Sell - Sell -Sell

[Bellhorn04]

If Texas stays hot, we may have to beat Seattle and the Rays for the last spot.  

[mvp 78]

26 minutes ago, Soxlover said:

If they get hot?

that’s a big if, and why not the same type what if for the Sox.

the Rangers need a major improvement with hitting. They have 6 batters under .680 and 8 under .730.

they have way more holes than we have, and that’s assuming de Grom stays healthy, and Nate & Mahle keep this up.

They have Seager, Semien, Adolis, Joc, Josh Smith... It's a lineup that could get hot. Adolis had almost 40 HR two years ago. Semien had multiple 6+ fWAR seasons. Joc's wRC+ was 151 last season. He had a 144 wRC+ in SF!!! 

Red Sox holes: 1b, 2b, SS, DH, SP4, SP5, CL.

Rangers holes: 1b, C, ?

[Soxlover]

14 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

They have Seager, Semien, Adolis, Joc, Josh Smith... It's a lineup that could get hot. Adolis had almost 40 HR two years ago. Semien had multiple 6+ fWAR seasons. Joc's wRC+ was 151 last season. He had a 144 wRC+ in SF!!! 

Red Sox holes: 1b, 2b, SS, DH, SP4, SP5, CL.

Rangers holes: 1b, C, ?

I’m not sure how 6 guys under .680 are not holes, based on a what if, but no what ifs apply to Mayer at 2B, Yoshida or Anthony at DH, Fitts or others as a back end starter and Chapman not being hurt badly as the closer.

chapman is a hole but de Grom is not?

[Soxlover]

We have a hole at 1B vs RHPs, SPer and maybe Closer if Chapman can’t come back. 2B if Mayer can’t come back, too, but Raphael’s is an option, too.

i think the criteria is different for the Rangers for some reason

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, Soxlover said:

I’m not sure how 6 guys under .680 are not holes, based on a what if, but no what ifs apply to Mayer at 2B, Yoshida or Anthony at DH, Fitts or others as a back end starter and Chapman not being hurt badly as the closer.

chapman is a hole but de Grom is not?

Because I said "if the offense gets hot" and believe they will be better going forward. 

Did something happen to deGrom that I don't know about? He's still listed as starting tonight. Maybe you should let the Rangers know. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They have Seager, Semien, Adolis, Joc, Josh Smith... It's a lineup that could get hot. Adolis had almost 40 HR two years ago. Semien had multiple 6+ fWAR seasons. Joc's wRC+ was 151 last season. He had a 144 wRC+ in SF!!! 

Red Sox holes: 1b, 2b, SS, DH, SP4, SP5, CL.

Rangers holes: 1b, C, ?

I didn't realize the Sox had a hole at SS. Thanks for the heads up.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They have Seager, Semien, Adolis, Joc, Josh Smith... It's a lineup that could get hot. Adolis had almost 40 HR two years ago. Semien had multiple 6+ fWAR seasons. Joc's wRC+ was 151 last season. He had a 144 wRC+ in SF!!! 

Red Sox holes: 1b, 2b, SS, DH, SP4, SP5, CL.

Rangers holes: 1b, C, ?

Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Fenway Park.

[Thunder]

Opened up my web browser on a beautiful Monday evening, waiting for tonight's game to start after a HUGE (and fun) series win over the weekend. Thought there was no way anybody on Talksox could be in a bad mood given the situation: 57-50 record and possessing the 2nd wild card after the season looked lost a month ago. Then I get to the Talksox homepage and see this thread trending and I am reminded why this place is becoming harder and harder to be an active member at. God, you doomsdayers are idiots. And you can't even spell our players' names right. Get lost.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

50 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Now we know how many holes it takes to fill the Fenway Park.

I'd love to turn FOX offffff......

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I'd love to turn FOX offffff......

I share your love.

[cp176]

6 hours ago, Soxlover said:

Well said, cp.

Ty -  As I’ve watched them, I think that it is obvious that they are a special group.  Might not win a World Series just yet, but they won’t quit.

[Soxlover]

17 minutes ago, cp176 said:

Ty -  As I’ve watched them, I think that it is obvious that they are a special group.  Might not win a World Series just yet, but they won’t quit.

I see that, too. I don’t think we need as much as others seem to think, but I would like a non rental, solid SP.

[mvp 78]

17 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

If Texas stays hot, we may have to beat Seattle and the Rays for the last spot.  

Rays play a lot more games on the road in the 2nd half as they front loaded the 1st half with home games due to having an outdoors ballpark in FL. 

Seattle doesn't have big run differential. I know they got Josh Naylor. Depending on the other additions at the deadline, they could make a run. Or not. 

Sox still have a good shot of getting in, but need to have better health luck down the stretch than they've had so far. Chapman being out is a big problem. Having to trade for a big time reliever is not ideal. 

[moonslav59]

21 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

Because I said "if the offense gets hot" and believe they will be better going forward. 

Did something happen to deGrom that I don't know about? He's still listed as starting tonight. Maybe you should let the Rangers know. 

When is the last time deGrom pitched 30 starts and then playoff games? He hasn't had over 21 since 2019. I'm not saying he or some other older pitcher in their rotation will get hurt, but the odds seem kinda high, to me.

You seem very optimistic the Rangers will be better, but don't afford the Sox the same chance.

This is not the same Sox team as we've had in recent seasons. We've had some major additions and subtractions, but also many younger players with some ML experience nearing or entering prime. We have very few players post prime. I'm thinking that expecting a younger to peak prime dominated team might have a better chance at improving than one with declining and aging players like Texas. Maybe "experience" will work in their favor, down the stretch. Maybe not.

Texas has half of their top 12 PA everyday players at 31 years old or more. Their top 3 IP pitchers are 35 or older. 6 of their top 8 RP'ers by IP are 31 or older. Four are 33 or older. 

If we had a team this old, we'd be hearing about all the worries.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

When is the last time deGrom pitched 30 starts and then playoff games? He hasn't had over 21 since 2019. I'm not saying he or some other older pitcher in their rotation will get hurt, but the odds seem kinda high, to me.

You seem very optimistic the Rangers will be better, but don't afford the Sox the same chance.

This is not the same Sox team as we've had in recent seasons. We've had some major additions and subtractions, but also many younger players with some ML experience nearing or entering prime. We have very few players post prime. I'm thinking that expecting a younger to peak prime dominated team might have a better chance at improving than one with declining and aging players like Texas. Maybe "experience" will work in their favor, down the stretch. Maybe not.

Texas has half of their top 12 PA everyday players at 31 years old or more. Their top 3 IP pitchers are 35 or older. 6 of their top 8 RP'ers by IP are 31 or older. Four are 33 or older. 

If we had a team this old, we'd be hearing about all the worries.

Pythagoras has them at 62-45. Seems like they've underperformed so far, whereas the Sox have played closer to their expected level. All I said initially was that if the offense got hot, the Rangers were going to make a huge run. Not sure the Sox could match that kind of run. 

If Chapman's issue becomes a problem and the Sox don't get an outside replacement, the Sox will be in trouble. I said it yesterday and I'll say it today. 

The bright side: Yankees have an issue with Judge, the Rays have a lot of away games down the stretch, the Mariners don't have a good run differential. Sox could still sneak in with mediocre ball if the other teams don't add. 

[moonslav59]

"Pythagoras" vs run differential- same difference.

Just rehashing the same argument in different language.

[mvp 78]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

"Pythagoras" vs run differential- same difference.

Just rehashing the same argument in different language.

I know it's the same thing. ✌️

[notin]

23 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They have Seager, Semien, Adolis, Joc, Josh Smith... It's a lineup that could get hot. Adolis had almost 40 HR two years ago. Semien had multiple 6+ fWAR seasons. Joc's wRC+ was 151 last season. He had a 144 wRC+ in SF!!! 

Red Sox holes: 1b, 2b, SS, DH, SP4, SP5, CL.

Rangers holes: 1b, C, ?

And yet the Sox have more wins.

By the way, why is the Sox situation a hole when Chapman misses two games, yet the Rangers dont have a hole there despite, well, who is their closer? (Hint: not team save leader Luke Jackson, who is in Detroit now.)

And their #4 and #5 starter slots aren’t any better than ours.  Tyler Mahle was good, but he made his annual trip to the 60 day IL a couple weeks ago.

Also Josh Jung and his 0.7 bWAR should be a hole, too…

 

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

And their #4 and #5 starter slots aren’t any better than ours.

I'd trade Buehler and Fitts for Leiter and Rocker. Give me that upside down the stretch.

I'm completely OUT on Buehler and Fitts is being pulled after 4 innings.