April 3rd, 2024 Red Sox still at Oakland-Alameda 3:37 EDT

[vegasbob]

Note the time guys, it's noon:37 for me.

 

Nick Pivetta going for win #1 and a clean sweep in Oakland . A key game that would insure a minimum .500 West Coast road trip opening the 2024 season. Nick can do this thing.

 

A's will be offering Ross Stripling, whose nickname is Chicken Strips , which rhymes with Chicken S...., not going there Ross out of respect for any MLB'er. Time to bust out some runs on Ross, whose ERA is over 7. and has a 1.80 WHIP

 

Sox hitting over these 6 games is inconsistent . Looking for a "professional " assessment of the hitting SSS to date by our more analytic posters. We do have a positive run differential of +14, but if you take out the 9-0 blowout vs the A's it is only 5 runs surplus and 4 of those were needed to get the other 3 victories so far. . The only losses so far were by a -2 so the Sox have a +3 in any event. The point is no one is really crushing the ball early this year.

 

Duran can run but Rafaella can catch and truly saved win #4 in the 11th.

 

Enjoying the 3 game win streak and looking forward to the sweep and games in Anaheim where I will be seeing these dudes in person Saturday night. Sleep Well, East Coasters.

[Hugh2]

Back in 2022 in 134 innings Stripling had a 3.01 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 134 innings. Never been great but the interesting thing about him is it seems the more innings he throws the better his numbers are. If he's healthy this year he could provide some stability to the A's team.

 

Maybe they can break 55 wins this year.

[Thunder]

Hey gang! Two more weeks of tax season and then I will be back here regularly! We’re 4-2, 2-0 in starts by Bello, but yet statistically, he’s our worst pitcher so far! How about that for the team with “no pitching”? Life is good. Can’t wait to get back to Boston and away from these 10 PM starts

[Thunder]

And enjoy the game this weekend, Vegasbob! I’m going to all 3 at PNC when the boys come knocking in my neck of the woods later this month!

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Hey gang! Two more weeks of tax season and then I will be back here regularly! We’re 4-2, 2-0 in starts by Bello, but yet statistically, he’s our worst pitcher so far! How about that for the team with “no pitching”? Life is good. Can’t wait to get back to Boston and away from these 10 PM starts

 

The 5 starters have turned heads, so far. The problem I see is the SOX have no depth in SP's. The odds that all of these 5 will be able to take the ball every 5 days is slim to none. But, otoh, let's enjoy it while it lasts.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Btw, congrats to Vegas for this mini winning streak. Keep up the great work.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

As for team offense so far, the SOX are second in the AL East in BA (.244). The Yankems are 1st (.245).

[mvp 78]

Back in 2022 in 134 innings Stripling had a 3.01 ERA and a 1.02 WHIP in 134 innings. Never been great but the interesting thing about him is it seems the more innings he throws the better his numbers are. If he's healthy this year he could provide some stability to the A's team.

 

Maybe they can break 55 wins this year.

 

Wood

Blackburn

Stripling

 

I mean, it's not horrible if they're healthy... Sears threw 170+ last year. Boyle just really has control problems and is probably a 5th starter or whatever.

[mvp 78]

As for team offense so far, the SOX are second in the AL East in BA (.244). The Yankems are 1st (.245).

 

Yanks are really dragged down by their RFer this year.

[mvp 78]

The 5 starters have turned heads, so far. The problem I see is the SOX have no depth in SP's. The odds that all of these 5 will be able to take the ball every 5 days is slim to none. But, otoh, let's enjoy it while it lasts.

 

Gambrell, Criswell and Van Belle all were scoreless in their first outings of the year too. WooSox starter ERA is 1.00 so far.

[Maxbialystock]

Note the time guys, it's noon:37 for me.

 

Nick Pivetta going for win #1 and a clean sweep in Oakland . A key game that would insure a minimum .500 West Coast road trip opening the 2024 season. Nick can do this thing.

 

A's will be offering Ross Stripling, whose nickname is Chicken Strips , which rhymes with Chicken S...., not going there Ross out of respect for any MLB'er. Time to bust out some runs on Ross, whose ERA is over 7. and has a 1.80 WHIP

 

Sox hitting over these 6 games is inconsistent . Looking for a "professional " assessment of the hitting SSS to date by our more analytic posters. We do have a positive run differential of +14, but if you take out the 9-0 blowout vs the A's it is only 5 runs surplus and 4 of those were needed to get the other 3 victories so far. . The only losses so far were by a -2 so the Sox have a +3 in any event. The point is no one is really crushing the ball early this year.

 

Duran can run but Rafaella can catch and truly saved win #4 in the 11th.

 

Enjoying the 3 game win streak and looking forward to the sweep and games in Anaheim where I will be seeing these dudes in person Saturday night. Sleep Well, East Coasters.

 

Fascinating OP.

 

Right now, very early days, of course, the Sox are 4-2 and 1 game behind the 1st place Yankees because the Sox team ERA, 1.79, is ranked #1 in all of MLB.

 

The Sox team OPS, on the other hand, is .667, ranked 19th. The hitting stinks, but not completely.

 

And, as moonslav predicted, the Sox defense is above average, never more so than when Rafaela made that incredible grab last night in extra innings.

 

Also worth noting: all 13 position players either batted or fielded or both last night; and 5 of the 8 relievers pitched. You think Cora wanted to win this game?

 

That included at least two fascinating moves. One was replacing starting catcher Wong with "back-up" catcher Wright. Part of that was bringing in a lefty bat, but I think maybe Cora was also deliberately balancing the IP by both catchers. We'll see.

 

The other rather stunning move was to move Casas from DH to 1B to replace Dalbec, which meant giving up the DH for the rest of the game. Abreu pinch hit for Dalbec in the 6th inning and played RF with O'Neill moving to LF.

[vegasbob]

Fascinating OP.

 

Right now, very early days, of course, the Sox are 4-2 and 1 game behind the 1st place Yankees because the Sox team ERA, 1.79, is ranked #1 in all of MLB.

 

The Sox team OPS, on the other hand, is .667, ranked 19th. The hitting stinks, but not completely.

 

And, as moonslav predicted, the Sox defense is above average, never more so than when Rafaela made that incredible grab last night in extra innings.

 

Also worth noting: all 13 position players either batted or fielded or both last night; and 5 of the 8 relievers pitched. You think Cora wanted to win this game?

 

That included at least two fascinating moves. One was replacing starting catcher Wong with "back-up" catcher Wright. Part of that was bringing in a lefty bat, but I think maybe Cora was also deliberately balancing the IP by both catchers. We'll see.

 

The other rather stunning move was to move Casas from DH to 1B to replace Dalbec, which meant giving up the DH for the rest of the game. Abreu pinch hit for Dalbec in the 6th inning and played RF with O'Neill moving to LF.

 

I think AC managed his resources very well last night, got players in the righty positions to win a game. This guy may have a future in managing baseball teams. Note the few errors this year so far, and as Moon says, look at the plays MADE that never sho up in box scores.

[mvp 78]

Duran LF

Devers 3B

Story SS

Casas 1B

Yoshida DH

Rafaela CF

Valdez 2B

McGuire C

Abreu RF

[Maxbialystock]

The 5 starters have turned heads, so far. The problem I see is the SOX have no depth in SP's. The odds that all of these 5 will be able to take the ball every 5 days is slim to none. But, otoh, let's enjoy it while it lasts.

 

I can hardly remember a season when one or more starters haven't dropped out because of injury, illness, or lousy pitching. That's why moonslav is predicting how many of the current 5 will throw 150 innings each.

 

So, while I agree lack of depth is going to be a problem, I also think it's endemic to the Sox "system."

 

Of more importance is that this pitching staff has been incredible for the first six games and have the lowest ERA in MLB.

[Maxbialystock]

I think AC managed his resources very well last night, got players in the righty positions to win a game. This guy may have a future in managing baseball teams. Note the few errors this year so far, and as Moon says, look at the plays MADE that never sho up in box scores.

 

Yes, AC might have a future.

 

In fact, he's kind of a litmus test for which talksoxers don't know spit from shinola about managing. In game 3, for example, a whole bunch attacked Cora for not using Jansen. Not one asked the question, "why wasn't Jansen used?" They just assumed Cora was stupid.

[mvp 78]

I can hardly remember a season when one or more starters haven't dropped out because of injury, illness, or lousy pitching.

 

2004

[vegasbob]

Taking a look at some SSS stats , if .700 OPS is a floor for a productive hitter, then we have 4 guys at that level or higher led by O'Neill at 1.145 ( Duvall April 2023 memories anyone ?), and Devers/Story at the bottom of the 4 with .707/.706 respectively. The other guy--

Reese Mcguire at .962 through 12 AB's. Guys with difficulty so far, Casa and Valdez at .535-.500. The dog without a bone is Not Ready For Prime Time, Wilyer Abreu (.350 OPS) who does need work at WooSox in multiple areas.-

 

So why is Abreu in RF and O'Neill sitting today. Scheduled day off or minor soreness?

[mvp 78]

I think they are going to keep giving Abreu AB's because it's only the 2nd series of the year. No real reason to freak out yet. If he's OPS'ing 500 on Memorial Day, then you send him down. For now, the sample sizes are too small to worry.

[mvp 78]

BTW, fielding ERROR on Rafaela. DFA!

[mvp 78]

Sox playing this one like a getaway day............

[mvp 78]

Abreu heard the doubts.

[mvp 78]

What the f*** Devers......

[vegasbob]

What the f*** Devers......

 

Was that a double steal that Devers should have swung through or a run/hit and he got some bad luck when Stripling speared it ?

[vegasbob]

Pivetta still throwing blanks through 3 . Hitters batting blanks through 3. Need a breakout inning here

 

Abreu did get a hit so there's that

[vegasbob]

Pivetta treated to the absolute minimum lead possible in baseball, 1-0 . Holds up well through 4 with another nice play at the Cf wall by Rafaela, not quite the hard running catych of last night, but enough to save a run and help hold Pivetta's and the Sox lead.

 

Interesting debate on how to quantify the value of difficult plays made to save runs vs rbi's from hits/ productive outs. Cedanne is a player in any event

[vegasbob]

Pretty soon Duran, the OBP machine, will weary of Devers failure to hit behind him. Even Jarren cannot outrun the DP balls being served up by Raffy.

 

Rafaela is out-stating Devers at the plate right now. Yes, this is an intentional slight at Devers who needs to get going.

[Bellhorn04]

A little worried that Devers's shoulder isn't right.

[vegasbob]

Story has an example of a play NOT MADE, but no error, that may cost Pivetta this inning. Should have been an inning ending DP, but turns into a hit given Trevor's matador defense.

 

Followed by a check swing "bunt" hit to load the bases. Worse yet, Joely Rodriguez is warming up.

[vegasbob]

This time Story makes the play and Pivetta holds his shutout. Get some runs, boys.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

A little worried that Devers's shoulder isn't right.

 

It must not have been right for the last month of last season either.