Orioles (Rogers) vs Red Sox (May): 8/18/25, 7:10pm

[Brandon Glick]

The next 10 games are against division rivals. First up: the Orioles' ace.

[Maxbialystock]

Rogers shut the Sox down for 6.1 IP way back in March.  This month he's had 3 starts and was tough against the Mariners, Phillies, and Cubs--giving up 3 ER in 21 IP for an August ERA of 1.29.

May could pitch another gem--or bomb.

Based on the last two games, the Sox bullpen could still be in disarray.  

One upside is that the Sox hit lefties  better than righties with these OPS's against lefties:  Gonzalez 1.070, Bregman .985, Ref .905, Anthony .791, Narvaez .784, Story .751, Rafaela .738, Abreu .721, Toro .684, Duran .595.  If Wong starts, his is .353.  

Narvaez has started 7 of 15 August games so far.  Were I Cora, I would rest him today and let Wong catch May in a game the Sox are not likely to win.  Narvaez OPS in August is .428 and Wong's is .466.   I would also not start Duran and go with an outfield of Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu.  Ref at DH, Gonzalez at 2b, and Toro at 1b.  

If Duran and Narvaez sit, Cora might bat Gonzalez 3d, Story 4th, Ref 5th, Abreu 6th, Toro 7th, Rafaela 8th, and Wong 9th.  

 

 

[mvp 78]

This is such a mismatch. Red Sox just saw Rogers earlier this season and will be able to hit this guy around (bottom 4% in hard hit %). Orioles haven't seen May since 2019 and will have no idea what is being thrown by him. Easy win. 

[moonslav59]

Next 10:

BOS: 6 vs BAL (doing better) 4 vs NYY

NYY: 4 v BOS, 3 vs WSH, 2 v TBR, 1 v CWS

SEA: 3 v PHI, ATH, SDP and 1 v CLE

TOR: 3 v PIT, MIA, MIN and 1 v CIN (It gets harder after this)

HOU: 4 v BAL and 3 v DET & COL

[Maxbialystock]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

This is such a mismatch. Red Sox just saw Rogers earlier this season and will be able to hit this guy around (bottom 4% in hard hit %). Orioles haven't seen May since 2019 and will have no idea what is being thrown by him. Easy win. 

😀

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Next 10:

BOS: 6 vs BAL (doing better) 4 vs NYY

NYY: 4 v BOS, 3 vs WSH, 2 v TBR, 1 v CWS

SEA: 3 v PHI, ATH, SDP and 1 v CLE

TOR: 3 v PIT, MIA, MIN and 1 v CIN (It gets harder after this)

HOU: 4 v BAL and 3 v DET & COL

15-5

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

15-5

15-5 in 10 games?

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

15-5 in 10 games?

You'll see! 

[mvp 78]

Let's play 2! 

[Maxbialystock]

Eaton leading off as DH is to me ridiculous. Ref a far better choice.  Rest of the lineup looks OK to me.  

[Maxbialystock]

4 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Rogers shut the Sox down for 6.1 IP way back in March.  This month he's had 3 starts and was tough against the Mariners, Phillies, and Cubs--giving up 3 ER in 21 IP for an August ERA of 1.29.

May could pitch another gem--or bomb.

Based on the last two games, the Sox bullpen could still be in disarray.  

One upside is that the Sox hit lefties  better than righties with these OPS's against lefties:  Gonzalez 1.070, Bregman .985, Ref .905, Anthony .791, Narvaez .784, Story .751, Rafaela .738, Abreu .721, Toro .684, Duran .595.  If Wong starts, his is .353.  

Narvaez has started 7 of 15 August games so far.  Were I Cora, I would rest him today and let Wong catch May in a game the Sox are not likely to win.  Narvaez OPS in August is .428 and Wong's is .466.   I would also not start Duran and go with an outfield of Anthony, Rafaela, and Abreu.  Ref at DH, Gonzalez at 2b, and Toro at 1b.  

If Duran and Narvaez sit, Cora might bat Gonzalez 3d, Story 4th, Ref 5th, Abreu 6th, Toro 7th, Rafaela 8th, and Wong 9th.  

 

 

Rogers' shutdown of the Sox was on March 24 and does not count in the regular season.  

[Duran Is The Man]

Cora has lost his f***ing mind.

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, Maxbialystock said:

Eaton leading off as DH is to me ridiculous. Ref a far better choice.  Rest of the lineup looks OK to me.  

Ref just hit the IL - oblique strain.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

31 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Ref just hit the IL - oblique strain.

Always double box a Sox player before shipping.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

17 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Always double box a Sox player before shipping.

Also make sure player is completely covered in bubble wrap. Finally, attach at least 4 fragile stickers on outside of box.

[Maxbialystock]

59 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Ref just hit the IL - oblique strain.

Our favorite place, often visited by our players.  In terms of salaries, ours is pretty small.  

[Maxbialystock]

For reasons which make no sense to me, my location means all Braves, Orioles, Nationals games are blacked out.  However my cable includes MASN, which carries all Orioles and Nationals games, so I'll be watching this one despite MLB's best efforts.  I also get Braves games on Fan Duel  

[moonslav59]

Why no Abreu? Is it a Cora scheduled day off, when the guy sits vs all LH'd SP'ers, anyway?

Is Abreu hurt?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Why no Abreu? Is it a Cora scheduled day off, when the guy sits vs all LH'd SP'ers, anyway?

Is Abreu hurt?

Yup. Day to day. Muscle tightness in lower leg . Didn't you see him limping yesterday?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The best way to prevent muscle injuries is to have little muscle bulk like most of MLB had in the old days.

[moonslav59]

The injuries on this team are piling up.

[vegasbob]

May showing nothing so far

[FredLynn]

Can’t lose tonight. Our ace is on the mound.

[Maxbialystock]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Why no Abreu? Is it a Cora scheduled day off, when the guy sits vs all LH'd SP'ers, anyway?

Is Abreu hurt?

With Ref out, I would start Abreu in RF and move Anthony to DH.  

[FredLynn]

Just now, Maxbialystock said:

With Ref out, I would start Abreu in RF and move Anthony to DH.  

Abreu has a calf strain

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Thanks ump .

[Maxbialystock]

Shame on Gonzalez.  May is trying to hit corners, and that muffed throw cost a really helpful GIDP.  

[Jasonbay44]

May is falling behind very hitter

[Maxbialystock]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Thanks ump .

Agree.  That could easily have gone the other way although I agree with the principle.  

Terrific K by May.  

[Maxbialystock]

My goodness is it easy for this professional athletes to get injured.  In their (MLB) defense they play a lot of games in a season.