Mets (Senga) vs Red Sox (Dobbins): 5/19/25, 6:45pm

[vegasbob]

16 minutes ago, Oscars said:

Abreu in a little funk, hitting .136 in his last 7 games 

Well that is what Wilyer gets, when he tries to pull and outside pitch and rolls it over .  The Mets infield alignment shows that any ball hit to the left of 2B would likely be available for a double, since virtually no one is more than 20' left of 2B.    So slap it that way and get working off your slump.

[FredLynn]

5 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

The young age of 34? What are you even talking about. 

Statistics are a bitch, aren’t they.

JBJ couldn’t find a job in baseball at age 33-because he couldn’t hit.

JBJ had a career OPS+ of 82.

Rafaela has a career OPS+ of 84

Same thing

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

If Rafaela wasn't an elite CF, he'd already be gone. Raf leads all CF's in defensive runs saved. Saving a run is equal to driving in a run 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Senga is one hell of a pitcher 

[FredLynn]

3 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

If Rafaela wasn't an elite CF, he'd already be gone. Raf leads all CF's in defensive runs saved. Saving a run is equal to driving in a run 

Yup

Hes a great CFer. Just like JBJ-who is no longer in baseball. 
How many runs had he cost us because he can’t hit?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Yup

Hes a great CFer. Just like JBJ-who is no longer in baseball. 
How many runs had he cost us because he can’t hit?

How many runs did he save because of his defense? I think we've kicked this dead horse enough.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

4 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Yup

Hes a great CFer. Just like JBJ-who is no longer in baseball. 
How many runs had he cost us because he can’t hit?

...

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

How many runs did he save because of his defense? I think we've kicked this dead horse enough.

Pointing out the obvious about Rafaela isn’t out of style. He’ll be gone within two years max.

Should be much shorter.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Tough break on that ball bouncing into the stands. Another tough break being that Story was next guy up.

[FredLynn]

Home plate ump is having a really hard time 

[FredLynn]

The wind knocked that down.

Guess who’s up!

Lets move on to the next inning.

[FredLynn]

Game over

Nice win

clean

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Good well-played win.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

22 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

 

...

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Here's hoping the Mets lose all their remaining games.

[vegasbob]

Amazing win over the amazin' Mets.

This game shows exactly why Ramon Vazquez should be manager in lieu of Cora.   Ramon is a winner.

Cora's record over '22,'23,24 and into '25 is below .500

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, vegasbob said:

Amazing win over the amazin' Mets.

This game shows exactly why Ramon Vazquez should be manager in lieu of Cora.   Rampn is a winner.

Cora's record over '22,'23,24 and into '25 is below .500

No argument from me.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Good well-played win.

Great job by the BP.

[vegasbob]

Vazquez told Bailey to take the night off as well

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It's disgusting a manager has to talk to a 785 mill player about hustling.

Soto is the perfect example of a prima donna.

[Maxbialystock]

40 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

If Rafaela wasn't an elite CF, he'd already be gone. Raf leads all CF's in defensive runs saved. Saving a run is equal to driving in a run 

I'm not listening (but had to on the radio feed, which I think is excellent) to any complaints about failure to hit with RISP, of which there was a lot.  The Sox pitching was excellent, and the hitters scored 3 runs off of a tough Kodai Sengai,   His  ERA  was 1.43 going into tonight's game, and he gave up 3 runs total in his last 6 games and 39.1 innings pitched.   Also, good defense--especially the 3 double plays.  

Watching the Sox pitchers was like watching the perils of Pauline, so a good thing the Mets were 1/8 with RISP. 

The radio team hammered the point that no way, no how would the Sox allow Dobbins to go through the Mets lineup a 3d time--and that's exactly what happened.  He left with 2 outs in the 5th and the Mets leadoff man, Lindor, coming to bat.  

Baseball is full of surprises.  

 

[moonslav59]

Wow, we only K'd 5 times!

Dobbins looked good. I think he deserved the win over Wilson, but let's not open the can of worms over pitcher win stats.

Good to see Duran hitting the ball hard and looking focused.

Beating good teams is what we have to do over the next few weeks and months.

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, Jasonbay44 said:

He’s 35 snd retired. He played 10 years in the majors. He was a good player who had some big moments. Acting like he sucked is a stupid take. 

Agree.   He played 144 games in CF for the 2018 team (best Sox team ever) and had the 5th best WAR on that team.  

[Maxbialystock]

25 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Vazquez told Bailey to take the night off as well

Maybe because there ain't no Bailey on the team.  

[Maxbialystock]

31 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Amazing win over the amazin' Mets.

This game shows exactly why Ramon Vazquez should be manager in lieu of Cora.   Ramon is a winner.

Cora's record over '22,'23,24 and into '25 is below .500

Meh.  It was Cora who set things up for tonight by using just one reliever last night.  In his first two seasons with the Sox he managed the best Sox team ever (108 wins, 11-3 in the postseason) with pretty close to the same players Farrell had the year before when he won 93 games and lost again in the ALDS.  The Sox had a winning record in 2019, but underperformed because the pitching collapsed.  Then came the 2020 nonseason.  In 2021, despite the losses of Betts, Price, Sale, Kimbrel and others from the 2018 crew, the Sox won 92 games.  Then, without a closer, the Sox beat the Yankees in the wild card and the 100 win Rays in the ALDS, and lost to the Astros in the ALCS, 4 games to 2.  

In the most recent 4 seasons (2022 thru 2025), the Sox pitching has been ranked 25th, 21st, 17th, and now 20th in team ERA.  In the three WS seasons Sox team ERA's were ranked 11th in 2004, 2d in 2007, and 14th in 2013.   I think those more recent ERA rankings reflect JH's reluctance to pay big money for great starters, which he was willing to do for Price and Sale and others.  Thus did Eovaldi, a player DD signed in midseason of 2018, leave the Sox when he asked for "too much money."  

On this Sox team, we have two players, Story and Yoshida, who are performing below their $140M and $105M pay packages--the result of CB.  Plus on this team we are missing Sale, who was given away by Breslow--along with his first year's salary with the Braves (where he won the Cy Young)-- and replaced him with Giolito ($40M for 2 years), who has been a disaster.  

Despite the above recitation, I agree managers are hired to be fired.  But I definitely think Cora is a keeper.  

[Maxbialystock]

38 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Wow, we only K'd 5 times!

Dobbins looked good. I think he deserved the win over Wilson, but let's not open the can of worms over pitcher win stats.

Good to see Duran hitting the ball hard and looking focused.

Beating good teams is what we have to do over the next few weeks and months.

Tonight was a fantastic win given who started for the Mets and that the Sox knew, going in, they could not let Dobbins face the Mets lineup a 3d team.  So he needed to be good, as did the bullpen.  Plus the Sox had to score 3 runs off a pitcher who gave up 3 runs total in his last 6 games and 39.2 IP.  

Tomorrow it's Buehler, just off the IL (but has 3 quality starts in 6 games) against Holmes, who has 3 quality starts in 9 games.   Gonzalez is still feeling discomfort and could be out another week.  So Sogard is likely to play 1b again.  

[Maxbialystock]

2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Hey-if you compare him with other bums you’ll be very pleased!

Did you know that from 2017-2023 he had only one season with an OPS+ over 92?

Great defensive player. Worthless with a bat, with rare exceptions.

Just like Rafaela 

It's beyond question that JBJ's playing time depended heavily on his hitting. 

He started the 2014 season (after Ellsbury went to the Yankees) in CF, and his hitting was so bad he was sent back to Pawtucket.  That happened at least twice in 2014.  However, in August he started to hit and stayed in Boston, ending up with 127 games and an OPS of .531, but an overall WAR of +0.7.  Then came an OPS of .832 in 2015, .835 in 2016, .726 in 2017,  .717 on the 2018 Sox, the best team in Sox history, .738 in 2019, and .814 in 2020.    So to me he had 6 pretty good seasons, 2015 thru 2020 (even though I regard 2020 as a nonseason).  His WAR's for those seasons were  +2.2, +5.7, +3.4, +2.5, +2.1, and +2.0.  After 2020, the wheels came off and JBJ had negative WAR's in 2021, 2022, and 2023.  

For reference, here are Ellsbury's OPS's when he was being paid $23M/year with the Yankees:  2014, 3.6; 2015, 1.7; 2016, 2.6, and 2017, 1.7.  

[FredLynn]

24 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

It's beyond question that JBJ's playing time depended heavily on his hitting. 

He started the 2014 season (after Ellsbury went to the Yankees) in CF, and his hitting was so bad he was sent back to Pawtucket.  That happened at least twice in 2014.  However, in August he started to hit and stayed in Boston, ending up with 127 games and an OPS of .531, but an overall WAR of +0.7.  Then came an OPS of .832 in 2015, .835 in 2016, .726 in 2017,  .717 on the 2018 Sox, the best team in Sox history, .738 in 2019, and .814 in 2020.    So to me he had 6 pretty good seasons, 2015 thru 2020 (even though I regard 2020 as a nonseason).  His WAR's for those seasons were  +2.2, +5.7, +3.4, +2.5, +2.1, and +2.0.  After 2020, the wheels came off and JBJ had negative WAR's in 2021, 2022, and 2023.  

For reference, here are Ellsbury's OPS's when he was being paid $23M/year with the Yankees:  2014, 3.6; 2015, 1.7; 2016, 2.6, and 2017, 1.7.  

He did do ok for a while-but as you said, the wheels came off. I think he had what-10 years? And his OPS+ only made it above 89 three times. His career OPS+ is 82, which SUCKS. At the end he couldn’t find a job in the game because he couldn’t hit the baseball. He was forced out of the game at a pretty early age. 
Rafaela is headed in the same direction because he simply has no plate discipline. His career OPS+ is 84, which also sucks. I don’t see him getting better at the plate. If we want to contend for a ring we have to do better than Rafaela.

[iortiz]

12 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

The Mets have the best pitching in MLB and are tied with the Dodgers, also 29-18, for the 2d best record in MLB.  Detroit is best at 31-16.  They are ranked 4th in runs scored and 4th in team ERA.  The Mets batters have scored the 12th most runs.

So tonight's game is a no-brainer and the Sox will fall to 23-26.   Except that baseball has a vast capacity for surprising us.  Thus will I be watching the game intently.  Cora has said publicly his rotation (not including Crochet) needs to "step up."  

Breslow, the guy who brought in Crochet, a terrific acquisition, is also the guy who dumped Sale (and paid his salary with the Braves where he won the NL Cy Young) and brought in a disaster named Giolito for a cool $40M for missing one season and stumbling this one.  Funny thing, but Breslow was a MLB pitcher for 10 seasons.  

My opinion, which ain't worth much, is that all this hullaboo about 1b and Devers is Breslow's way of covering up this disastrous pitching staff.  Despite the brilliance of Crochet, the team ERA is ranked 20th in MLB.  Breslow has tried to get us to believe that the team is faltering because Devers won't play 1b (even though Devers' OPS of .920, all as the DH, is his highest ever).  

 

That Sale trade was beyond a steal. Before it happened I really believed Sale was going to come back because I though he was going to be finally healthy. The rest is history. Breslow f***ed that up badly. 
 

Regarding Devers he seems to be finally comfortable DHing. Keep him there. He could be a decent 1B though. I would convert Mayers or Campbell but I still believe Devers should have played there. Devers is an absolute Diva, but again, Breslow didn’t handle it correctly. 

And btw they have Grissom down there getting rusty.  Yes, Breslow s*** the bed. 

[Maxbialystock]

10 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Yup

Hes a great CFer. Just like JBJ-who is no longer in baseball. 
How many runs had he cost us because he can’t hit?

He has batted 9th all season and is 6th in rbi's, 4th in runs scored, and tied for 4th in WAR with 1.7.  He is tied for the MLB lead in DWAR (1.1) among centerfielders.  He is 24 and should be pretty useful until age 31 or so, which is when the wheels came off for JBJ. 

Jimmy Piersall, the Sox centerfielder who famously said, "I should get double my salary because I have to cover left field as well as center field," was pretty solid from age 23 (WAR 3.2) through age 31 (WAR 4.8).  I remember listening to the pregame, circa 1954, when Piersall and Willie Mays had a throwing contest from CF to home plate.  Jimmy was 24 and Willie 23. 

1954 was the first year Mays' WAR was 10 or higher.  He did that six times and had 3 seasons at 9.2, 9.5, and 9.0.  When he was 39 he had 28 stolen bases.  He hit 660 dingers.  He was awarded 12 gold gloves.   He was the greatest MLB player ever.