Angels (Soriano) vs Red Sox (Giolito): 6/4/25, 1:35pm

[vegasbob]

Refsnyder capturing a difficult but important out.  Angels only 2 more left in regulation

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, illinoisredsox said:

Doesn’t matter what we know; it only matters what they think.

They actually think?

[Jasonbay44]

Can we please score in 9th. I can’t deal with another extra inning loss 

[vegasbob]

Yay, Criswell, job done

[vegasbob]

Just now, Jasonbay44 said:

Can we please score in 9th. I can’t deal with another extra inning loss 

If the low end of this lineup wins this game in the bottom 9 , improving our 1 run defeat ratio, then more power to them .   3K's, and they will get blasted

[illinoisredsox]

Just now, vegasbob said:

Yay, Criswell, job done

If they don’t score here, he’ll be back out for the 10th.  Obviously Cora doesn’t want to use Chapman and Kelly’s the only other guy left.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

6 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Refsnyder capturing a difficult but imporant out.  Angels only 2 more left in regulation

Ref is the kind of player a winning team would love to have. He's pretty much wasted here.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

El Toro!

[Brock Beauchamp]

OMG Pesky's Pole strikes!

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Determining which of these two teams is worse is beyond my pay grade.

[Jasonbay44]

Wow, let’s go Rafaela! 

[harmony]

Doesn't help the record in one-run games but it's a great win for the Red Sox.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Rafaela is cooking.

[illinoisredsox]

What did that go, 304 feet?

[Brock Beauchamp]

Just now, illinoisredsox said:

What did that go, 304 feet?

Way farther than that.

(four feet farther, to be exact)

[vegasbob]

Rafael hits a 308', oppo fly, 4'  off the ground , and ends this joke of a game with an essential W.

Look what happens when the ball gets put in PLAY !

[Duran Is The Man]

i don't believe it. nice to be on the winning side for once.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

What did that go, 304 feet?

A home run in every little league park.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Rafael hits a 308', oppo fly, 4'  off the ground , and ends this joke of a game with an essential W.

Look what happens when the ball gets put in PLAY !

Rafaela may be the best clutch hitter on this team.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Rafaela may be the best clutch hitter on this team.

I know it's a low bar.

[illinoisredsox]

One little thing I saw Rafaela do earlier in the game.  On the play where the Angels took the lead in the 8th, his throw to the plate was head high to the cutoff man, keeping the batter at first.  It made Criswell's job a whole lot easier to end the inning.

Much different than a similar throw last night. 

[Maxbialystock]

29 minutes ago, Duran Is The Man said:

i know you don't like DD, but i'm pretty sure he never would have made those s***** deals. let's face it, the Sox front office from Bloom thru Breslow has been a steaming pile of s***.

I'm the one who doesn't like DD, but I would be nuts not to give him a ton a of credit for the 2018 team.  Plus, let's face it, he's been successful elsewhere.  

There is no "Bloom thru Breslow."  It's simply Bloom and Breslow.   Bloom made a lot of mistakes, but he was also somewhat hamstrung by JH who wanted to spend less, especially on pitchers.  What did happen on Bloom's watch was the development of a pretty good farm system.  Not pitching, of course.   The Sox rely heavily on other teams to develop good pitchers they can then sign, Crochet being a great example.  But don't forget the blood sock guy in 2004 and several excellent starters since then.  Heck Pedro came from Montreal.   One the absolute best Sox pitchers ever was sold to the Yankees, who turned him into one of the greatest hitters ever.  Since we know how long the Babe lasted, I think it's fair to say he was better than Ohtani.  

I have beat the drum relentlessly on Breslow dumping Sale and paying his salary when he one the Cy Young for the Braves and for replacing him with Giolito.  But I also like Crochet, Bregman, Narvaez, and Chapman.   That's a pretty good haul for one offseason.  Plus Breslow is stuck with Yoshida.  Story ain't worth his salary, but he is a steady SS.    

Back to DD.  He would not have had to make those bad deals because JH gave him carte blanche--permission to build a winner with the biggest payroll in MLB.  

[illinoisredsox]

8 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Rafaela may be the best clutch hitter on this team.

 

7 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I know it's a low bar.

Going into today, his overall BA was.254

With RISP, it was .298

With a runner or runners on, it was .308

With bases empty, it was .208.

[Maxbialystock]

Just now, illinoisredsox said:

One little thing I saw Rafaela do earlier in the game.  On the play where the Angels took the lead in the 8th, his throw to the plate was head high to the cutoff man, keeping the batter at first.  It made Criswell's job a whole lot easier to end the inning.

Much different than a similar throw last night. 

Excellent point.  Rafaela has a terrific arm.  Last night was an aberration.  

The Sox defense is being pilloried unfairly on talksox, and that starts with going ape because the Sox fielding percentage is a lowdown, no good, rotten 98%, which is an entire percentage point worse than the highest fielding percentage--99%--in MLB.  

[Maxbialystock]

Fantastic job by the bullpen today--2 runs in 7.1 IP.    

2 rbi's each by Abreu, Toro, Rafaela, and Hamilton.  

Rafaela's OPS just sneaked into the 700's.  

[moonslav59]

Good to see Rafaela get the game winning homer.

I keep thinking, maybe this will ignite the spark. I've been wrong, so many times, I'm losing hope.

Gotta take to the Yanks, next!

[illinoisredsox]

11 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Excellent point.  Rafaela has a terrific arm.  Last night was an aberration.  

The Sox defense is being pilloried unfairly on talksox, and that starts with going ape because the Sox fielding percentage is a lowdown, no good, rotten 98%, which is an entire percentage point worse than the highest fielding percentage--99%--in MLB.  

I don't put too much stock in that differential and its not just errors that matter; it's plays not made such as not turning a DP or throwing to the wrong base, or not hitting the cutoff man (the latter two are more mental errors).  Those things also drive up pitch counts, forcing more bullpen use, etc.

I really wonder if these guys think ahead about what  they are going to do if X, Y or Z happens.  There's a great video on youtube where Dwight Evans describes what was going through is head prior to Joe Morgan hitting that shot that he made that staggering catch on in the Fisk game and all the scenarios he ran through.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Tedballgame said:

Good trade to get him. He looks like he can hit and he is a good defensive catcher so far.

 

The book was "all glove- no hit," but I pointed out how he had a decent OBP and ISO in the minors, and it should not be assumed it can't translate, but I never expected this.

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, illinoisredsox said:

He has a good approach at the plate.  Let’s hope he is uncoachable wrt the Sox hitting philosophy of launch ball.

LOL. Good one!

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, iortiz said:

I think Chapman and Wilson have been good too but Yoshida, Gio and Story overshadow them. 

True. Bregman was, until the injury.

Devers, Crochet and maybe Ref & Toro to a smaller sample lesser extent.