Red Sox (Buehler) @ Nationals (Parker, lefty), 5 July, 4:05 pm

[Maxbialystock]

Buehler again.  Washington:  first in war, first in peace, and last in the American League.  

[Brandon Glick]

[Nick]

Big game for Buehler.....time is running out for this guy. Here's my worthless stat. Teams won lost record started by following pitchers.

1	Crochet	17	11	-	6
2	Dobbins	10	7	-	3
3	Bello	13	6	-	7
4	Giolito	13	8	-	5
5	Buehler	14	7	-	7
			39	-	28
6	Fitts	7	1	-	6
7	T Houck	9	2	-	7
8	Newcomb	5	2	-	3
	Bernardino	1	0	-	1
			5		17
		89	44	-	45

[Nick]

Alcala, Hicks and Murphy should be ready to go along with Chapman.

Please stay away from Weissert and Bernardino.

[Nick]

Righty Line Up Today- Anthony and Duran only lefties.

So Duran is hitting .572 vs lefties. He's batting 7th tonight. Why doesn't Cora just play Abreu? He's hitting .678 vs lefties. Do what's best for the team. 

 

[Maxbialystock]

Washington Senators, not Washington Nationals.  

A win today with Buehler would be fantastic with Crochet pitching tomorrow.  Then back to Boston for 3 against the Rockies and 4 vs the Rays.  I think Bregman might go off the IL in time for the Rays.  

The won/lost record of the Sox this season isn't all that dramatic.  In the first 52 games, 23 May, the day Bregman was hurt, they were 26 -26, having never been more than 3 games above .500 nor more than 2 games below .500.  When Bregman dropped out, the Sox plummeted to 30-35, their low point of the season to date.  And they came back to 36-36 largely because of great pitching in the 6 game winning streak.  After Raffy left (last game June 15), the Sox went to 40-37 on the west coast trip before hitting another big slump taking them to 41-44 6 days ago.  

Now they seem to be coming back despite the absence of Bregman and Raffy and despite issues with the bullpen.  The hitting is better and right now Crochet, Bello, and Giolito look pretty good as starters.  The comeback should (and must) continue in DC and then in the 3 games vs Colorado back at Fenway.   Then come 4 testing games vs the Rays.

The real tough sledding is after the ASG when the Sox play 3 @ the Cubs, 3 at the Phillies, 3 vs the Dodgers at Fenway, and 3 @ Minnesota--at which point the it will be July 30 when Breslow can make his moves, if any.  Those 12 games will no doubt affect his decision-making. 

Starting August 1, the Sox play 3 vs the Astros @ Fenway, 3 vs the Royals at Fenway, 3 @ San Diego, and 3 @ Houston.      

The Sox final 9 games are 3 @ Tampa, 3 @ Toronto, and 3 at Fenway vs. the Tigers.  

Given the above, I think the postseason is dicey even though I like this team. 

 

[Maxbialystock]

14 minutes ago, Nick said:

Righty Line Up Today- Anthony and Duran only lefties.

So Duran is hitting .572 vs lefties. He's batting 7th tonight. Why doesn't Cora just play Abreu? He's hitting .678 vs lefties. Do what's best for the team. 

 

Good point. Anthony also doesn't hit lefties well.  Plus Eaton and Gonzalez are batting 1st and 2d.  

However, I trust Cora's lineups implicitly.  

 

[cp176]

26 minutes ago, Nick said:

Righty Line Up Today- Anthony and Duran only lefties.

So Duran is hitting .572 vs lefties. He's batting 7th tonight. Why doesn't Cora just play Abreu? He's hitting .678 vs lefties. Do what's best for the team. 

 

Anytime Mayer isn’t in the lineup, you are hurting the team defensively.

[Maxbialystock]

6 minutes ago, cp176 said:

Anytime Mayer isn’t in the lineup, you are hurting the team defensively.

Agree.  

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

Righty Line Up Today- Anthony and Duran only lefties.

So Duran is hitting .572 vs lefties. He's batting 7th tonight. Why doesn't Cora just play Abreu? He's hitting .678 vs lefties. Do what's best for the team. 

 

Valid question, I will answer on behalf of AC:

1) Abreu's .678 is in only 41 PAs.  For his career he's at .570.

2) The 2025 difference is not yet worth changing the current configuration of Duran in left and Abreu platooning in right.

3) If Abreu keeps doing better against lefties that could change. 

[Jasonbay44]

It would be greatly appreciated if Buehler didn’t f***ing suck for once. 

[Nick]

44 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Valid question, I will answer on behalf of AC:

1) Abreu's .678 is in only 41 PAs.  For his career he's at .570.

2) The 2025 difference is not yet worth changing the current configuration of Duran in left and Abreu platooning in right.

3) If Abreu keeps doing better against lefties that could change. 

I'll buy that....but when will Abreu get more at bats? Here again I'm inclined to trade Duran. I hate it that we'd be given up  3 more years of team control starting in 2026. But emergence of Password has me convinced we can survive Duran's departure. 

[Nick]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

Good point. Anthony also doesn't hit lefties well.  Plus Eaton and Gonzalez are batting 1st and 2d.  

However, I trust Cora's lineups implicitly.  

 

The team is 100% committed to Anthony. Remember what Breslow said about Anthony. Something to the effect once Anthony gets his call up, he'll play and not sit on the bench. 

He'll get more AB than Mayer.

[Nick]

Quick note on the Rays...

Only 1 pitcher outside of the starting five has started a game. Unbelievable. Sox have used 8 pitchers for all but one start.

Rays starters WHIP 1.00-1.07-1.15-1.25-1.32

Sox starters WHIP 1.04 (Crochet)-1.26 (Dobbins)-1.28 (Giolito)-1.38 (Bello)-1.58 (Buehler)

We'll need to score some runs. Bregman return if it happens would be huge for this 4 game series.

 

[Larry Cook]

Are we going to be beuhlered today???? 

[Larry Cook]

3 hours ago, Nick said:

Big game for Buehler.....time is running out for this guy. Here's my worthless stat. Teams won lost record started by following pitchers.

1	Crochet	17	11	-	6
2	Dobbins	10	7	-	3
3	Bello	13	6	-	7
4	Giolito	13	8	-	5
5	Buehler	14	7	-	7
			39	-	28
6	Fitts	7	1	-	6
7	T Houck	9	2	-	7
8	Newcomb	5	2	-	3
	Bernardino	1	0	-	1
			5		17
		89	44	-	45

But Fitts is on a winning streak!!!  Things are looking up 

[Nick]

16 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

But Fitts is on a winning streak!!!  Things are looking up 

I think he's been bit unlucky.

[Nick]

Today's starting pitcher, Parker had good April but has fallen off last couple of months.

He did pitch an 8 inning gem, 1 hitter, vs Baltimore back in April.

3.19 ERA in April, 7.94 in May, and 4.60 in June.

We need to get to him early.

[Nick]

One last thought, I promise.

OPS vs Lefties (I'll give Cora credit here)

1.074 Gonzalez

1.000 Bregman (when he comes back)

0.957 Narvaez

0.942 Refsnyder

0.738 Story

0.700 Rafaela

Not bad....

 

[Maxbialystock]

15 minutes ago, Nick said:

Today's starting pitcher, Parker had good April but has fallen off last couple of months.

He did pitch an 8 inning gem, 1 hitter, vs Baltimore back in April.

3.19 ERA in April, 7.94 in May, and 4.60 in June.

We need to get to him early.

Sox have way too may lefty bats in the lineup.  It's hopeless. 

[Nick]

3 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Sox have way too may lefty bats in the lineup.  It's hopeless. 

good start for Buehler, 11 pitches.

[Maxbialystock]

I've got the MLB package, but am blacked out for all Atlanta, Baltimore, and Washington games because I live in Greensboro, NC  

However, I switched cables only because I was mad at the one I had.  It took me 2 weeks to realize I get both MASN, which is the local channel for Orioles and Nats games, and fanduel, which carries the Braves.  Amazing. That said, MASN is about 2 min behind gameday on mlb.com.  

I think Parker has 3 decent pitches in his curve, fastball, and splitter.  

[Maxbialystock]

4 minutes ago, Nick said:

good start for Buehler, 11 pitches.

Couldn't be better.  

[Maxbialystock]

Eaton looks pretty good at the plate--except for fastballs and curves.  Went to VMI.  

[FredLynn]

It’s just a matter of time before BOOHLER starts sucking

[FredLynn]

It’s already starting.

Here comes the hammer…

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, Jasonbay44 said:

It would be greatly appreciated if Buehler didn’t f***ing suck for once. 

Who is that masked man in LF for the Sox?  Could it be Duran?  Nope.  

[Maxbialystock]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

It’s already starting.

Here comes the hammer…

Cora would pay big bucks if you would just stand next to him and discuss the game.  

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Excellent catch by Duran. Saved Ferris's bacon.

[Nick]

"Escaped that inning", now up to 34 pitches. He has trouble locating.