4/30 @ Baltimorioles

[Oscars]

The offense is the problem. Whitlock will continue to pitch key innings all year.

 

But this is a team that has scored 0 runs in 26 of their last 28 innings and has two home runs in their last 120 innings. A new closer won’t solve that…

 

6 starters with an OPS under .600 tells you how horrid this offence has been so far .

The Sox cannot continue to get the production from 1st base that they are currently getting.

[d-money]

Crazy how this season could be over before it even began. People always say it’s early but when you bury yourself like the Sox have done it’s hard to overcome. How you start a season matters and the Sox look pathetic without a care in the world. It’s gonna be a miserable season.

[Old Red]

If the Sox use Whitlock as a traditional 9th inning closer, which he should if he wants him available everyday, that would only affect one game so far this season - Springer’s home run.

 

This loss was on the offense. The pitching isn’t the problem. The Sox pitching has allowed 4 ER in the last 4 games, and you’re saying “that’s too many!!”??? A team gives up 4 runs in 4 games and only wins twice, and re-arranging pitching roles is the solution?!?!

 

Offense. Get it help…

 

A traditional closer does just not pitch the 9th inning. He could have come in the 8th inning yesterday with two outs, and locked down the win, so sorry I don’t agree with your assessment.

[Old Red]

6 starters with an OPS under .600 tells you how horrid this offence has been so far .

The Sox cannot continue to get the production from 1st base that they are currently getting.

 

1B, RF, 2B, CF, and C are problems at the moment, and Dugy has also tailed off. This is pretty much an offensive TEAM effort.

Edited May 1, 2022 by Old Red

[jacksonianmarch]

Crazy how this season could be over before it even began. People always say it’s early but when you bury yourself like the Sox have done it’s hard to overcome. How you start a season matters and the Sox look pathetic without a care in the world. It’s gonna be a miserable season.

 

Jays aren’t melting and the Yanks have found their sticks. Sox will need to start kicking it into gear to contend for the division. But 6 teams make the POs now. They’ll have their chance

[notin]

I already mentioned that the guys swinging the bats are the biggest problem, and Whitlock can’t fix that, but Whitlock closing will fix the problem of the games the Red Sox have lost already this year, because of not having any kind of closer.

 

 

How many games would that have fixed?

[Kimmi]

The Sox have six 1-run losses, two 2-run losses, and one 3-run loss. They are also 0-4 in extra inning games. It's not like the Sox are being pummeled in their losses (though to be fair, they're also not pummeling their opponents in their wins). The point is, as heartbreaking as these late and close losses are to take, they bode better for the team going forward than 5+ run losses would.

 

The offense will come around.

[Bellhorn04]

Alex Speier sums up the horrorshow rather eloquently

 

April’s grim conclusion arrived in familiar fashion for the Red Sox.

 

The season’s dizzying first month was characterized primarily by a woeful offense that scored two or fewer runs 10 times in 22 contests. That offensive outage, in turn, placed immense pressure on a pitching staff whose formless bullpen often toppled in narrow defeats.

 

Those elements were on display Saturday night at Camden Yards, where the Sox wasted a brilliant performance by starter Nate Eovaldi in a dispiriting 2-1, walkoff loss to the Orioles that concluded a 9-13 month of April that included an 0-4 record in extra-inning games and a 3-6 mark in one-run contests.

[notin]

A traditional closer does just not pitch the 9th inning. He could have come in the 8th inning yesterday with two outs, and locked down the win, so sorry I don’t agree with your assessment.

 

 

Very few closers get 6 out saves anymore. And there is a reason for that - it decreases their availability in subsequent games.

 

I was all for Whitlock/Houck ending games all off-season. Of course, once both showed they were effective, numerous have said “THEY BELONG IN THE ROTATION!!”

 

Which of course will happen a few more times.

 

But thinking “hey let’s move Whitlock to the closer!” is just using him to solve today’s problem. Just like it was when he people called for him to go to the rotation.

 

Meanwhile, this team isn’t scoring. And they are extremely unlikely to score more with a new closer. Sure they may win a couple games they wouldn’t have, but they will also change some wins to losses. Because that solution ignores the team’s most serious problem- that they don’t hit!

[notin]

Alex Speier sums up the horrorshow rather eloquently

 

April’s grim conclusion arrived in familiar fashion for the Red Sox.

 

The season’s dizzying first month was characterized primarily by a woeful offense that scored two or fewer runs 10 times in 22 contests. That offensive outage, in turn, placed immense pressure on a pitching staff whose formless bullpen often toppled in narrow defeats.

 

Those elements were on display Saturday night at Camden Yards, where the Sox wasted a brilliant performance by starter Nate Eovaldi in a dispiriting 2-1, walkoff loss to the Orioles that concluded a 9-13 month of April that included an 0-4 record in extra-inning games and a 3-6 mark in one-run contests.

 

 

All those extra inning losses were 1 run losses. They struggle to push ghost runners across.

 

None of this will change no matter how they re-arrange the pitching roles. They need to hit, and it’s going to be tough to get some offense from outside the system…

[Bellhorn04]

There's something desperately wrong with the hitting approach. Is it Fatse? I have no idea, but I've never seen such sustained futility.

 

Dalbec looks like permanent toast, I fear. And Bradley is getting close as well.

[Old Red]

Very few closers get 6 out saves anymore. And there is a reason for that - it decreases their availability in subsequent games.

 

I was all for Whitlock/Houck ending games all off-season. Of course, once both showed they were effective, numerous have said “THEY BELONG IN THE ROTATION!!”

 

Which of course will happen a few more times.

 

But thinking “hey let’s move Whitlock to the closer!” is just using him to solve today’s problem. Just like it was when he people called for him to go to the rotation.

 

Meanwhile, this team isn’t scoring. And they are extremely unlikely to score more with a new closer. Sure they may win a couple games they wouldn’t have, but they will also change some wins to losses. Because that solution ignores the team’s most serious problem- that they don’t hit!

 

Sorry, but I can’t play today, because there is more important things going on, which is namely the Celtics, so you are on your own today to fix the problems, which I’m sure won’t get fixed, and will be there tomorrow. Have a good day, and LETS GO CELTICS!

[Jasonbay44]

Does anybody know a site where it gives odds of a game being postponed or delayed? I have opportunity to go to the game today but the conditions look pretty s*****

[d-money]

The Sox have six 1-run losses, two 2-run losses, and one 3-run loss. They are also 0-4 in extra inning games. It's not like the Sox are being pummeled in their losses (though to be fair, they're also not pummeling their opponents in their wins). The point is, as heartbreaking as these late and close losses are to take, they bode better for the team going forward than 5+ run losses would.

 

The offense will come around.

 

Problem is they’re not making any ground. First and foremost they need to get back to 500. Yankees and blue jays just keep winning. That’s why it’s essential to have a good start to the season.

[cukes]

6 starters with an OPS under .600 tells you how horrid this offence has been so far .

The Sox cannot continue to get the production from 1st base that they are currently getting.

 

The bottom of this lineup is anemic, Bloom couldn't build a house out of Lego's, Benintendi is hitting 391, most other teams in both leagues have improved and we can't beat a mosquito with a can of Raid