A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[drewski6]

7 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

WDYM, Lebron James is already part of ownership and the team STINKS.

good point

[drewski6]

fine give the job to eddie guerrero morerro jr

[drewski6]

this team has receded like lebrons hairline.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, drewski6 said:

Sounds about right. Pitching has been very good. Defense has been very good.  We have 6 AAA hitters.  And only Duran is the surprise.  You heard Breslow.  Pitching and defense is our team.  This is a lesson in the failure of building a pitching and defense first team.  

I think there has to be some context to your point.

I was a Sox fans for over 3 decades of hitting, hitting, HITTING. Those teams from the 70's had awesome line-ups. The one with Hobson batting 9th jumps to mind. We often had a couple good pitchers or maybe one great one, but never a solid staff.

When we got Pedro, we still didn't win a ring until we added a top closer (Foulke) and another top pitcher (Schilling.) The next rings all had 2-3 excellent SP'ers and a great closer.

Yes, teams have won without very good to great pitching, but the Sox have not.

[drewski6]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I think there has to be some context to your point.

I was a Sox fans for over 3 decades of hitting, hitting, HITTING. Those teams from the 70's had awesome line-ups. The one with Hobson batting 9th jumps to mind. We often had a couple good pitchers or maybe one great one, but never a solid staff.

When we got Pedro, we still didn't win a ring until we added a top closer (Foulke) and another top pitcher (Schilling.) The next rings all had 2-3 excellent SP'ers and a great closer.

Yes, teams have won without very good to great pitching, but the Sox have not.

In 2013 our co-aces, lackey and lester were both good , not great and in 2018 sale was great, but behind him the staff was very meh.  porcello was our #3.

[drewski6]

pitching helps but hitting is crucial.

[moonslav59]

20 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

In 2013 our co-aces, lackey and lester were both good , not great and in 2018 sale was great, but behind him the staff was very meh.  porcello was our #3.

Price and Sale were both viewed as aces. Nate & ERod made up for any short-comings. Kimbrell was viewed as a top closer.

2013 was maybe the more questionable one. Uehara had perhaps the best closer season in Sox history. Lester was widely viewed as an ace from 2008 to 2011, but the 2012 season added some doubts. He pitched like an ace after 2013 for several seasons. While Lackey was not an ace, except for 2007 and 2015-16, we probably don't win without him. 

The point was that we needed more than one starter and a closer to get the rings.

Okay, maybe Bill Lee was decent enough behind Tiant, but our pen was not very good. Clemens had some decent support, at times.

I'm not saying we win every time we had 2-3 good to great SP'ers and a great closer, but looking at all the very nice offensive teams we had, we had no rings without 3+ very good to great pitchers.

[moonslav59]

27 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

pitching helps but hitting is crucial.

Agreed. I think the 3 decades of the great Sox hitting teams falling short, got many Sox fans believing that pitching wins rings.

A healthy mix is always a good thing.

[vegasbob]

2 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

So they are intentionally not giving him the surgery then. For what reason? 

Hoping it was minor, would self heal in a short time ,  could be played (hit) with, or incorrect medical assessment. 

Despite all his talent and potential he's been short on avail-ability

[moonslav59]

3 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

Hoping it was minor, would self heal in a short time ,  could be played (hit) with, or incorrect medical assessment. 

Despite all his talent and potential he's been short on avail-ability

I'm not doctor, but if MVP is right about every other player with the same injury getting surgery, then this is a big mess. If ends up getting it later, heads should roll.

[moonslav59]

We haven't reached the halfway point of the season, but Rafaela has looked about as consistent as anyone could ever have hoped for with the bat. He dipped a little below .700 in late April and again in early May, but those sample sizes were a bit small. He's been over .725 since early May and between .760 and .810 from May 13th to today.

2023+2024 >>> 2025+2026

K%: 27.1%> 20.0%

BB%: 2.9%> 4.8%

OBP: .275> .306

SLG: .389> .421

[UtahSox]

Good pitching can always be added at trade deadline, good bats are next to never available. I genuinely loathe this team. But roster has zero exciting bats. Such a s***** roster composition. 

Sad thing is I’m in Boston to take my 2 boys (11,9)to their first rivalry series. Prices were still sky high, Glad to see JH and Co. are still getting top dollar for this trash team.