A Realistic Look at the 2026 Red Sox: Part I

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

Well, it didn’t work out so well last time Boston did that…

Anyone who thinks that trade was all Wong realizes that even though it gave us Fitts, the forecast remains cloudy and Gray. And it's always ok to just ask: Weissert?

[Old Red]

26 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The same reason the NYY are under .500 w/o Judge.

Unforeseen drops by vets and players in or approaching prime.

How about blaming the players, for once?

So, when we get to 1 game over .500, you will move the goalposts, right?

Wha, wha, wha. Story didn’t get blamed? DUBin didn’t get blamed. Duran didn’t get blamed. little Anthony didn’t get the blame he should have before his pinky swear injury, but even after all that happened, or didn’t happen bresLOW didn’t get enough bats, which would have made a difference in all the early season struggles.😂😭

[Old Red]

37 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Just took them a while to jell.

Sometimes it’s playing teams at the right time when teams like the Yankees were struggling. On the Red Sox side they started to hit home runs, which has made the Biggest difference in winning. Call it jelling if you like.

[moonslav59]

38 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Anyone who thinks that trade was all Wong realizes that even though it gave us Fitts, the forecast remains cloudy and Gray. And it's always ok to just ask: Weissert?

Where did Verdu go? 

Did that trade do Judice for Bloom?

[Bellhorn04]

Tracy's in-game management seems fine to me. I haven't seen much howling about it in game threads. 

Maybe the one complaint was when he had Bello try starting again and it blew up. 

[moonslav59]

1 minute ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Tracy's in-game management seems fine to me. I haven't seen much howling about it in game threads. 

Winning quiets the masses, except Fred, of course.

[JoeBrady]

4 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Winning quiets the masses, except Fred, of course.

Which makes sense since Fred hates when we win.

[a700hitter]

5 hours ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Tracy's in-game management seems fine to me. I haven't seen much howling about it in game threads. 

Maybe the one complaint was when he had Bello try starting again and it blew up. 

In Fort Myers, S5Dewey told me that he was concerned about Bello and wasn’t counting on him for much. I was surprised, because I thought he had turned a corner in ‘25.

[moonslav59]

Big win tonight.

I'm resisting getting too excited.

CWS & CLE are tied. Either could be the WC.

TEX passed SEA in the ALW. Either could drop out of the WC race with a bad stretch.

WC Standings

52-42 NYY

49-46 CLE or 48-45 CWS

47-48 SEA (losing record is the WC team)

-1.0 MIN 46-49

-1.5 HOU 46-50 (including 5-1 v BOS!)

-1.5 BOS 44-48 

-2.0 TOR 44-49 (Sox passed tonight)

-2.5 DET 44-50 (Back in the race)

-3.0 BAL 44-51 (may be sellers)

-5.5 ATH 41-53 (great O/ no D)

Run Differential

+87 NYY (WC team)

+33 TBR

+31 DET (behind BOS)

+26 CWS 

+22 BOS

+15 SEA

-8 CLE (tied for 1st ALC)

-10 TEX (1st in ALW)

 

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, a700hitter said:

In Fort Myers, S5Dewey told me that he was concerned about Bello and wasn’t counting on him for much. I was surprised, because I thought he had turned a corner in ‘25.

You weren't the only one.

This type of thing makes it tough on a team, and the GM often bears the brunt of it for now seeing it coming.

[moonslav59]

See a pattern here...

Some small sample sizes here, and these are before tonight's game:

(I did not leave anyone off the list)

OPS Against Leaders

.200 Rivera 10 PAs (Brez last winter) 

.550 Bennett 182 (Brez last winter)

***.562 Whitlock 120 (Bloom)

.566 Moran 147 (Brez last winter)

.583 Guerrero 72 (Brez last winter)

.594 Sandoval 19 (Brez year before)

.607 Chapman 104 (Brez year before & extended)

.613 Tolle 326 (Brez drafted years before)

***.614 Kelly 71 (Bloom)

.621 Suarez 376 (Brez last winter)

.646 Coulombe (Brez last winter)

.661 Gray (Brez last winter)

.670 Weissert (Brez 2 winters ago)

.713 Anderson (Brez Rule 5 winter before)

.714 Samaniego (Brez last winter)

***.720 Early (Bloom draftee)

.752 Watson (Brez last winter)

.771 Gamboa (Brez last winter)

.818 Crochet (Brez from winter before)

.847 Slaten (Brez 2 winters ago)

***.851 Bello (Bloom)

Kahnle, Uberstine, Oviedo & La Sorsa 74 PAs (all Brez)

 

Who do we hear about?

Sale, Harrison, Priester & Drohan.

 

[moonslav59]

How many teams have 4 SP'ers (not counting Sandoval) under 3.15 and 3 RP'ers under 2.35?

SP: 

2.54 Gray

2.64 Bennett

3.14 Tolle

3.15 Suarez (Sandoval at 2.08 filling in)

RP:

2.25 Whitlock

2.28 Chapman

2.33 Guerrero