Question of the week: are you optimistic?

[Brock Beauchamp]

How you feelin' about this team right now?

[mvp 78]

[moonslav59]

I'm trying to decide if I'm more pessimistic about the Sox than 11 other AL teams.

[mvp 78]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

I'm trying to decide if I'm more pessimistic about the Sox than 11 other AL teams.

At least I'm not a TOR fan. 

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

At least I'm not a TOR fan. 

...or Astros.

[Duran Is The Man]

[notin]

23 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

At least I'm not a TOR fan. 

And will we stop hearing about bringing back Dombrowski considering the complete shambles the Phillies are becoming?

[mvp 78]

27 minutes ago, notin said:

And will we stop hearing about bringing back Dombrowski considering the complete shambles the Phillies are becoming?

SSS

[notin]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

SSS

Same size as Boston’s…

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

Same size as Boston’s…

PHI has been a playoff team the past 4 seasons. BOS has had a rougher go. 

[notin]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

PHI has been a playoff team the past 4 seasons. BOS has had a rougher go. 

But the only year that matters is this one.  
 

Philly’s run differential is (-42) -  worst in MLB.

Maybe they do miss Ranger Suarez…

[mvp 78]

10 minutes ago, notin said:

But the only year that matters is this one.  
 

Philly’s run differential is (-42) -  worst in MLB.

Maybe they do miss Ranger Suarez…

Luzardo: 7.94 ERA, 1.93 xFIP

SSS

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

I'm trying to decide if I'm more pessimistic about the Sox than 11 other AL teams.

I would say the 11 other AL teams are optimistic about pitching against the stars of the Eccentric Kool-Aid Flaccid Test by Tom Whiff.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, notin said:

And will we stop hearing about bringing back Dombrowski considering the complete shambles the Phillies are becoming?

I love the SSS current Bloom-Dombro comp.

[drewski6]

Im optimistic that if I start yelling about how awful and badly constructed this team is, and how we are already toast - I will wind up looking foolish.  Because this team prob does have 30-50 games of good play in them, and is very capable of clawing back into a postseason conversation.  The expanded format helps a lot.

But I do think that a lot of people yelling about how were were second best team in baseball or just as good a shot as anyone to win division - all of that was too optimistic.  I myself started drinking some kool-aid when everyone was on fire during WBC, but then what feels like an adrenaline dump happened.

[drewski6]

Im optimistic we are better than this, not optimistic that we have a young dynamo cant-miss core is in place for future championships.  

[notin]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

Luzardo: 7.94 ERA, 1.93 xFIP

SSS

None of their SPs are doing well.

But explain why Philly has a small sample size but Boston doesn’t.  And comments about how bad the Sox look will receive a reply “how good do you think Philly has looked while running up the league worst run differential?”

[notin]

20 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Im optimistic that if I start yelling about how awful and badly constructed this team is, and how we are already toast - I will wind up looking foolish.  Because this team prob does have 30-50 games of good play in them, and is very capable of clawing back into a postseason conversation.  The expanded format helps a lot.

But I do think that a lot of people yelling about how were were second best team in baseball or just as good a shot as anyone to win division - all of that was too optimistic.  I myself started drinking some kool-aid when everyone was on fire during WBC, but then what feels like an adrenaline dump happened.

The “bad roster construction” commentary strikes me as really, really looking for flaws.

”Our bench is too good and Cora can’t figure out who to start” sounds like a good problem to have.  I’d rather have the dilemma of benching either Yoshida or Duran over the dilemma of having to start Nate Eaton or Allen Castro everyday out of pure necessity.

Theyre not hitting.  True.  But teams wuth definitively lesser rosters are.  Why?  No idea why the Twins are suddenly an offensive powerhouse. Or why the Nationals lead MLB in runs scored.  Are their lineups really that good? 

[drewski6]

4 minutes ago, notin said:

None of their SPs are doing well.

But explain why Philly has a small sample size but Boston doesn’t.  And comments about how bad the Sox look will receive a reply “how good do you think Philly has looked while running up the league worst run differential?”

The sample size of 2026 games played thus far by Philly is a much more valid sample when discussing the 2026 Phillies team than it is trying to assess Dombrowski who has a body of work of like 20 years between like 4 teams. 

Comparing 2026 Phils vs 2026 Red Sox is not apples to apples comparing Breslow to Dombrowski.  And Breslow was just not able to make the moves he wanted to make, because hes a bad communicator and we've told you this even before he botched the offseason, which I graded a "D"

Dombrowski is a very respected baseball guy. Breslow is an absolute clown.  And I dont care about the Phillies 2026 record.  Maybe we'll stop asking for Dombrowksi back if the Phills keep struggling ..... If thats what you want , you will probably get it.

But Breslow needs to get fired today (and Cora promoted)

[mvp 78]

32 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Im optimistic that if I start yelling about how awful and badly constructed this team is, and how we are already toast - I will wind up looking foolish.  Because this team prob does have 30-50 games of good play in them, and is very capable of clawing back into a postseason conversation.  The expanded format helps a lot.

But I do think that a lot of people yelling about how were were second best team in baseball or just as good a shot as anyone to win division - all of that was too optimistic.  I myself started drinking some kool-aid when everyone was on fire during WBC, but then what feels like an adrenaline dump happened.

They better have more than 30 games of good play in them...

[mvp 78]

8 minutes ago, notin said:

The “bad roster construction” commentary strikes me as really, really looking for flaws.

”Our bench is too good and Cora can’t figure out who to start” sounds like a good problem to have.  I’d rather have the dilemma of benching either Yoshida or Duran over the dilemma of having to start Nate Eaton or Allen Castro everyday out of pure necessity.

Theyre not hitting.  True.  But teams wuth definitively lesser rosters are.  Why?  No idea why the Twins are suddenly an offensive powerhouse. Or why the Nationals lead MLB in runs scored.  Are their lineups really that good? 

Because this was a glaring problem in the offseason and now significant offensive contributors are struggling because of it. 

[drewski6]

7 minutes ago, notin said:

The “bad roster construction” commentary strikes me as really, really looking for flaws.

”Our bench is too good and Cora can’t figure out who to start” sounds like a good problem to have.  I’d rather have the dilemma of benching either Yoshida or Duran over the dilemma of having to start Nate Eaton or Allen Castro everyday out of pure necessity.

Theyre not hitting.  True.  But teams wuth definitively lesser rosters are.  Why?  No idea why the Twins are suddenly an offensive powerhouse. Or why the Nationals lead MLB in runs scored.  Are their lineups really that good? 

Agree that a good bench is not a bad problem and not why we are struggling.  I disagree that Cora being unable to play players consistently is driving our struggles.  All managers are working in benches more and playing matchup more vs same guys every night.

I think that 99.99% of the time when your team underperforms , its more likely to be not enough talent than too much.

[drewski6]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

Because this was a glaring problem in the offseason and now significant offensive contributors are struggling because of it. 

I think they are struggling from a WBC hangover more than getting ample rest.  Rest days are up across all teams.  I dont rule out the swapping and getting everybody in may be preventing a few guys from getting into a groove but I dont think its the main driver of it.  I think its the WBC hangover.

[drewski6]

I feel confident the problem of this team isnt that we have too many hitters.

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, notin said:

None of their SPs are doing well.

But explain why Philly has a small sample size but Boston doesn’t.  And comments about how bad the Sox look will receive a reply “how good do you think Philly has looked while running up the league worst run differential?”

Phillies were 8-8 and are now in a 6 game funk. Sox have been in a funk from day one. Last time the Sox were at .500 was before the end of game 3. 

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Agree that a good bench is not a bad problem and not why we are struggling.  I disagree that Cora being unable to play players consistently is driving our struggles.  All managers are working in benches more and playing matchup more vs same guys every night.

I think that 99.99% of the time when your team underperforms , its more likely to be not enough talent than too much.

It's not that the team is "too talented" it's that the talent isn't spread across the field. If you had Jarren's ability in the IF instead of the OF, the team would be more balanced. 

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

I think they are struggling from a WBC hangover more than getting ample rest.  Rest days are up across all teams.  I dont rule out the swapping and getting everybody in may be preventing a few guys from getting into a groove but I dont think its the main driver of it.  I think its the WBC hangover.

In fact, no other team had to deal with WBC players!

[mvp 78]

Abreu and Contreras went all the way to the finals and they are fine. Where's their hangover? 

[drewski6]

Just now, mvp 78 said:

It's not that the team is "too talented" it's that the talent isn't spread across the field. If you had Jarren's ability in the IF instead of the OF, the team would be more balanced. 

There were plenty, and I do many plenty of ways we could have further bolstered the infield while leaving the strength of the outfield intact.  

[drewski6]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

In fact, no other team had to deal with WBC players!

I saw it in the Olympics for hockey too.  Guys coming back and struggling.  NOt all but some.  People are individuals.  I just find it more likely that Duran and Roman are not struggling becasue theyve have 2 extra days off each than they would have had if Masa had not been on teh roster.