's series. I even said he was right.

 

I expected him to do the same. If that's mean, then I guess I am.

[moonslav59]

It worked out!!?? Forget Houck and think about the simple fact that Sale does the same amount of good pitching Saturday or Sunday because both games were/are crucial. So why oh why pitch Sale on short rest when he has shown--see moonslav's stats--that he struggles this year on short rest and in fact benefits from an extra day of rest.

 

As for the sign-stealing, I agree it was bad, but guess what? MLB--the Commish himself--made a judgment call on what penalty was appropriate. And let's not forget the Dustin Pedroia was up to his eyeballs in stealing signals a few years ago.

 

Moreover, sad to say, I think MLB is entering a period when it will be harder and harder for pitchers to mask their intended pitches. I have a suspicion, for example, that the Rays, who love video and computer programs, may have discovered a way to determine a pitcher's "tell" no matter how hard he tries to mask it.

 

I personally think the Alex Cora is not only a good manager, but a good guy overall--the signal stealing notwithstanding.

 

It should be noted that recognizing "tells" by pitchers is not illegal, unless a team is relaying messages to players via video.

 

It's not illegal for a runner at 2B or a 3B coach to see something and send a signal to the batter.

 

Correct me, if I'm wrong.

[Old Red]

It worked out!!?? Forget Houck and think about the simple fact that Sale does the same amount of good pitching Saturday or Sunday because both games were/are crucial. So why oh why pitch Sale on short rest when he has shown--see moonslav's stats--that he struggles this year on short rest and in fact benefits from an extra day of rest.

 

As for the sign-stealing, I agree it was bad, but guess what? MLB--the Commish himself--made a judgment call on what penalty was appropriate. And let's not forget the Dustin Pedroia was up to his eyeballs in stealing signals a few years ago.

 

Moreover, sad to say, I think MLB is entering a period when it will be harder and harder for pitchers to mask their intended pitches. I have a suspicion, for example, that the Rays, who love video and computer programs, may have discovered a way to determine a pitcher's "tell" no matter how hard he tries to mask it.

 

I personally think the Alex Cora is not only a good manager, but a good guy overall--the signal stealing notwithstanding.

 

Cora, and Houston took the trashcan, and took it to a whole other level. Teams have been stealing signs for 100 years, but nothing like this, and neither did Pedroia.Short rest today doesn’t mean the same as it used to when starters went every 4th day, and if you didn’t throw 100 pitches you didn’t pitch, so this short rest thing throwing 75 pitches is just a fallacy.

[Old Red]

I admitted I was wrong after the O's series. I even said he was right.

 

I expected him to do the same. If that's mean, then I guess I am.

 

Houck worked out, but you don’t know what Sale would have done unless you have a crystal ball, which you seem to have.

[TylerD]

Anyway. Arguing aside. I would personally rather play the Mariners. I just think we have a better chance against them. Yankees seem to have our number lately and touched up Nate pretty good the last time he played them. I want to go as far as we possibly can in the playoffs, and I think we match up a lot better against the Mariners than we do the Yankees.

 

With that said, I am just happy to play whoever in a wildcard round assuming we make it.

[moonslav59]

That's not what worries me.

 

What does worry me is the Sox bullpen, now about to pitch in their 6th straight game without a break and without the depth they had the first three months of the season or even earlier this month. No matter how good Sale is, it is unlikely he will go more than 6 innings. My guess is he could go 5 and give up 1 or no runs. But this bullpen right now is perfectly capable of given up 2, 3, or 4 runs in the 3 or 4 innings they pitch today. Chances are good the defense will make their jobs even tougher.

 

Meanwhile, the Sox offense is still struggling. Last night they waited until the 9th freaking inning before finally getting some runs. Before that, it was 1 run nail-biter against a team with weak pitching--significantly weaker than the Sox, who are not so hot themselves.

 

Great point. I guess I was thinking, if we can erupt for for a bunch of crooked numbers, then what our staff does might not matter as much.

 

As for the pen and the 5 straight days of heavy lifting and breakdowns, here is a breakdown of who has been used and how many pitches they threw in each appearance:

 

Pitches thrown in the last 5 games (first number is yesterday and the rest are in reverse order.)

 

27-10-4-22-0 Brasier

18-22-10-5-0 Robles

17-13-17-0-0 Ottavino

0- 0- 0- 0- 0 Whitlock (last game Sept 19)

14-0-17-0- 0 Richards

0- 17-17-9-0 Barnes

13-0-0- 0- 0 Davis

0-15-0- 0- 0 DHern

 

OPS Against in last 6 games:

.411 Robles

.440 Brasier

.536 Eovaldi (as a starter)

.636 Barnes

.657 ERod (as a starter)

.744 Pivetta (as a starter)

.899 Richards

1.850 Ottavino

2.000 DHern

2.500 Davis

n/a Sawamura

n/a Bazardo

n/a Perez

n/a Valdez

 

 

[moonslav59]

Houck worked out, but you don’t know what Sale would have done unless you have a crystal ball, which you seem to have.

 

I've never even hinted at knowing what will happen. I give my opinions on what I think will happen.

 

Maybe Sale goes 6 shut out innings instead of 5, yesterday, despite being on short rest for the first time in years. Why is it so hard to admit Cora got this one right.

 

We have Sale going on normal rest, today, and Houck did everything we could have asked for an more, yesterday.

 

Is your hatred for Cora so deep, you can't even admit he got one thing right?

 

BTW, I didn't "get it right." I thought we might start Eovaldi, today (on short rest), if needed.

 

I'm not sure we can say it is a 100% needed, since today is not an elimination game, but life sure would be easier by winning, today.

 

I'm glad we are starting Sale, today.

 

I think we might win the WC game, but I doubt we'll be favorites, even if it's at Boston (presumably Cole v Eovaldi).

 

I don't think we'll advance past the Rays. It would be close to a miracle.

 

No crystal ball- just my opinions, which I readily and often admit are wrong.

[moonslav59]

Anyway. Arguing aside. I would personally rather play the Mariners. I just think we have a better chance against them. Yankees seem to have our number lately and touched up Nate pretty good the last time he played them. I want to go as far as we possibly can in the playoffs, and I think we match up a lot better against the Mariners than we do the Yankees.

 

With that said, I am just happy to play whoever in a wildcard round assuming we make it.

 

The best part of that scenario is that the M's would win, today, and NY would lose. NY would then pitch Cole vs the M's and we'd play a tired M's at home.

[TylerD]

The best part of that scenario is that the M's would win, today, and NY would lose. NY would then pitch Cole vs the M's and we'd play a tired M's at home.

 

I could go for that all day!!! So I’m assuming we would start Nate?

[moonslav59]

I could go for that all day!!! So I’m assuming we would start Nate?

 

He lines up for it, but it might depend, if we use him, today.

Edited October 3, 2021 by moonslav59

[Maxbialystock]

Houck worked out, but you don’t know what Sale would have done unless you have a crystal ball, which you seem to have.

 

Unbelievable. You really don't get it. You keep insisting Sale had to pitch on short rest when he could pitch today with regular rest because both games, yesterday and today, are equally important.

 

Yesterday the Sox were playing their fifth game in five days, so it made sense to insert Houck back into the rotation, which in turn allowed Sale to pitch with regular rest.