Rockies (Freeland) vs Red Sox (Bello): 7/8/25, 7:10pm

[Brandon Glick]

Unfortunately, they've pulled me back in. I am ready to get hurt again by this team.

[mvp 78]

If the Sox were in a division with a the White Sox, A's, Nats and Rockies, they'd still somehow wind up near .500 at the end of the year. They went 10-3 before last year's ASB and 8-1 before the '23 ASB. I'm not getting sucked in. I've seen it before. 

[Maxbialystock]

39 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

If the Sox were in a division with a the White Sox, A's, Nats and Rockies, they'd still somehow wind up near .500 at the end of the year. They went 10-3 before last year's ASB and 8-1 before the '23 ASB. I'm not getting sucked in. I've seen it before. 

You could be right.  

I offer the following which I think make this team different--

1.  They are hitting well and should hit better with Bregman and Yoshida back, Anthony emerging, Mayer likely too, Story and especially Rafaela better, Narvaez, Abreu, Toro/Gonzalez, Duran.  

2. Despite errors, good defense, especially when Bregman returns.  

3. Some positive signs with rotation, now Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Fitts, Buehler, and soon Dobbins and maybe Houck.  Bullpen still a question, however, but could be helped with July deal.

4. Good manager, supported by Breslow and owner.  

5. Fenway average attendance over 33,000, first time since 2019.  

We will know a lot more after the upcoming series vs Rays, Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, and Twins--all before the July 31 trade deadline.  

[mvp 78]

Just now, Maxbialystock said:

You could be right.  

I offer the following which I think make this team different--

1.  They are hitting well and should hit better with Bregman and Yoshida back, Anthony emerging, Mayer likely too, Story and especially Rafaela better, Narvaez, Abreu, Toro/Gonzalez, Duran.  

2. Despite errors, good defense, especially when Bregman returns.  

3. Some positive signs with rotation, now Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Fitts, Buehler, and soon Dobbins and maybe Houck.  Bullpen still a question, however, but could be helped with July deal.

4. Good manager, supported by Breslow and owner.  

5. Fenway average attendance over 33,000, first time since 2019.  

We will know a lot more after the upcoming series vs Rays, Cubs, Phillies, Dodgers, and Twins--all before the July 31 trade deadline.  

1. They are hitting well now, but you have to consider the opponent and this team has had considerable slumps in the past. As you say later in your post, the offense will have a tougher task in the next few weeks.

2. The bad defense is HARD to overlook.

3. Agree about the rotation in terms of Crochet, Gio and Bello. Fitts is young and decent as a back end guy. I no longer watch Buehler starts. Refuse. 

4. The good manager has been around for several poor seasons. 

5. Not going to get hot and bothered by an additional 200 people at the ballpark TBH. 

[Maxbialystock]

19 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

1. They are hitting well now, but you have to consider the opponent and this team has had considerable slumps in the past. As you say later in your post, the offense will have a tougher task in the next few weeks.

2. The bad defense is HARD to overlook.

3. Agree about the rotation in terms of Crochet, Gio and Bello. Fitts is young and decent as a back end guy. I no longer watch Buehler starts. Refuse. 

4. The good manager has been around for several poor seasons. 

5. Not going to get hot and bothered by an additional 200 people at the ballpark TBH. 

1.  Granted, the past.  But Rafaela and Story's improvements occurred over the entirety of June and early July.   Anthony is already the real deal.    Since June 16 the Sox have been without both Bregman and Devers and have scored 104 runs in 19 games, over 5 runs per game.  

2. The "bad defense" includes Rafaela, Bregman/Mayer, Abreu, Narvaez, Hamilton, and Story--who are above average at CF, 3b, RF, C, and CF.  Anthony and Wong both have positive DWAR's of +0.3.  

3. Right about Buehler, but at least he's trying.  Crochet, Bello, and Giolito have 11, 7, and 8 quality starts. 

4.  Casey Stengal with the Mets:  "doesn't anyone here know how to play this game?"  

5.  Good catch.  But it's still a positive sign. The Rockies are nuttin' and drew 32,441 last night.  

6.  We both agree the next month and a half will tell us a lot more.  

[Nick]

Geez, are we going to follow Devers for next 10 years. I wish the Boston media would just focus on 'their' team.

I don't miss Devers one bit. Betts with the Dodgers, Xander with Padres, now Devers with the Giants.

Let's just keep sending our guys to NL West. They can't all win the Division in any given year.

[Soxlover]

Yankees: 7-16 since June 13.

they did not improve over the winter, and they are being exposed as mediocre, just like we are.

[mvp 78]

The Red Sox MAY do it again folx.

 

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, Nick said:

Geez, are we going to follow Devers for next 10 years. I wish the Boston media would just focus on 'their' team.

I don't miss Devers one bit. Betts with the Dodgers, Xander with Padres, now Devers with the Giants.

Let's just keep sending our guys to NL West. They can't all win the Division in any given year.

We had a dumb Ellsbury vs JBJ post on here for years... People just can't move on OR TAKE A VACATION FROM THIS BOARD FOR A WEEK WHEN THEY SHOULD BE WITH THEIR FAMILY INSTEAD OF US. 

[dgalehouse]

It is hard to have much interest in these kinds of games. Kyle Freeland is 1-9 with a 5.49 ERA. He is 32 years old. Why is he still in MLB? He is worse than the Door Dash driver the Nats started last Sunday.   Seriously, they should not be charging major league prices to see this.  

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, dgalehouse said:

It is hard to have much interest in these kinds of games. Kyle Freeland is 1-9 with a 5.49 ERA. He is 32 years old. Why is he still in MLB? He is worse than the Door Dash driver the Nats started last Sunday.   Seriously, they should not be charging major league prices to see this.  

Rockies extended Freeland for 5/64.5 in '22 and has another year to go. They're going to get their moneys worth. 

[mvp 78]

Since 2022, Freeland is 127th out of 134 in ERA for qualified starters. He's also 130th in BABIP, 129th in LOB%, 131st in WHIP, 132nd in Hard% and 125th in Run Support/9. 😎🍺

[vegasbob]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Since 2022, Freeland is 127th out of 134 in ERA for qualified starters. He's also 130th in BABIP, 129th in LOB%, 131st in WHIP, 132nd in Hard% and 125th in Run Support/9. 😎🍺

So, you're saying this game is already won ?  Not so fast, my friend.   It has to be played between the lines or out of the basepaths to get the true result.  

Looking for Bello to dominate  this one and insure the win.

[mvp 78]

52 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

So, you're saying this game is already won ?  Not so fast, my friend.   It has to be played between the lines or out of the basepaths to get the true result.  

Looking for Bello to dominate  this one and insure the win.

I did NOT say that. I said that yesterday though. Away from Coors, he's serviceable and it could be a sneaky game that gets away from the Sox. I think the Sox go hog wild on Senzatela tomorrow though. That one gets Mayer back on track. 

Freeland AWAY 2025:

4.50 ERA, 726 OPS, 1.28 WHIP, 3.69 FIP, 31.8 Hard%

Freeland HOME 2025:

6.69 ERA, 946 OPS, 1.94 WHIP, 3.96 FIP, 42.6 Hard%

[Nick]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

We had a dumb Ellsbury vs JBJ post on here for years... People just can't move on OR TAKE A VACATION FROM THIS BOARD FOR A WEEK WHEN THEY SHOULD BE WITH THEIR FAMILY INSTEAD OF US. 

I saw a comment that Mr. Clarke was going to work with Devers on 1B defense. Unfortunately Devers was a no show without any explanation.

Yep, Giants can have him.

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, Nick said:

I saw a comment that Mr. Clarke was going to work with Devers on 1B defense. Unfortunately Devers was a no show without any explanation.

Yep, Giants can have him.

Devers still had a groin issue and was excused from that practice. Will Flemming is making a big deal out of nothing. 

What did Will Clark say about it? 

“I know what the (expletive) happened,” Clark said. “I said, he didn’t want to go out and be at first base and be 20 feet in front of their freaking dugout with what went on in Boston, and now he’s working with me at first base. He didn’t want to have to go through all that (expletive) through the press in the media. So, I completely understand.”

If Will Clark doesn't care about Raffy not working out with him, why do Red Sox fans???

[mvp 78]

Duran instead of Abreu tonight. 

[Nick]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Devers still had a groin issue and was excused from that practice. Will Flemming is making a big deal out of nothing. 

What did Will Clark say about it? 

“I know what the (expletive) happened,” Clark said. “I said, he didn’t want to go out and be at first base and be 20 feet in front of their freaking dugout with what went on in Boston, and now he’s working with me at first base. He didn’t want to have to go through all that (expletive) through the press in the media. So, I completely understand.”

If Will Clark doesn't care about Raffy not working out with him, why do Red Sox fans???

I don't care what he does.....what ever he does in San Fran, he won't do it here.

I'm a Sox, I don't give a damn about any non Sox guy.

[Nick]

We have 7 players starting with OPS>.714. Story has an OPS of .694.

Then we have Wong at .392. What an embarrassment. 

[notin]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Devers still had a groin issue and was excused from that practice. Will Flemming is making a big deal out of nothing. 

What did Will Clark say about it? 

“I know what the (expletive) happened,” Clark said. “I said, he didn’t want to go out and be at first base and be 20 feet in front of their freaking dugout with what went on in Boston, and now he’s working with me at first base. He didn’t want to have to go through all that (expletive) through the press in the media. So, I completely understand.”

If Will Clark doesn't care about Raffy not working out with him, why do Red Sox fans???

Because Will Clark is a liar and a cheater and a naughty, naughty boy!!

[Maxbialystock]

5 hours ago, Nick said:

Geez, are we going to follow Devers for next 10 years. I wish the Boston media would just focus on 'their' team.

I don't miss Devers one bit. Betts with the Dodgers, Xander with Padres, now Devers with the Giants.

Let's just keep sending our guys to NL West. They can't all win the Division in any given year.

It's a great story for them because of all the angles.  Plus they can keep writing about how the Sox are doing, how the Giants are doing, and how Devers is doing.    With the Sox his OPS was .905.   With the Giants .735.   Giants with Raffy are 9-10.    Sox without Raffy (and Bregman) are 10-9.  

[Larry Cook]

Time for Wong to start drinking whatever cool aid we gave to story!!!!

[Maxbialystock]

5 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

We had a dumb Ellsbury vs JBJ post on here for years... People just can't move on OR TAKE A VACATION FROM THIS BOARD FOR A WEEK WHEN THEY SHOULD BE WITH THEIR FAMILY INSTEAD OF US. 

Ellsbury had some pretty good seasons, especially 2011, with the Sox.  Not so with the Yankees.  JBJ cost a lot less and earned more WAR points with Boston than Jacoby did with the Yankees.   

This season I thought and said that Devers was great in the DH slot, where his OPS was .905 and he didn't miss a game.

However, I didn't mind the "trade" with the Giants because the Sox still have a bunch of good bats and should get better when Bregman and Yoshida return.  Since the trade, the Sox have a 10-9 record and SF 9-10--but it's early.  

[Maxbialystock]

3 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

Time for Wong to start drinking whatever cool aid we gave to story!!!!

😄  If only. 

[Maxbialystock]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

We have 7 players starting with OPS>.714. Story has an OPS of .694.

Then we have Wong at .392. What an embarrassment. 

.650 vs lefties.  Others against lefties:  Gonzalez 1.206, Ref .956, Eaton .856, Rafaela .823, Story .759, Toro .637, Anthony .639, Duran .580,  

[FredLynn]

4 hours ago, Nick said:

I saw a comment that Mr. Clarke was going to work with Devers on 1B defense. Unfortunately Devers was a no show without any explanation.

Yep, Giants can have him.

He didn’t want to be that close to the Red Sox dugout.

Thats what Clark said anyway.

Apparently 

[vegasbob]

When did Breslow trade for Brayan Bello's cousin, the strike throwing, highly efficient pitcher ?

Amazing performance so far.

As O'B and Merloni said, BB has been pretty good in his last 6 outings, but the team only won 5 behind him.

If this season finishes 1 or 2 short of playoffs, just recall the 1 run loss record and extra inning games too. 

[FredLynn]

Rafaela swings at a ball that almost hit him then takes strike 3 on a ball right down the middle.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I believe the Rockies should change their name to the Rockettes.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I'm still waiting for that 'blind squirrel' moment by Wong.