Athletics (Springs) vs Red Sox (Early): 9/16/25, 6:45pm

[Nick]

Just now, Nick said:

Looks like the Indians will only be back 2 games.

 

Just now, Nick said:

Looks like the Indians will only be back 2 games.

Well it you're going to screw anyone, I say 

SCREW EVERYONE OF YOU IN THE DOUGOUT THAT'S INJURED AND CAN'T PLAY. YOU GUYS ALL SUCK INCLUDING ANTHONY. BUNCH OF FREAKIN BABIES. YES NOT GETTING HURT IS ONE OF THE JOB REQUIREMENTS. "ON NO, I SWUNG TOO HARD AND NOW BACK HURTS" 

[FredLynn]

Just now, Nick said:

Looks like the Indians will only be back 2 games.

Honestly, I don't really care if they make the playoffs any more. While it would be nice to play a few games in Oct not making it would likely get Cora and hopefully Breslow FIRED. THAT is really what is needed.

[Maxbialystock]

3 minutes ago, d-money said:

This team’s a joke.  If they lose this game. 

Not a joke--simply a team having trouble hitting a round ball with a round bat squarely.    

Not keeping Devers as DH saved money, but never solved the 1b issue--and it definitely hurt the hitting.  At the time, I thought it was the right move and thought so for a long time until 2 weeks ago when Anthony went down for the count while Bregman couldn't hit spit.  Devers as DH would be huge right now.  Definitely not as good a clubhouse guy as Bregman, but that ain't working lately.  Hitting is the coin of the realm.  

Breslow has a better eye for and interest in pitching than hitting.  He brought in Breslow, whose value this season is maybe 1/2 his $40 salary and who gets $40M more next year if the wants it.  But the two best Sox hitters this year, Devers and Anthony, came from DD and CB.  So did Duran, Story, Abreu, Mayer, and Ref, 

 

 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

14 minutes ago, Nineintime said:

No worries Cora will pontificate tried and true soundbites so as not to potentially motivate these scrubs or worse yet to offend them.  

"We just have to get better."

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Weissert now leads the American League in blown saves with 9.

It's too late with too much at stake to hope someone struggling will be good again.

(I know, we can say that about six or seven batters right now, too)

[moonslav59]

Just finished watching. That was painful.

[iortiz]

46 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Weissert now leads the American League in blown saves with 9.

It's too late with too much at stake to hope someone struggling will be good again.

(I know, we can say that about six or seven batters right now, too)

Seems Cora hasn’t been told. 

[illinoisredsox]

1 hour ago, Nick said:

 

Well it you're going to screw anyone, I say 

SCREW EVERYONE OF YOU IN THE DOUGOUT THAT'S INJURED AND CAN'T PLAY. YOU GUYS ALL SUCK INCLUDING ANTHONY. BUNCH OF FREAKIN BABIES. YES NOT GETTING HURT IS ONE OF THE JOB REQUIREMENTS. "ON NO, I SWUNG TOO HARD AND NOW BACK HURTS" 

Don’t drink and post.

[Randy Red Sox]

2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

I use to think I’d want Bregman on the team next year. No more. Between his injuries and slumping when it matters I don’t want him. 

and who would you play at 3b over Bregman right now?

[Duran Is The Man]

5 hours ago, iortiz said:

I would bet hands down Red Sox lead the league in LOBs. Not sure how you address that. Psychologist? It’s really annoying. 

suprisingly, they're not first. they are actually 13th in the league with 1042 LOB. The Braves are first with about 1080.

[notin]

10 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Cora's not gonna bench Breg.

But will he bang the trash can for him?

[moonslav59]

9 hours ago, iortiz said:

Seems Cora hasn’t been told. 

The other middle relievers are worse and have been all year.

[moonslav59]

Seems like everyday, we can say, "What a difference a day makes."

Now, we are the 3rd WC team, after everyone closest to us won. CLE is now our main contender, as TEX lost.

83-68 SEA ALW leader (Tonight: B MIller v Ragans)

__________________________

84-67 NYY (Tonight: Gil v Bradley)

83-69 HOU (Javier v de Grom)

82-69 BOS (Gio vs Barnett) 11 games to go & up 2.5

________________________

79-71 CLE -2.5 (GWilliams v Flaherty)

79-73 TEX -3.5 (de Grom v Javier)

 

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, illinoisredsox said:

Don’t drink and post.

What fun is that? 

[FredLynn]

10 hours ago, Randy Red Sox said:

and who would you play at 3b over Bregman right now?

This year there’s no one else. I just would rather he decline his option this offseason.

[jad]

13 hours ago, Nick said:

 

Well it you're going to screw anyone, I say 

SCREW EVERYONE OF YOU IN THE DOUGOUT THAT'S INJURED AND CAN'T PLAY. YOU GUYS ALL SUCK INCLUDING ANTHONY. BUNCH OF FREAKIN BABIES. YES NOT GETTING HURT IS ONE OF THE JOB REQUIREMENTS. "ON NO, I SWUNG TOO HARD AND NOW BACK HURTS" 

Come on, man.  You're expecting professional athletes to be as bad-ass tough as you are.  And of course, that's just not the case.

[mvp 78]

24 minutes ago, jad said:

Come on, man.  You're expecting professional athletes to be as bad-ass tough as you are.  And of course, that's just not the case.

Have they even tried swinging in ALL CAPS? 

[Maxbialystock]

12 hours ago, Randy Red Sox said:

and who would you play at 3b over Bregman right now?

Right now Bregman is the only choice at 3b, but his September OPS is .563.  His one dinger hit the Pesky Pole down low.  And whatever bon mots he is sharing in the dugout or locker room ain't having much effect. 

 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Right now Bregman is the only choice at 3b, but his September OPS is .563.  His one dinger hit the Pesky Pole down low.  And whatever bon mots he is sharing in the dugout or locker room ain't having much effect. 

 

We are not going anywhere, if we keep hitting like this. 

The good thing about baseball is that games and stats are rarely repeated over and over. Players and teams have ups and downs.

The team has a .676 OPS over the last 14 days, and of the 11 batters with 25+ PAs (actually 13+, but all have 25+.)

4 are REAL bad (OPS):

.244 Rafaela

.439 Yoshida

.483 Lowe

.576 Bregman

3 are decent:

.750 Duran

.777 Sogard

.793 Story

4 are good:

.857 Eaton

.864 Narvaez

.868 Romy

.929 Refsnyder

(Wong is at .833 in 12 PAs/ DHam is at .432 in 12 PAs)

 

[Kimmi]

Our offense is so maddening at times.  How can you not score at least one run when you have bases loaded and no outs?  

I would like to point out how one bad strike/ball call potentially changed the outcome of that game in a big way.  In the second inning with bases loaded, Rafaela had a 2-0 count in his favor.  Pitch #3 to him was clearly Ball 3.  The ump called it a strike.  If the count had gone to 3-0 like it should have instead of 2-1, the entire trajectory of that game might have been different.

[Bellhorn04]

5 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Our offense is so maddening at times.  How can you not score at least one run when you have bases loaded and no outs?  

I would like to point out how one bad strike/ball call potentially changed the outcome of that game in a big way.  In the second inning with bases loaded, Rafaela had a 2-0 count in his favor.  Pitch #3 to him was clearly Ball 3.  The ump called it a strike.  If the count had gone to 3-0 like it should have instead of 2-1, the entire trajectory of that game might have been different.

Robo calls  - 2 challenges per game - the system they tried in spring - are you in?

[Kimmi]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Robo calls  - 2 challenges per game - the system they tried in spring - are you in?

Oddly enough, I am not.  However, I prefer the 2 challenges per game over an automated system calling all the balls and strikes.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

18 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Our offense is so maddening at times.  How can you not score at least one run when you have bases loaded and no outs?  

I would like to point out how one bad strike/ball call potentially changed the outcome of that game in a big way.  In the second inning with bases loaded, Rafaela had a 2-0 count in his favor.  Pitch #3 to him was clearly Ball 3.  The ump called it a strike.  If the count had gone to 3-0 like it should have instead of 2-1, the entire trajectory of that game might have been different.

If it was a ball, Ceddanne would've swung at it!

(come on- that was a good one... keeping it dark in this month of impending doom...)

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, Kimmi said:

Our offense is so maddening at times.  How can you not score at least one run when you have bases loaded and no outs?  

I would like to point out how one bad strike/ball call potentially changed the outcome of that game in a big way.  In the second inning with bases loaded, Rafaela had a 2-0 count in his favor.  Pitch #3 to him was clearly Ball 3.  The ump called it a strike.  If the count had gone to 3-0 like it should have instead of 2-1, the entire trajectory of that game might have been different.

At the time, I though, "Oh Man!" 

I agree, but still, we need to get a run, there. It also seems like those situations set the tone for the rest of the game. A big hit, instead might have unleashed a couple crooked number innings.

Another thing that happened was it looked like Romy slipped on his swing and DP ball, slowing him down. He might have still been out, but it made me wonder.

[Kimmi]

On 9/17/2025 at 4:32 PM, moonslav59 said:

At the time, I though, "Oh Man!" 

I agree, but still, we need to get a run, there. It also seems like those situations set the tone for the rest of the game. A big hit, instead might have unleashed a couple crooked number innings.

Another thing that happened was it looked like Romy slipped on his swing and DP ball, slowing him down. He might have still been out, but it made me wonder.

Absolutely, we need to get a run there, regardless of the bad ball/strike call.  It seems like oftentimes when we fail to score a run in a situation like that, the opposing team comes back in the next half inning and scores very quickly.

Interestingly, in recent weeks, I have watched several teams fail to score in similar situations, so it's not just the Red Sox.  Do we do it more often than other teams?  Probably.

[moonslav59]

54 minutes ago, Kimmi said:

Absolutely, we need to get a run there, regardless of the bad ball/strike call.  It seems like oftentimes when we fail to score a run in a situation like that, the opposing team comes back in the next half inning and scores very quickly.

Interestingly, in recent weeks, I have watched several teams fail to score in similar situations, so it's not just the Red Sox.  Do we do it more often than other teams?  Probably.

Yes, and since we are tied for 7th in OBP and 13th in HRs, we get more men on base than most teams, so the odds are we'd leave more on base, too.

[Kimmi]

25 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yes, and since we are tied for 7th in OBP and 13th in HRs, we get more men on base than most teams, so the odds are we'd leave more on base, too.

It's frustrating to have so many LOBs, but as you said, it means we're getting a lot of runners on base.  That's actually a good sign.

It would be nice if we could at least put the ball in play when needed.  That might not always result in a run, but striking out certainly isn't going to get it done.