6/9/22 bos @ laa

[Bellhorn04]

Maybe Cora think we can win more games by not spreading out the "restings."

 

He minimizes the "sacrifice games."

 

(I'm not defending the choice- just trying to make sense of it.)

 

I think that may be it too.

[Maxbialystock]

Velasquez ? Of all the nothing hitters. Angels might outscore the Sox for the 4game series and still lose 3 of 4. Shame on Sox hitters for not busting this open

 

Boy, have you read this wrong. All three Sox wins in this series were by 1 run and 2 of the wins were with 1-0 scores. Winning 3 of 4 approached the mildly miraculous.

 

Plus last night Ohtani clearly had his good stuff--blazing fastball, nasty splitter, tough slider, etc--while going 7 innings. Meanwhile, Pivetta was so freaking lucky in the early innings it was ridiculous--like men on 1st and 2d who only advance one base on what should have a double and scored both of them, but the Angel on 2b couldn't make up his mind. Maybe he saw Angels in the outfield. If JBJ had been in RF, he would have been right and the ball would have been caught. But it was Cordero, the Sox primary defensive butcher.

[Maxbialystock]

Seven straight, including six straight on the West Coast. Not too shabby.

 

Sawamura stunk, of course, but the bullpen has otherwise been pretty decent. So has the rotation even though April Pivetta was on the mound last night. Hitting, however, has faltered in this series.

[Maxbialystock]

Crappy loss.

 

Sawamura should never pitch in a situation like that again. If we DFA him, I would not care.

 

The offense is sputtering, and it didn't help sitting Bogey & Story on the same night.

 

Time to beat up on the M's.

 

One game at a time.

 

Hmmm. If you reread that post, I think you will agree it cries out that the manager was at fault and pretty stupid. Bad lineup, bad decision on the bullpen.

 

I, on the other hand, thought we saw vintage Ohtani--on the mound and at the plate--who made our absolute best hitter (Devers), lefty bat vs. righty pitcher, look like a rookie. So, no, I don't agree Story and Bogey would have murdered Ohtani last night.

 

Yes, Sawamura did throw a fat pitch that cost the game. But you've ignored that he came in with 2 on and no one out and got two outs before that fat pitch. On top of that, you ignore that last night our starter was April Pivetta, Nick's kid sister, who was butchering the game but was saved by atrocious baserunning by the Angels.

 

You also sound like someone who thinks that good managers should win 10 of 10 games on a West Coast trip and that losing any of those games is unacceptable.

[moonslav59]

Hmmm. If you reread that post, I think you will agree it cries out that the manager was at fault and pretty stupid. Bad lineup, bad decision on the bullpen.

 

I, on the other hand, thought we saw vintage Ohtani--on the mound and at the plate--who made our absolute best hitter (Devers), lefty bat vs. righty pitcher, look like a rookie. So, no, I don't agree Story and Bogey would have murdered Ohtani last night.

 

Yes, Sawamura did throw a fat pitch that cost the game. But you've ignored that he came in with 2 on and no one out and got two outs before that fat pitch. On top of that, you ignore that last night our starter was April Pivetta, Nick's kid sister, who was butchering the game but was saved by atrocious baserunning by the Angels.

 

You also sound like someone who thinks that good managers should win 10 of 10 games on a West Coast trip and that losing any of those games is unacceptable.

 

I've never agreed that managers should go all out to win every game. It's a 162 game season.

 

Do I think Cora rests players too much? Maybe a little, but having players fressh in September and October is not a bad thing.

[moonslav59]

Seven straight, including six straight on the West Coast. Not too shabby.

 

Sawamura stunk, of course, but the bullpen has otherwise been pretty decent. So has the rotation even though April Pivetta was on the mound last night. Hitting, however, has faltered in this series.

 

Pivetta was struggling, but he still K'd 11 out of the 15 outs he got and left with just 2 runs scored off him. Sawamura let both inherited runners score to give Pivetta a worse line than he might have had with a capable middle man getting him out of the jam.

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Pivetta was struggling, but he still K'd 11 out of the 15 outs he got and left with just 2 runs scored off him. Sawamura let both inherited runners score to give Pivetta a worse line than he might have had with a capable middle man getting him out of the jam.

 

 

Pivetta didn't pitch that bad. He made one mistake to the Angels best batter in the line-up. The Angels' offense under normal conditions is bad, but with both Trout and Ward not playing, their offense is laughable.

[harmony]

The Red Sox won three of four games in Anaheim despite scoring only one run in each of two victories. Each team was held to only 10 runs in the four-game series.

 

Now having played 21 straight games against teams with current losing records, the Red Sox were fortunate.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

That Bra Man and Sawamura are still in the SOX BP confirms there is nothing better available at this time down on the farm, which probably shouldn't surprise anyone. Edited June 10, 2022 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[illinoisredsox]

Boy, have you read this wrong. All three Sox wins in this series were by 1 run and 2 of the wins were with 1-0 scores. Winning 3 of 4 approached the mildly miraculous.

 

Plus last night Ohtani clearly had his good stuff--blazing fastball, nasty splitter, tough slider, etc--while going 7 innings. Meanwhile, Pivetta was so freaking lucky in the early innings it was ridiculous--like men on 1st and 2d who only advance one base on what should have a double and scored both of them, but the Angel on 2b couldn't make up his mind. Maybe he saw Angels in the outfield. If JBJ had been in RF, he would have been right and the ball would have been caught. But it was Cordero, the Sox primary defensive butcher.

 

Well said.

 

There are several posters who, usually in the game threads, just don't seem to get that the other team has major league players too and think that every player on a bad team stinks. They'd have bitched if 1972 Steve Carlton had shut down the Sox because the Phillies that year sucked, One of the "fans" I recall from last night posted something about Ohtani being very hittable this year. That may be, but it only matters if he was hittable last night, and with the stuff he had yesterday, he really wasn't. He's shut down the Sox twice this year now.

 

Said posters also can't seem to fathom that streaks don't go on forever, positive or negative.

 

The Sox are 6-1 on this road trip. Which of us would not have signed up for that a week ago when they left Boston? Anyone who say they predicted that is a liar.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The Red Sox won three of four games in Anaheim despite scoring only one run in each of two victories. Each team was held to only 10 runs in the four-game series.

 

Now having played 21 straight games against teams with current losing records, the Red Sox were fortunate.

 

 

They'll even be more fortunate because they have Seattle next for 3 games. Not saying that Seattle will be easy, but they do have a losing record. I do believe that Seattle will end the season ahead of the Angels.

 

Note: My predictions are correct about 20% of the time.

Edited June 10, 2022 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[Bellhorn04]

The Red Sox won three of four games in Anaheim despite scoring only one run in each of two victories. Each team was held to only 10 runs in the four-game series.

 

Now having played 21 straight games against teams with current losing records, the Red Sox were fortunate.

 

The Red Sox have a 33-25 Pythagorean record, which suggests that overall they have not been fortunate.

 

Is winning 1-0 fortunate? Seems to me you have to pitch well to do so.

[Bellhorn04]

Pivetta was struggling, but he still K'd 11 out of the 15 outs he got and left with just 2 runs scored off him. Sawamura let both inherited runners score to give Pivetta a worse line than he might have had with a capable middle man getting him out of the jam.

 

 

Sawamura has a 3.10 ERA, 3.64 FIP and 1.03 WHIP - which is usually your stat of choice of relievers.

 

Those aren't decent stats for a middle reliever?

[harmony]

They'll even be more fortunate because they have Seattle next for 3 games. Not saying that Seattle will be easy, but they do have a losing record. I do believe that Seattle will end the season ahead of the Angels.

Indeed the Red Sox have another series (and their 24th straight game) against a team with a losing record

 

Since the humbling four-game Sox sweep at Fenway Park, the Mariners have gone 9-6, winning their last four series, including two series against the 36-21 Houston Astros.

 

The Mariners entered the earlier series with a better record than the Red Sox while the Sox enter this weekend's series with a better record than the Mariners. If the M's had merely split the series at Fenway Park the Mariners would now have a better record than the surging Sox. And if the queen had ....

 

This poster will attend Sunday's anticipated matchup of Garrett Whitlock and Robbie Ray.

[harmony]

The Red Sox have a 33-25 Pythagorean record, which suggests that overall they have not been fortunate.

 

Is winning 1-0 fortunate? Seems to me you have to pitch well to do so.

The post was specific to the Anaheim series. The Red Sox and Angels each scored 10 runs in their four-game series for Pythagorean records of 2-2.

[Bellhorn04]

The post was specific to the Anaheim series. The Red Sox and Angels each scored 10 runs in their four-game series for Pythagorean records of 2-2.

 

Yes, we got one back that Pythagoras owed us.

[moonslav59]

Sawamura has a 3.10 ERA, 3.64 FIP and 1.03 WHIP - which is usually your stat of choice of relievers.

 

Those aren't decent stats for a middle reliever?

 

Yes, his numbers, including his .572 OPS Against are good to very good.

 

I'm not sure why he bugs me so much.

 

He was demoted, at one point, so Cora must not have liked him all that much, either, at one point.

[mvp 78]

Yes, his numbers, including his .572 OPS Against are good to very good.

 

I'm not sure why he bugs me so much.

 

He was demoted, at one point, so Cora must not have liked him all that much, either, at one point.

 

They only use him in very low leverage situations. Cora does not trust him. You can see that Cora doesn't trust Valdez in how that guy is used too.

[moonslav59]

They only use him in very low leverage situations. Cora does not trust him. You can see that Cora doesn't trust Valdez in how that guy is used too.

 

Valdez had decent numbers, too, especially if you throw out his worst game (or two).

[moonslav59]

OPS Against 2022

 

.394 Schreiber

.539 Strahm

.554 Valdez

.616 Houck (some as a starter)

.621 Davis

.631 Whitlock (298 PAs against)

.641 Barnes 222

.659 Richards 113

.662 Taylor 209

.692 Robles 109

 

OPS Against in 2021 (Relief Only)

.493 Houck 42 (PAs)

.615 Rios (98 PAs against) another unsung Bloom addition

.631 Whitlock 298

.641 Barnes 222

.659 Richards 113

.692 Robles 109

.700 Valdez 177

.702 DHern 182

.728 Ottavino 276

.742 Brasier 50

.768 Sawamura 233

.773 Davis 75

.942 Andriese 177

 

2022 High Leverage PAs Against (OPS Against)

44 Robles .592

40 Houck .920 (some as starter)

37 Strahm .535

37 Diekman .736

24 Schreiber .481

22 Barnes .960

21 Brasier 1.535

13 Davis .580

12 Crawford .750

9 Danish 1.159

8 Sawamura .821

3 Valdez .667

 

2021

142 Ottavino .621

113 Barnes .657

102 Whitlock .657

61 Taylor .497 (Really missed in 2022)

56 DHern .732

44 Sawamura .570

42 Andriese 1.003

20 Robles .671

18 Valdez .533

15 Davis .449

13 Brasier .891

 

 

[mvp 78]

Valdez had decent numbers, too, especially if you throw out his worst game (or two).

 

He sat on the bench for long stretches of last season too for no reason. Cora just might not like the walks. IDK.

[moonslav59]

He sat on the bench for long stretches of last season too for no reason. Cora just might not like the walks. IDK.

 

If he disliked walks so much, he sure stuck with Ottavino and others much longer than Valdez.

 

Worst BB% 2021-2022 Combined

17 DHern & Diekman

15 Workman & Crawford

14 Rios

13 Ottavino

12 Sawamura

11 Taylor, Davis, Brice, Robles & Barnes

10 Valdez & Richards

9 Pivetta

8 Houck & Wacha

7 Perez, ERod & Sale

6 Andriese, Hill, Strahm & Whitlock

5 Schreiber & Brasier

4 Eovaldi

3 Danish