A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[Old Red]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Like who?

I said its a close call.

It’s NO call IMO. and the Red Sox have played it that way.

[Old Red]

33 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Any word on Crochet?

Crochet said he’s fine also.

[drewski6]

41 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

You thought he'd get less than 40% of the PA's? If so, he should have definitely been dealt. 

To start the year, yes. I thought he would get less than 40% PA's.

[moonslav59]

41 minutes ago, Old Red said:

It’s NO call IMO. and the Red Sox have played it that way.

My opinion is not a prediction. I know what they called and what they want. 

I'm not even dead set against it.

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Old Red said:

Crochet said he’s fine also.

What a relief, really! 

[Bellhorn04]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They said he's fine. It's up to you if you believe them.

Sounds right. Guess we'll find out in 5 games.

[Kimmi]

1 hour ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sounds right. Guess we'll find out in 5 games.

Forgive me if this has already been addressed, but I don't get to read a lot of what is posted here.  Is there something going on between Crochet and Narvaez?  Why was Narvaez suddenly scratched before Crochet's 2nd start?

[moonslav59]

3 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Sounds right. Guess we'll find out in 5 games.

One of my best friends, who played organized ball into his 40's, firmly believed a pitcher was "only as good as his last start," in terms of how much confidence you can have in a guy. Of course he knew great pitchers overcome awful outings, but there is a grain of truth to that sentiment.

You kinda have that seed of doubt, until the guy does overcome a god-awful game.

[moonslav59]

What a crappy start to the season.

We've gone past the 1/10th mark, which is still early, but this is just plain awful baseball to watch.

I still think we have some real talent on the roster and on the farm, but it's just not showing up.

I'm far from giving up, but we gotta see some kinda spark... and SOON!

[Hitch]

15 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

They said he's fine. It's up to you if you believe them.

Crotchet seems pretty adamant he's fine, so we'll see. If he isn't, this season is DOA.

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, Kimmi said:

Forgive me if this has already been addressed, but I don't get to read a lot of what is posted here.  Is there something going on between Crochet and Narvaez?  Why was Narvaez suddenly scratched before Crochet's 2nd start?

The rumor is that a lot of the team has been showing up late. Narvaez is a really hard worker, but showed up late. As an example to the rest of the team, Cora benched him. 

[Old Red]

29 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

The rumor is that a lot of the team has been showing up late. Narvaez is a really hard worker, but showed up late. As an example to the rest of the team, Cora benched him. 

Showing up late is better than nothing, because Narvaez didn’t even show up at all last night.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

True realists know this is the Pessimistic Thread -- it sure ain't Optimistic -- and that the Red Sox are last in the league in stolen bases and last in the league in home runs. 

They don't play Smallball and they don't play Largeball. 

No one is going to legally grow muscles overnight that are big enough to hit the ball 50 more feet. But Boston has one sacrifice bunt -- when Narvaez did it on his own -- back on Opening Day.

Breslow told the truth when he constructed a roster he said was all about Run Prevention.

But his own team's?

[notin]

35 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

True realists know this is the Pessimistic Thread -- it sure ain't Optimistic -- and that the Red Sox are last in the league in stolen bases and last in the league in home runs. 

They don't play Smallball and they don't play Largeball. 

No one is going to legally grow muscles overnight that are big enough to hit the ball 50 more feet. But Boston has one sacrifice bunt -- when Narvaez did it on his own -- back on Opening Day.

Breslow told the truth when he constructed a roster he said was all about Run Prevention.

But his own team's?

The removal of the stolen base is a big deal.  No idea why they just aren’t running.

Small point, but I believe you meant “longball”, not “largeball”.   No one says largeball…

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, notin said:

The removal of the stolen base is a big deal.  No idea why they just aren’t running.

Small point, but I believe you meant “longball”, not “largeball”.   No one says largeball…

28th in SB with Duran, Durbin, Story, Rafaela

They were 6th last season.

[Old Red]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

28th in SB with Duran, Durbin, Story, Rafaela

They were 6th last season.

It’s not like they’ve been on base a lot to do it either.

[notin]

7 minutes ago, Old Red said:

It’s not like they’ve been on base a lot to do it either.

The Sox are basically the midpoint for OBP.  15th in MLB. 8th in the AL.

They're just flat out not running any more…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

2 hours ago, notin said:

The removal of the stolen base is a big deal.  No idea why they just aren’t running.

Small point, but I believe you meant “longball”, not “largeball”.   No one says largeball…

Then they also suck at longball and shortball. 

We already know they stink at big and littleball.

Humungous and microscopicballs are lies and reveals in other venues for lawfakers, supreme court jesters and media on their payrolls. 

[moonslav59]

Duran flips off a Twins fan who told him to kill himself.

Duran responded to the media with this:

"I've taken a lot wearing this Boston Red Sox jersey, but being told to kill myself crosses every line. If Fans think that's acceptable, maybe they don't deserve my respect- or my effort- on the field anymore."

Yikes!!!

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

44 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Duran flips off a Twins fan who told him to kill himself.

Duran responded to the media with this:

"I've taken a lot wearing this Boston Red Sox jersey, but being told to kill myself crosses every line. If Fans think that's acceptable, maybe they don't deserve my respect- or my effort- on the field anymore."

Yikes!!!

He should just be thankful Yankees fans like the thugs who mugged Mookie in the World Series can't read, and probably refuse to watch or listen to any Red Sox interviews.

But there's a chance some benighted bleacher bums of other teams revisit this incident the next time Duran plays in their parks. 

They might even razz him from seats at Fenway, bought cheaply in mid-summer from ticket holders who have seen enough.

[moonslav59]

37 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

He should just be thankful Yankees fans like the thugs who mugged Mookie in the World Series can't read, and probably refuse to watch or listen to any Red Sox interviews.

But there's a chance some benighted bleacher bums of other teams revisit this incident the next time Duran plays in their parks. 

They might even razz him from seats at Fenway, bought cheaply in mid-summer from ticket holders who have seen enough.

I do wonder how Duran was respecting that fan he called a "fag- got."

[JoeBrady]

On 4/14/2026 at 7:59 AM, mvp 78 said:

Calling up Cheng isn't going to make up for 6 underperforming starters.

This stuff is often overlooked.  Inevitably, someone will question why we didn't sign 'xxx'.  But ofttimes, the biggest shortfalls are at positions we never intended to replace.  Our biggest problems, relative to expectations, are Narvaez, Story, Duran, and Durbin.  And the first three were never going to be replaced.

[JoeBrady]

On 4/14/2026 at 9:36 AM, mvp 78 said:

Monasterio has had hitting success in MLB and AAA at times. Cheng hasn't had success above High A yet. 

I thought of saying something, but didn't feel this issue required the attention it's already gotten.

GMs don't replace professionals with journeymen based on extremely s/t results.  Monasterio has shown he can play, even if just a bench role.  There is a reason Cheng has been on 5 teams this year.  He probably can't play.  He had 1 HR last year against 99 strikeouts.  Just because he's ha a good week doesn't mean he is getting promoted.

[JoeBrady]

On 4/14/2026 at 12:00 PM, drewski6 said:

I think that because of the improvements we've made at the plate, we can afford to give it some more time before we jettison one of our better bats on a team that is expected to struggle for offense, even though it has been a juggle to fit in all the OF'ers.

Masa is the least of my concerns.  Ideally, we'd have swapped on out, but I am extremely happy he is still with us.  Half the board would've dumped him for $4M of payroll relief.

[JoeBrady]

On 4/14/2026 at 12:58 PM, illinoisredsox said:

As I wrote last night in the gamethread, I think he (or Narvaez) was tipping pitches. 

I'd say that's the case at least half the time for upper-echelon SPs.  Even with bad location, those pitches are extremely hard to hit.

[JoeBrady]

On 4/14/2026 at 1:02 PM, illinoisredsox said:

Because Henry isn't going to eat $36M plus whatever said replacement would cost and Breslow has been told that in no uncertain terms.

I'd like to see some support for that assertion.  Masa is, and always had been, a very good hitter.

[mvp 78]

Just now, JoeBrady said:

I'd like to see some support for that assertion.  Masa is, and always had been, a very good hitter.

Then he should be playing more? 

[JoeBrady]

5 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

But Boston has one sacrifice bunt -

1-Sacrifices are no longer a big thing.

2-IKF had a sac bunt that the catcher threw away.  That would've been our 2nd, and 2 is the league average.

[JoeBrady]

12 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Then he should be playing more? 

All four guys should get time.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

"I've taken a lot wearing this Boston Red Sox jersey, but being told to kill myself crosses every line. If Fans think that's acceptable, maybe they don't deserve my respect- or my effort- on the field anymore."

The fan that said that should doxxed.  Put his picture on the front page so his family and his coworkers can be proud of him.