Red Sox Day Off Thoughts & Feelings

[Brandon Glick]

Another day off. Good for health, bad for the soul.

Can at least root for the Rays (vs Jays) and Twins (vs Yankees) to win tonight.

[mvp 78]

Rooting for the Twins sounds like a curse to me. 

 

[Maxbialystock]

Sox need to win 4/6 from the A's and Rays and 2/6 from the Tigers and Jays to go 6-6 and finish @ 88 wins.  

Sox hitting is suspect without Anthony, and the Sox ERA in September is 4.44--Crochet 4.74, Bello 5.63; Tolle 12.60; Chapman 4.15.  

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

11 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

Sox need to win 4/6 from the A's and Rays and 2/6 from the Tigers and Jays to go 6-6 and finish @ 88 wins.  

Sox hitting is suspect without Anthony, and the Sox ERA in September is 4.44--Crochet 4.74, Bello 5.63; Tolle 12.60; Chapman 4.15.  

Definitely not peaking.

More like peeking; squint hard enough and see the postseason, off in the distance...

... just have to get there.

[Nick]

Rangers and Guardians are in a virtual tie, 79-71 vs 79-72.

The Guardians have a tougher schedule on paper, playing the Tigers 6 times and the Rangers 3 times. If the Rangers can beat up on the Astros, they have a chance to take over the Sox. They play 3 vs the Marlins and 3 vs the Twins. Then they finish against the Guardians.

The Rangers are still pitching tough.....on our heels.

I think the Astros are safe. Their schedule is much easier.

[mvp 78]

14 minutes ago, Nick said:

Rangers and Guardians are in a virtual tie, 79-71 vs 79-72.

The Guardians have a tougher schedule on paper, playing the Tigers 6 times and the Rangers 3 times. If the Rangers can beat up on the Astros, they have a chance to take over the Sox. They play 3 vs the Marlins and 3 vs the Twins. Then they finish against the Guardians.

The Rangers are still pitching tough.....on our heels.

I think the Astros are safe. Their schedule is much easier.

HOU plays TEX and SEA the next 6 games. No matter what, there are some losses in there for somebody. 

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

HOU plays TEX and SEA the next 6 games. No matter what, there are some losses in there for somebody. 

Yup. One team will lose 3-6 games- maybe two lose 3.

[moonslav59]

I hate days off.

How about Cal breaking the Catcher HR record (43 as a C)and tying Mantle for most HRs by a switch hitter (54?)

Our pal, Devers, is over 30 HRs and 100 RBI.

Anybody still thinking "What if?" on Soto? (40 HRs and 98 RBI)

Is this the first season the Sox do not have a qualified player in the top 70 of wRC+? (Duran at #72 at 112.)

If you go down to 450 PAs, Bregman is at #34 at 127. (Last time nobody was in top 30?)

Go to 300...

Anthony is 17th at 138, Bregman 44th and Abrue 90th at 115.

[Kimmi]

5 hours ago, Brandon Glick said:

Another day off. Good for health, bad for the soul.

Can at least root for the Rays (vs Jays) and Twins (vs Yankees) to win tonight.

Off days are at least a lot easier to take when we're coming off a win.  Thank goodness the Sox won and the Rangers lost yesterday.  I needed that.

I don't think the Twins have it in them to beat the Yankees.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Off days are at least a lot easier to take when we're coming off a win.  Thank goodness the Sox won and the Rangers lost yesterday.  I needed that.

I don't think the Twins have it in them to beat the Yankees.

Maybe the Twins can win 1 of 3.

The Rays might be the spoiler.

[Kimmi]

3 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

HOU plays TEX and SEA the next 6 games. No matter what, there are some losses in there for somebody. 

Yes.  The Red Sox have to take care of their own business.  These 3 teams beating up on each other does us no good if the Sox can't win their own games.  I hate having to depend on what another team does to make it into the playoffs.  Fortunately, the Sox don't have to do that if they win their games.

[Kimmi]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Maybe the Twins can win 1 of 3.

The Rays might be the spoiler.

Let's hope the Twins can do something against the Yankees. 

We still have a very outside chance of winning division, only because we still have 3 games remaining against the Jays.  We are going to need a lot of help though, and like I just posted, I don't like having to rely on other teams to win.  They inevitably will let me down.

Full steam ahead for the Red Sox.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Yes.  The Red Sox have to take care of their own business.  These 3 teams beating up on each other does us no good if the Sox can't win their own games.  I hate having to depend on what another team does to make it into the playoffs.  Fortunately, the Sox don't have to do that if they win their games.

Indeed. It also sucks to win 3 or 4 of 5, but the other guys win 5 straight.

[moonslav59]

Sometimes a big win, like last night sets us onto a nice run.

[Kimmi]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Indeed. It also sucks to win 3 or 4 of 5, but the other guys win 5 straight.

Yeah, the Rangers and the Guardians are really getting on my nerves right now.

[harmony]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Sometimes a big win, like last night sets us onto a nice run.

Seattle was 1-6 on an East Coast road trip before a 10-2 victory in Atlanta ignited the current nine-game win streak.

[moonslav59]

I remember that epic 1978 season. The Sox won the last 8 in a row and 12 of 14. They needed every win to force the tie-breaker game. The Yanks won 6 of 7. Just going 5-2 would have put us in.

You can't count on other teams losing, but it's nice to know one team has to lose, and we are ahead of both. If we go 2-1, we will gain on one team.

[Maxbialystock]

I'm staying with 6-6 for the Sox.  It won't be easy, but it will likely be enough to get the Sox into the postseason.  

Here's an interesting factoid.  The Sox have used 32 pitchers this year, not including Eaton and Toro.  

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

I'm staying with 6-6 for the Sox.  It won't be easy, but it will likely be enough to get the Sox into the postseason.  

Here's an interesting factoid.  The Sox have used 32 pitchers this year, not including Eaton and Toro.  

Same as 2024: 32 + Dom Smith & Pablo Reyes.

Same as 2023: 32 + Pablo Reyes

We used 28 in 2022 + 4 position players.

In 2021, we used 33 + 4 position players.

[moonslav59]

How many pitchers have 10+ IP in 2025?

25 (Early at 5.0 & Harrison at 3.0 might pass 10.)

17 have over 25 IP

13 have over 40, but Houck, Dobbins & Fitts are on the IL and Buehler & Newcomb are gone.

In 2023: 23 over 10 IP, 14 over 25 and 14 over 40.

In 2022: 23 over 10 IP, 17 over 25 IP, 14 over 40

2018: only 23 pitchers used: 20 over 10 IP, 15 over 25 IP and 14 over 40 IP

2013: 26 Total, 23 over 10, 17 over 25 and only 10 over 40.

2007: 20 TOTAL!!! 18 over 10. 14 over 25 and 13 over 40.

In 2004, we had 5 SP'ers with 178+ IP. That helped lead to just 17 pitchers at 10+ IP, 10 over 25 IP and 8 over 40.

[Nick]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I hate days off.

How about Cal breaking the Catcher HR record (43 as a C)and tying Mantle for most HRs by a switch hitter (54?)

Our pal, Devers, is over 30 HRs and 100 RBI.

Anybody still thinking "What if?" on Soto? (40 HRs and 98 RBI)

Is this the first season the Sox do not have a qualified player in the top 70 of wRC+? (Duran at #72 at 112.)

If you go down to 450 PAs, Bregman is at #34 at 127. (Last time nobody was in top 30?)

Go to 300...

Anthony is 17th at 138, Bregman 44th and Abrue 90th at 115.

But the day off is good for the Sox pitching staff.

Looks like we'll go with Early, Giolito and Bello followed by Crochet either G1 or G2 vs Tampa Bay. We'll need another starter for G1 or G2. G3 if everything goes well we then get back to Early.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, Nick said:

But the day off is good for the Sox pitching staff.

Looks like we'll go with Early, Giolito and Bello followed by Crochet either G1 or G2 vs Tampa Bay. We'll need another starter for G1 or G2. G3 if everything goes well we then get back to Early.

Agreed. When your big strength is three four starting pitchers and 2 RP'ers, a day off is a good thing.

[harmony]

2 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

I'm staying with 6-6 for the Sox.  It won't be easy, but it will likely be enough to get the Sox into the postseason.  

Here's an interesting factoid.  The Sox have used 32 pitchers this year, not including Eaton and Toro.  

Many, if not most, MLB teams have used at least 30 pitchers this year, excluding position players who made mound appearances.

[moonslav59]

35 minutes ago, harmony said:

Many, if not most, MLB teams have used at least 30 pitchers this year, excluding position players who made mound appearances.

With 13 man staffs and injuries up the yazoo, it's not really surprising.

With a 40 man roster, it still seems like a lot.

This adds some explanation:

10-12 On IL: Crawford, Sandoval,Hendriks, Perales, Houck, Dobbins, Fitts, Criswell, Winckowski, Guerrero (back from IL: Murphy, Moran)

4 No longer on team or 40: Buehler, Newcomb, Burdi, Fulmer, Stock

[Duran Is The Man]

5 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I hate days off.

How about Cal breaking the Catcher HR record (43 as a C)and tying Mantle for most HRs by a switch hitter (54?)

Our pal, Devers, is over 30 HRs and 100 RBI.

Anybody still thinking "What if?" on Soto? (40 HRs and 98 RBI)

Is this the first season the Sox do not have a qualified player in the top 70 of wRC+? (Duran at #72 at 112.)

If you go down to 450 PAs, Bregman is at #34 at 127. (Last time nobody was in top 30?)

Go to 300...

Anthony is 17th at 138, Bregman 44th and Abrue 90th at 115.

the wife and i are currently in KC, with tickets for the next three games against Cal Raleigh and the Mariners.

[moonslav59]

Wow, MN beat NYY!

[moonslav59]

HOU Beat TEX. 

I kinda wanted TEX to knock HOU out, but this is better on paper.

We are now 1 down on NYY

1/2 up on HOU (We have 1 less loss.)

We are...

+3.5 on CLE (3 in loss column) and TEX (4 lin loss column)

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The next 3 games will be Early, Gio and Bello. Tolle will be passed on his start and Gio and Bello will pitch on 4 days rest.

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The next 3 games will be Early, Gio and Bello. Tolle will be passed on his start and Gio and Bello will pitch on 4 days rest.

So,

Early v ATH

Gio v ATH

Bello v ATH

Crochet at TBR

Tolle at TBR

Early at TBR

OFF

Gio at TOR (+1 day rest) This sets us up nicely for TOR.

Bello at TOR (+1)

Crochet at TOR (+1) Our best 3 SP'ers- all with an extra day

Tolle/Harrison v DET

Early v DET

Gio v DET (if needed) or Harrison/Tolle

If we make the playoffs, we could start with our top 3 SP'ers then Early.

 

[Kimmi]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Wow, MN beat NYY!

Woot!  Let's hope MN can win another.

The Rays had a very good chance of beating the Jays, both in the bottom of the 10th and the bottom of the 11th.  Unfortunately, the Rays could not get a run home from 3rd base with less than 2 outs.  Oh well, it would have taken a near miracle for us to overtake them.