Guardians (Cecconi) vs Red Sox (Crochet): 9/2/25, 6:45pm

[moonslav59]

Great game and show of offense, when you need it.

I should keep ragging on Masa and talking about Rafaela's weak hits! LOL!

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Great game and show of offense, when you need it.

I should keep ragging on Masa and talking about Rafaela's weak hits! LOL!

Whatever works, Moon.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Whatever works, Moon.

W/O Anthony for a while any voodoo will do.

[Maxbialystock]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Great game and show of offense, when you need it.

I should keep ragging on Masa and talking about Rafaela's weak hits! LOL!

I will join you.

Incredible game and terrific win!!  The only guy I was sure of before the game was Crochet, so of course everybody else brought home the win.  Hitting was terrific, defense was excellent, and the bullpen gave up 0 runs in 3 innings. Just 34.9K attended, but they sure got their moneys' worth.  34.9K is still 1500 above the Sox average home attendance this season. 

Earlier, I think I pointed out another thread that 5 AL Teams have 76 wins or more (with Detroit at 80 wins).

However, Houston and Detroit have played just .500 ball since the ASG,  The other three--Toronto, Boston, and NYY are all above .500 since the ASG.

Tonight both Detroit and Houston are losing and other three have won or are winning.  

[moonslav59]

18 hits and no BBs.

Crochet might have lost the Cy Young Award, but who cares?

4 to 9 batters all had 2 or more hits. 8 Runs & 8 RBI!

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

One of the stranger games of the year.  For much of it we got a ton of breaks, most ground balls found a hole.  Then our ace got rocked and I was pretty bummed that it looked like they would lose a Crochet game. But Cedanne did what he does a lot and came up big.  

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

The left side D of Bregman and Story now looks as good as any in the league, but it sure helps the confidence of the entire infield to finally have a legitimate MLB first baseman like Nate Lowe stretching and scooping to finish the plays.

With Anthony out for a spell, the question today is who should bat leadoff? Assuming we don't want to mess with the successful #2-3-4 of Bregman-Duran-Story, or RBI guys like Lowe, Romy and Ref, the candidates are narrowed down to Say Gone Rafaela or Mass Attacka Yoshida.

Some fans can't stand watching Ceddanne hack at every pitch, but it's an approach we have to accept -- or where would we be without his timely home runs? Masa is a better contact man, and may be heating up, but right now both have season On Base percentages below .300...

Nate Eaton, Roman's replacement last night, will probably bat first when he plays. Prediction: Cora will try about 10 other leadoffs down the stretch, based entirely upon nightly match-ups -- including who he has planned to pinch-hit later in the games. It's what we do...

 

[Hitch]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

18 hits and no BBs.

Crochet might have lost the Cy Young Award, but who cares?

4 to 9 batters all had 2 or more hits. 8 Runs & 8 RBI!

I think it's gone now. Which may be no bad thing. He says every time he thinks about it he has a bad outing. No need to think about it anymore. 

There's no sign off fatigue in arm strength, but he's never gone this deep. Unchartered territory. 

[Bellhorn04]

10 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Great game and show of offense, when you need it.

I should keep ragging on Masa and talking about Rafaela's weak hits! LOL!

Nah, we have Fred and we have other raggers to look after all that.  You're supposed to be one of the reasonable ones.  

[moonslav59]

Just now, Bellhorn04 said:

We have Fred and we have other raggers to look after all that.  You're supposed to be one of the reasonable ones.  

It's reasonable to think a .609 batter who has not other skills should be demoted.

I try to be as optimistic as possible and have said Masa may still be able to hit near .800, but to me, he used up his chance. Was last night enough to loosen the leash? Maybe.

Until Abreu returns, the urgency is not as dramatic. The extra roster player helps, too.

[Bellhorn04]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's reasonable to think a .609 batter who has not other skills should be demoted.

I try to be as optimistic as possible and have said Masa may still be able to hit near .800, but to me, he used up his chance. Was last night enough to loosen the leash? Maybe.

Until Abreu returns, the urgency is not as dramatic. The extra roster player helps, too.

I'm surprised you bailed on Yoshida so fast.  He proved he can hit 800 against righties over 2 seasons.  Positive regression was virtually inevitable.  How long should the leash be?  That's up to Cora and Breslow and the hitting coaches.  They have vastly more data and knowledge than us.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

31 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's reasonable to think a .609 batter who has not other skills should be demoted.

I try to be as optimistic as possible and have said Masa may still be able to hit near .800, but to me, he used up his chance. Was last night enough to loosen the leash? Maybe.

Until Abreu returns, the urgency is not as dramatic. The extra roster player helps, too.

I vote to no to Ali Sanchez as the new leadoff batter.

[Bellhorn04]

2 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I vote to no to Ali Sanchez as the new leadoff batter.

New leadoff hitters are probably a platoon of Duran and Eaton.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

3 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

New leadoff hitters are probably a platoon of Duran and Eaton.

If they move Duran back up vs. righties, Lowe will bat 3rd, and Masa 5th.

Geez, hurry back Abreu, already.

[mvp 78]

22 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm surprised you bailed on Yoshida so fast.  He proved he can hit 800 against righties over 2 seasons.  Positive regression was virtually inevitable.  How long should the leash be?  That's up to Cora and Breslow and the hitting coaches.  They have vastly more data and knowledge than us.

With only a few weeks left in the season, there may not be enough time to wait around for regression. 

[Bellhorn04]

30 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

With only a few weeks left in the season, there may not be enough time to wait around for regression. 

I'll stick with the opinions of Cora and the rest of management over the armchair versions.  I think the real ones have done an excellent job this year. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'm surprised you bailed on Yoshida so fast.  He proved he can hit 800 against righties over 2 seasons.  Positive regression was virtually inevitable.  How long should the leash be?  That's up to Cora and Breslow and the hitting coaches.  They have vastly more data and knowledge than us.

I thought they handled his rehab all wrong and that he was not ready when they called him up. He looked lost, at the plate.

I also think we had better options, especially vs LHPs.

[moonslav59]

46 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

With only a few weeks left in the season, there may not be enough time to wait around for regression. 

That's how I see it. I gave my opinion and asked how much longer can the leash be extended? Nobody answered, except one said two weeks, about 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Was last night a sign? I hope so.

[moonslav59]

Any timeline on Abreu & Anthony?

[Bellhorn04]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I thought they handled his rehab all wrong and that he was not ready when they called him up. He looked lost, at the plate.

I also think we had better options, especially vs LHPs.

He's not starting against lefties.  Should be compared to the other options against righties.

 

[Bellhorn04]

6 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

That's how I see it. I gave my opinion and asked how much longer can the leash be extended? Nobody answered, except one said two weeks, about 2 1/2 weeks ago.

Was last night a sign? I hope so.

That was me that said 2 weeks as a guess, and it was just a few days ago, actually.  But like I said, the real answer to that question is that it's up to management to figure out.  They are looking at all kinds of things that we don't even know about.  And we know that they are not really averse to jettisoning guys...   

[Jasonbay44]

I missed the game last night due to a fantasy football draft and drinking but just caught up on everything that happened. Is there any (hopefully good) news about Roman? 

[moonslav59]

56 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

He's not starting against lefties.  Should be compared to the other options against righties.

 

Yes. I mentioned Romy is hot (.952 last 5 & .751 last11 gams.) and has hit RHPs better than Yoshida. Romy could play 1B or 2B v LHPs as Lowe and DHam suck vs L, but he could DH vs RHPs.

2 ML options and 1 minor league call-up options:

.735 Narvaez (Give him some rest by DH'ing him, now that we have 3 catchers on the 28 man roster.)

.697 Romy

.658 Campbell

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

38 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

I missed the game last night due to a fantasy football draft and drinking but just caught up on everything that happened. Is there any (hopefully good) news about Roman? 

Nothing yet, but tv blabbers speculating -- after researching the World Wide Web -- that the typical timeline for a batter's oblique injury might have him ready again by the postseason... unless the brass shuts him down for the year.

All we can do is shift speculation: Password, right? Hint: Campbell is slated to play 2B in Woo tonight.  

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

I'll stick with the opinions of Cora and the rest of management over the armchair versions.  I think the real ones have done an excellent job this year. 

Yikes. Classic misdirection post. Sorry that jingling keys don't excite me. 

[mvp 78]

27 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Nothing yet, but tv blabbers speculating -- after researching the World Wide Web -- that the typical timeline for a batter's oblique injury might have him ready again by the postseason... unless the brass shuts him down for the year.

All we can do is shift speculation: Password, right? Hint: Campbell is slated to play 2B in Woo tonight.  

From a AAA performance perspective, Jhostynxon gets a huge edge over Campbell. He's also a much better fielder. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

38 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

From a AAA performance perspective, Jhostynxon gets a huge edge over Campbell. He's also a much better fielder. 

Plus, I don't know if you saw him pinch-run last week -- when the pitcher threw away a pick-off to 1st -- but Password can fly... as he did sprinting all the way to 3B on the play.

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes. I mentioned Romy is hot (.952 last 5 & .751 last11 gams.) and has hit RHPs better than Yoshida. Romy could play 1B or 2B v LHPs as Lowe and DHam suck vs L, but he could DH vs RHPs.

2 ML options and 1 minor league call-up options:

.735 Narvaez (Give him some rest by DH'ing him, now that we have 3 catchers on the 28 man roster.)

.697 Romy

.658 Campbell

Yoshida .674.  Pretty small differences here, and Yoshida's sample size is still small enough that his OPS jumped 45 points last night.  Still not sure why you have so little faith in his ability to hit righties.

[Maxbialystock]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Great game and show of offense, when you need it.

I should keep ragging on Masa and talking about Rafaela's weak hits! LOL!

With Bregman struggling and Anthony possibly headed for the IL, the Sox lineup will need to rely heavily on all those other bats, including Rafaela's and Yoshida's,  

Tonight Cleveland starts lefty Cantillo, but this is first start in over 2 weeks, plus he started the season in the bullpen.  In his last 3 starts he went 5.2, 5.2, and 5 innings and gave up 6 ER for an ERA of 3.31. 

The Sox best bats vs righties are Gonzalez (.994), Ref (.950), Bregman (.927), Story (.773), Narvaez (.748), Rafaela (.719), Eaton (.698), and Duran (.580).  I left out Anthony's .770 because I doubt he can play tonight.  All those others can.  I also left out Lowe because (in just 9 AB's) his OPS vs lefties is .222. 

Were I Cora, I might go with this batting order tonight 

Ref DH

Bregman 3B

Gonzalez 2b

Story  SS

Narvaez C

Lowe 1b

Rafaela  CF

Duran LF 

Eaton RF

 

 

 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Yoshida .674.  Pretty small differences here, and Yoshida's sample size is still small enough that his OPS jumped 45 points last night.  Still not sure why you have so little faith in his ability to hit righties.

Again, I said he might very well snap out of it. My leash tightened weeks ago. I'd have demoted him with the hopes he could play more with WOO and maybe come back.

I have not lost faith. Yes, I had little faith he could regain by the end of 2025. Last night offers more hope than I had before.

Why so little faith in Romy, Campbell and Garcia?