28th of May Boston @ Arizona

[Nick]

I didn't like pitch selection in 1st inning.

 

Nothing but hard stuff.

 

All the Rays pitchers learn to throw a changeup.

 

Whitlock was successul in part due to speed differentials last night.

 

So i will blow up two over blown thoughts.

 

1 Houk gets worse second and third time around. How did that work today?

 

2 Wong is sooooo much better defesively. Who caught Whitlock last night?

 

Now I do like Wong better because of his athleticism.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Nick

[Bellhorn04]

So i will blow up two over blown thoughts.

 

1 Houk gets worse second and third time around. How did that work today?

 

2 Wong is sooooo much better defesively. Who caught Whitlock last night?

 

Now I do like Wong better because of his athleticism.

 

It was a fact that Houck did much better the first time through the order. Maybe he's altering something in his approach.

[moonslav59]

This looks like a game the Sox have no hope of winning, but I find both pitchers fascinating. Kelly continues to dominate our guys every which way but loose. But Houck now seems to have settled in.

 

Don’t give up, Max. Maybe Kelly won’t go 9.

[Maxbialystock]

I didn't like pitch selection in 1st inning.

 

Nothing but hard stuff.

 

All the Rays pitchers learn to throw a changeup.

 

Whitlock was successul in part due to speed differentials last night.

 

So i will blow up two over blown thoughts.

 

1 Houk gets worse second and third time around. How did that work today?

 

2 Wong is sooooo much better defesively. Who caught Whitlock last night?

 

Now I do like Wong better because of his athleticism.

 

Yes, too much hard stuff in the first inning, but that's endemic to the entire Sox rotation. Even Kluber threw a ton of 88 mph fastballs.

 

Whitlock threw a lot of changeups--good ones.

 

Houck got better today, which really goes back to your first point. Too many fastballs in the first inning.

 

McGuire was terrific the whole game last night--and I made a big point of it. No else did and certainly not you. I concluded we have two good catchers.

 

Your point about the Rays pitchers reconfirms they know what they are doing in developing pitchers. The Sox don't know what they are doing--yet.

 

Speaking off changeups, Kelly has a good one and uses it a lot.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Maxbialystock

[Bellhorn04]

Kelly is painting, as Eck would say. He has so much movement on his pitches.

[notin]

I didn't like pitch selection in 1st inning.

 

Nothing but hard stuff.

 

All the Rays pitchers learn to throw a changeup.

 

Whitlock was successul in part due to speed differentials last night.

 

So i will blow up two over blown thoughts.

 

1 Houk gets worse second and third time around. How did that work today?

 

2 Wong is sooooo much better defesively. Who caught Whitlock last night?

 

Now I do like Wong better because of his athleticism.

 

Right.

 

So you’re saying that Houck’s issues with facing the lineup a second and third time can be mitigated if he would just let himself get obliterated in the first…

[vegasbob]

Can't wait for Devers contract to kick in so he can start hitting again. His OPS has finally reached mortal levels at .787

[moonslav59]

That might have been our best and only chance, today.

Big K by AZ

[Maxbialystock]

That might have been our best and only chance, today.

Big K by AZ

 

Devers maybe needed a couple more days of rest. Duran too.

 

But it's still turned into one heckuva ballgame. I'm watching every pitch.

[Maxbialystock]

Sox bullpen has been good, including 2 innings by Pivetta.

[vegasbob]

Pivetta gets 9 outs reasonably efficiently. Keeps Boston in the game for a 9th inning shot. Time for a comeback.

[Maxbialystock]

First inning killed us--unless something happens in the 9th.

[vegasbob]

15 K's ends a 4-5 road trip west. Hitters are still pretty much in a slump mode. Fenway should get them back in action

[Maxbialystock]

Houck vs RHP Kelly

 

One game at a time!

 

Get the win, and we will be tied for the 8th best record in MLB.

 

So Sox!

 

 

Two big wins, just when needed the most!

 

And today's loss turned out to be a much better game than seemed likely after Houck gave up 3 in the 1st inning.

[illinoisredsox]

15 K's ends a 4-5 road trip west. Hitters are still pretty much in a slump mode. Fenway should get them back in action

 

4-5 trip to the West Coast is not a bad thing. There have been far worse results going back decades.

[Nick]

It was a fact that Houck did much better the first time through the order. Maybe he's altering something in his approach.

 

I'm messing with you all....disappointing day.

[Nick]

Yes, too much hard stuff in the first inning, but that's endemic to the entire Sox rotation. Even Kluber threw a ton of 88 mph fastballs.

 

Whitlock threw a lot of changeups--good ones.

 

Houck got better today, which really goes back to your first point. Too many fastballs in the first inning.

 

McGuire was terrific the whole game last night--and I made a big point of it. No else did and certainly not you. I concluded we have two good catchers.

 

Your point about the Rays pitchers reconfirms they know what they are doing in developing pitchers. The Sox don't know what they are doing--yet.

 

Speaking off changeups, Kelly has a good one and uses it a lot.

 

You are right......but in my defense, when the board talks about all the catching defensive metrics, it's way over my head. So although I didn't compliment McGuire, I didn't tear him down either. Sometimes it's good to be dumb or stupid. I'm more with Red, I have to watch to see how good they are...my eye test told me Duran and Casas sucked today.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Nick

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just finished watching this game which I recorded earlier. Two evenly matched teams. By evenly matched I mean neither team should make the PO's and both teams will probably finish a few games over .500.

Btw, the Devers' Show is getting tiresome, but it has been renewed for 10 more seasons.

[jad]

You are right......but in my defense, when the board talks about all the catching defensive metrics, it's way over my head. So although I didn't compliment McGuire, I didn't tear him down either. Sometimes it's good to be dumb or stupid. I'm more with Red, I have to watch to see how good they are...my eye test told me Duran and Casas sucked today.

 

Ha! Well I went with advance-stats metrics, and determined that Duran's 4 K's meant he had a minus xr1d83&*WAR today

[Maxbialystock]

You are right......but in my defense, when the board talks about all the catching defensive metrics, it's way over my head. So although I didn't compliment McGuire, I didn't tear him down either. Sometimes it's good to be dumb or stupid. I'm more with Red, I have to watch to see how good they are...my eye test told me Duran and Casas sucked today.

 

You made some excellent comments and I was just being a pissant. I sure don't know more about catchers than you do. I understand almost none of the so-called metrics. I gave McGuire credit because I saw Whitlock was struggling, yet found a way to be effective for 5 innings. Today I thought Wong did a good job, except for the first inning. And who knows? Maybe the pitching coach or Cora is telling starters to throw lots of fastballs in the first inning.

 

I hate losing--everyone does--but today I was delighted that the Sox made a game of it. Houck recovered, Rodriguez did well, Pivetta was effective for 3 scoreless innings, the Sox scored a couple of runs, etc. If the real Devers had shown up today, the Sox just might have pulled off a win.

[Maxbialystock]

Just finished watching this game which I recorded earlier. Two evenly matched teams. By evenly matched I mean neither team should make the PO's and both teams will probably finish a few games over .500.

Btw, the Devers' Show is getting tiresome, but it has been renewed for 10 more seasons.

 

My goodness, but that is harsh. I think the Sox have a very good shot at a wild card berth. Devers is clearly slumping, but it's barely a week old.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

My goodness, but that is harsh. I think the Sox have a very good shot at a wild card berth. Devers is clearly slumping, but it's barely a week old.

 

Devers' OPS didn't drop from way over .900 to under .800 in just a week.

[moonslav59]

Devers' OPS didn't drop from way over .900 to under .800 in just a week.

 

26 games at .697 is a long slump, but it's not like .697 is off-the-charts awful.

 

He still has 21 rbi and over that stretch, his numbers projected to 650 would be ...

 

.242 25 131

 

In 2022, he his .879.

He had a 34 game stretch at .588.

 

In 2021, he hit .890.

He had a 41 game stretch at .731.

 

In 2019, he hit .917.

He had a 26 game stretch at .716.

 

 

[notin]

Devers' OPS didn't drop from way over .900 to under .800 in just a week.

 

Devers has an OPS of .697 over his last 26 games…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Devers has an OPS of .697 over his last 26 games…

 

The problem with Devers' OPS -- and maybe the stat's importance when looking at a batter like Raffy -- is the O, which stands for On Base, which is affected by bases on balls. It's very hard for a hitter to walk, especially in late innings with runners on base, when he swings at every pitch -- even when the opposition refuses to throw strikes.

 

Through the first two months, basically one-third of a season, Devers has 10 walks. That's a lot less than the two worst hitters (by batting average) in the starting line-up: Kike 17, Casas 25. It's even less than part-timer Rob Refsnyder, who has 15 in over a hundred less plate appearances.

 

Raffy's On Base Percentage of .283 is ghastly, but it's not even as bad as known hackers like Javy Baez or Teoscar Hernandez, or so-far-overmatched youngsters Bobby Witt or Anthony He's-Not-Jeter-No-Matter-How-Much-MLB.com-Wants-Him-To-Be Volpe.

 

But we all want Devers to hit -- not walk -- as long as he doesn't hurt himself swinging as hard as he can at dirtballs or fastballs over his head... because there's no one else in the Red Sox organization that can follow him in the order and do similar damage to a baseball right now.

[Bellhorn04]

Raffy's 45-10 K-BB ratio (19-2 in May) is a bit alarming. But even the great ones have slumps. I think he'll turn it around and soon.

[Dipre]

This site becomes unreadable whenever the Sox lose a ballgame. Y'all need to chill out.

[moonslav59]

The good thing about Raffy is that his "slump" is only .697 with a seasonal pace or 130 rbis.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Raffy's 45-10 K-BB ratio (19-2 in May) is a bit alarming. But even the great ones have slumps. I think he'll turn it around and soon.

 

I'll bet not even fans of OPS really want Raffy to walk more, just K less. The only thing good about Devers getting a free pass is that he didn't swing and miss at too many pitches off the plate.

 

But every time he walks means that the next eight hitters in the batting order have less chance to crank one out of the park -- and opposing clubs are just fine with that.

 

To me, Raffy will really break out of his slump when his batting average rises about 30 points. And of course that will increase both his O plus S, but especially the slugging... because when line drives find the gap, the extra-base hits add up. And those are even better than walks (even with the bases loaded).

[Maxbialystock]

This site becomes unreadable whenever the Sox lose a ballgame. Y'all need to chill out.

 

True. But I think the griping is sort of medicinal and almost necessary.

 

My own, no doubt delusional view is that yesterday was actually a pretty good loss. Why? Because Houck got killed in the 1st inning while Kelly was just mowing our guys down.

 

But for the next 7 1/2 innings the Sox, with Houck going 3 more innings, then Rodriguez 1 and Pivetta 3, the Sox outplayed/outscored Arizona despite Devers having a lousy game (0 for 5, including a K with the bases loaded). Innings 2 thru 9, the Sox outscored the Diamondbacks 2-1.

 

I think the Sox pitching (rotation) is coming around, and believe the "no name" lineup will resurrect itself.