Red Sox (May) vs Athletics (Springs): 9/9/25, 10:05pm

[Brandon Glick]

Jeffrey Springs has a history of shoving against the Sox. Hopefully, the ineptitude of the A's has rubbed off on him.

[Nick]

Outfielder Rob Refsnyder was out of the lineup Monday after slamming into the Chase Field turf on a diving catch attempt late in Sunday’s win.

It's really time for Refs to retire after the season. One dive and he's hurt. Love his bat but he keeps taking up valuable spot on the roster. Hell I don't think Bregman is 100%. 

 

 

[illinoisredsox]

13 minutes ago, Nick said:

Outfielder Rob Refsnyder was out of the lineup Monday after slamming into the Chase Field turf on a diving catch attempt late in Sunday’s win.

It's really time for Refs to retire after the season. One dive and he's hurt. Love his bat but he keeps taking up valuable spot on the roster. Hell I don't think Bregman is 100%. 

 

 

So should Story have retired after missing most of last year after getting hurt diving for a ball?  I guess Mayer should hang it up; he can’t play a whole season.  Anthony hurt himself swinging a bat. Abreu hurt a calf muscle. They’re done obviously.

Ref probably will retire; he thought about it last year.  But it should be because he doesn’t want to play anymore, not because he got hurt making a baseball play.  It’s not like he has a history of injuries.

Whose valuable spot is he taking up?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick]

1 minute ago, illinoisredsox said:

So should Story have retired after missing most of last year after getting hurt diving for a ball?  I guess Mayer should hang it up; he can’t play a whole season.  Anthony hurt himself swinging a bat. Abreu hurt a calf muscle. They’re done obviously.

Ref probably will retire; he thought about it last year.  But it will be because he doesn’t want to play anymore, not because he got hurt making a baseball play.  It’s not like he has a history of injuries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don't think being injury prone is not part of Refs consideration for retirement, you are an idiot.

You think guys retire because they don't want to play anymore? Why wouldn't they want to play anymore? Probably because they are not physically keeping up with their skill set of younger years.

Are you really comparing Story's injuries to Refsnyder? You're an idiot. You don't think that there's a motivational difference between a guy making $23M versus $2M, who by the way wants to work in baseball.

Put me on ignore. You are so shallow. 

 

 

[moonslav59]

I'd rather have Ref than Yoshida, Grissom, Eaton, Sogard, Sanchez and some pitchers like I Campbell, May, Hicks...

[Brandon Glick]

It appears May will not be making his scheduled start.

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

If you don't think being injury prone is not part of Refs consideration for retirement, you are an idiot.

You think guys retire because they don't want to play anymore? Why wouldn't they want to play anymore? Probably because they are not physically keeping up with their skill set of younger years.

Are you really comparing Story's injuries to Refsnyder? You're an idiot. You don't think that there's a motivational difference between a guy making $23M versus $2M, who by the way wants to work in baseball.

Put me on ignore. You are so shallow. 

 

 

Ease up, Nick.  No way did the post you responded to deserve repeatedly calling the other poster names.   

[a700hitter]

Did May order a salad again?

[Cameron Tran]

Is Early postseason roster eligible? 

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

Is Early postseason roster eligible? 

Yes.

[Cameron Tran]

Who's your 4th starter come October? Tolle? Early? What's the word on Criswell? When are we going to see Kyle Harrison? Bullpen game? Lots of big questions regarding the back end of the rotation (something we also had many questions about at the trade deadline). 

[Maxbialystock]

1 minute ago, Cameron Tran said:

Who's your 4th starter come October? Tolle? Early? What's the word on Criswell? When are we going to see Kyle Harrison? Bullpen game? Lots of big questions regarding the back end of the rotation (something we also had many questions about at the trade deadline). 

What nonsense.  The Sox have used 12 freaking starters (Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Buehler, Dobbins, Fitts, Houck Newcomb, May, Tolle, Criswell, and Crawford) this season if you include Crawford who missed the entire season after starting 33 games last season. 

Despite all that, Crochet, Bello, and Giolito are the three best Sox starters--as a group--in a long time.  May was a wild card from a trade and actually has two quality starts for the Sox.  Tolle was stunningly good in MILB and had one good start before getting hit hard by Arizona 4 days ago.  The Sox have the 2d most quality starts in MLB.  

Most teams don't need a 4th starter in the postseason.  

[Maxbialystock]

2 hours ago, Nick said:

If you don't think being injury prone is not part of Refs consideration for retirement, you are an idiot.

You think guys retire because they don't want to play anymore? Why wouldn't they want to play anymore? Probably because they are not physically keeping up with their skill set of younger years.

Are you really comparing Story's injuries to Refsnyder? You're an idiot. You don't think that there's a motivational difference between a guy making $23M versus $2M, who by the way wants to work in baseball.

Put me on ignore. You are so shallow. 

 

 

Call me shallow too. I remember the play that led to the IL.  Ref made an all-out effort to catch that liner down the right field line and in fact had it in his glove before it came out.  He has the 3d highest OPS on the Sox, .843.  

[Maxbialystock]

2 hours ago, Brandon Glick said:

Jeffrey Springs has a history of shoving against the Sox. Hopefully, the ineptitude of the A's has rubbed off on him.

Thanks for the heads up.  May has given the Sox 2 quality starts, but has also been inconsistent.  

[Cameron Tran]

13 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

What nonsense.  The Sox have used 12 freaking starters (Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Buehler, Dobbins, Fitts, Houck Newcomb, May, Tolle, Criswell, and Crawford) this season if you include Crawford who missed the entire season after starting 33 games last season. 

Despite all that, Crochet, Bello, and Giolito are the three best Sox starters--as a group--in a long time.  May was a wild card from a trade and actually has two quality starts for the Sox.  Tolle was stunningly good in MILB and had one good start before getting hit hard by Arizona 4 days ago.  The Sox have the 2d most quality starts in MLB.  

Most teams don't need a 4th starter in the postseason.  

With Crochet at well over his career high in innings, Bello approaching his career high, and Giolito coming off a TJ season, I think one of the young guys definitely has a chance of making the postseason roster as a #4. Not that we necessarily need one, but it would be nice to have. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

With Early replacing May my anticipation of watching tonight's game  has risen 100 percent.

[mvp 78]

16 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Most teams don't need a 4th starter in the postseason.  

Teams that used 4 starters last postseason:

DET - first used in division series

CLE - first used in championship series

NYY - first used in championship series

PHI - first used in division series

NYM - first used in division series

LAD - first used in division series

SDP - first used in division series

7 out of the 12 teams reached their 4th starter. 

 

[Cameron Tran]

Athletics since ASG:

3rd in SLG

3rd in HR

7th in wRC+

8th in OBP

9th in ERA

9th in K/9

 

Offense did a good job getting to Morales and the bullpen. Encouraging that Crochet was able to get through 7 without allowing a HR after the Cleveland start, especially in a hitters friendly park like Sacremento. Going to be a big test for Early in his first start. No offense to Pittsburgh, who have been playing okay in their own right under Don Kelly, but Early faces a much bigger challenge than Tolle. Hopefully going to be a good game.

[Cameron Tran]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Teams that used 4 starters last postseason:

DET - first used in division series

CLE - first used in championship series

NYY - first used in championship series

PHI - first used in division series

NYM - first used in division series

LAD - first used in division series

SDP - first used in division series

7 out of the 12 teams reached their 4th starter. 

 

All 4 championship series teams in there as well. Definitely a good idea to have someone who can atleast give you innings in the DS

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Thanks for the heads up.  May has given the Sox 2 quality starts, but has also been inconsistent.  

His k% is down and he's getting hit harder. He is worse at home in Sacramento as well (464 SLG vs 376 SLG). 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

16 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

With Early replacing May my anticipation of watching tonight's game  has risen 100 percent.

Debuting Early on the road is probably a lot less pressure on him compared to debuting at Fenway. So there's that.

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Debuting Early on the road is probably a lot less pressure on him compared to debuting at Fenway. So there's that.

He's also used to pitching in MiLB stadiums. 

[moonslav59]

So, Early jumped over Harrison. Early was not even Rule 5 eligible, so this caused a winter roster slot to be used up. That tells us that Harrison's ankle injury is the issue, or they lost all faith in his 2025 worthiness.

[moonslav59]

44 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

 The Sox have used 12 freaking starters (Crochet, Bello, Giolito, Buehler, Dobbins, Fitts, Houck Newcomb, May, Tolle, Criswell, and Crawford) this season if you include Crawford who missed the entire season after starting 33 games last season. 

There was also Sandoval, who never got a start after being expected back by August.

Perales might have started had he not been on the season long IL.

Wink might have gotten a start or two had he not been out all year.

Criswell got one start, was demoted and then went on the IL.

Harrison has been passed over.

Sadly, Priester was traded away.

[moonslav59]

May was placed on the IL, but who's 40 man roster spot, does Early take?

Maybe just DFA May?

[Cameron Tran]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

So, Early jumped over Harrison. Early was not even Rule 5 eligible, so this caused a winter roster slot to be used up. That tells us that Harrison's ankle injury is the issue, or they lost all faith in his 2025 worthiness.

I still like Harrison. Red Sox heavily increased his slider percentage, and we've seen the "pitching lab" churn out some solid sliders. Problem is his walk numbers are way up since joining and his strikeout's are down. Seems like we've pretty much given up on him for the 2025 season. 

[Cameron Tran]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

There was also Sandoval, who never got a start after being expected back by August.

Perales might have started had he not been on the season long IL.

Wink might have gotten a start or two had he not been out all year.

Criswell got one start, was demoted and then went on the IL.

Harrison has been passed over.

Sadly, Priester was traded away.

can't really hate the Priester move. He was pretty bad for us and Fitts looked solid early in the season. Also got us Marcus Phillips, who we apparently loved pre draft enough to maybe take him underslot over Witherspoon.

[Cameron Tran]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

May was placed on the IL, but who's 40 man roster spot, does Early take?

Maybe just DFA May?

His raw stuff is good enough to merit a look as a one-inning reliever, but if this IL stint is more than 10 days DFA is probably the best option, I can't see Cora trusting him to start a playoff game

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, Cameron Tran said:

can't really hate the Priester move. He was pretty bad for us and Fitts looked solid early in the season. Also got us Marcus Phillips, who we apparently loved pre draft enough to maybe take him underslot over Witherspoon.

We had the dream of Sandoval joining the rotation in August and maybe Crawford, too, at the time of the trade.

In hindsight, it looks bad, right now, but this is certainly a TBD trade to grade.

[Cameron Tran]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

We had the dream of Sandoval joining the rotation in August and maybe Crawford, too, at the time of the trade.

In hindsight, it looks bad, right now, but this is certainly a TBD trade to grade.

Didn't know Houck was going to blow his arm out either. Buehler hadn't blown up yet. Don't forget there were talks of a 6 man rotation in spring training. Now we're down to 3