Rays (Jax) vs Red Sox (Bennett): 5/7/26, 7:10pm

[notin]

2 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Pretty hard to do worse than .526 in 134 PAs, like Durbin's season, but Durbin's bad stretch is really just 24 games long and .452 in 91 PAs.

In 2025, KC went...

.535 in his last 172 PAs, which is about as bad as Durbin's season and with 38 more PAs. It's way better than Durbin's .452 in 91 PAs but nearly double the sample size.

Now, KC's las 144 PAs was worse than both Durbin sample sizes and with more PAs than both:

.451 in 144 PAs (last 39 games in MLB in 2025.)

Maybe this statement was just a "happy little accident."

Please do not forget - and I posted the number previously - Durbin’s OPS is bolstered a surprising amount by his lone home run off Weston Wilson, who is not a pitcher and barely an outfielder.  That home run accounts for 1/8 of Durbin’s total bases (4 of his 32).

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Maybe this statement was just a "happy little accident."

You can't say things like "I'm going to stop responding to your lies and BS" and then try to pile on elsewhere. 

Let's just relax a little bit everyone and take it down a notch. It's Friday.

[notin]

10 hours ago, FredLynn said:

He ignored the offense too….he figured we could win on SP and defense. How’s that working out?

BresLOW is a bona fide idiot.

He didn’t ignore the offense.  He just didn’t acquire the players you wanted.  Not the same thing.  But he added players, some of whom are not working out.  That’s not ignoring the offense at all.

He ignored the bullpen.  He added only a Rule 5 pick, which is about as Wild Card as it gets, and two 36 year old stragglers still looking for work on the cusp of opening day, one of whom we haven’t even seen in Boston yet.   That’s ignoring.

By the way, we’re playing Tampa, who is winning with pitching and defense like they have for the past two decades…

[mvp 78]

37 minutes ago, notin said:

Well, if a TALK SHOW said it, I mean.  Thsts the Biblical Word.

Ignite the metrics!! Ignore StatCast!  They are but there to fool you! The Mighty Talk Show hosts have made their decree!  All hail talk shows!!

I think it depends on which talk show we're talking about, right? Jenny Jones? If so, it's for sure the truth. 

[notin]

5 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I think it depends on which talk show we're talking about, right? Jenny Jones? If so, it's for sure the truth. 

Fair point.  But didn’t she get cancelled for that guest murdering her other guest?

On a talk show, thats grounds for cancellation.  But to us regular folk, thats a typical Thanksgiving…

 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

He didn’t ignore the offense.  He just didn’t acquire the players you wanted.  Not the same thing.  But he added players, some of whom are not working out.  That’s not ignoring the offense at all.

He ignored the bullpen.  He added only a Rule 5 pick, which is about as Wild Card as it gets, and two 36 year stragglers looking for work on the cusp of opening day.  That’s ignoring…

Contreras is a better hitter than Bregman was last season. He's more than an adequate replacement. The assumption was that they'd add another POWER bat. They went completely in the opposite direction of that by adding Durbin. If they added Eugenio Suarez to play 3b, the offense would still be struggling most likely. The fanbase may have been happier in the offseason, but they wouldn't be right now.

Brez pivoted to the pitching and defense mode and that just hasn't really worked out. I don't think it's a great way to win consistently if you don't have solid bats up and down the lineup. Right now, there is too much variance offensively.

[notin]

3 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Contreras is a better hitter than Bregman was last season. He's more than an adequate replacement. The assumption was that they'd add another POWER bat. They went completely in the opposite direction of that by adding Durbin. If they added Eugenio Suarez to play 3b, the offense would still be struggling most likely. The fanbase may have been happier in the offseason, but they wouldn't be right now.

Brez pivoted to the pitching and defense mode and that just hasn't really worked out. I don't think it's a great way to win consistently if you don't have solid bats up and down the lineup. Right now, there is too much variance offensively.

It’s probably also not wise to build your team around defense when your defensive linchpin is an aging shortstop no longer capable of defending his position.

Tampa doesn’t have solid bats up and down the lineup, and they have fewer than last year.  But it’s not slowing them down. They replaced Brandon Lowe with some guy named Ben Williamson and it’s working for them…

[mvp 78]

29 minutes ago, notin said:

Fair point.  But didn’t she get cancelled for that guest murdering her other guest?

On a talk show, thats grounds for cancellation.  But to us regular folk, thsts a typical Thanksgiving…

 

What murdah? 

That happened in '95. She continued broadcasting until '03. 

[Old Red]

22 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Contreras is a better hitter than Bregman was last season. He's more than an adequate replacement. The assumption was that they'd add another POWER bat. They went completely in the opposite direction of that by adding Durbin. If they added Eugenio Suarez to play 3b, the offense would still be struggling most likely. The fanbase may have been happier in the offseason, but they wouldn't be right now.

Brez pivoted to the pitching and defense mode and that just hasn't really worked out. I don't think it's a great way to win consistently if you don't have solid bats up and down the lineup. Right now, there is too much variance offensively.

Agree on Con  Man who has also been pretty smooth around the bag at 1B.  Let’s not leave out like many on here the Red SOX were counting on a major contribution from little Anthony, which certainly hasn’t happened yet. 1 HR, and 4 RBI, and a gift of another one has been largely disappointing not to mention his injury problems already.

[notin]

5 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Agree on Con  Man who has also been pretty smooth around the bag at 1B.  Let’s not leave out like many on here the Red SOX were counting on a major contribution from little Anthony, which certainly hasn’t happened yet. 1 HR, and 4 RBI, and a gift of another one has been largely disappointing not to mention his injury problems already.

I have no problem with Boston expecting Anthony to hit.  It’s not like they threw him in there straight out of AA and expected it.  He legitimately thumped MLB pitching for half the season last year.  And he’s been crushing the ball this year as well, which you would know if you used your vaunted Eye Test to watch games instead of to look up baseball card stats incorrectly…

[notin]

13 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

What murdah? 

That happened in '95. She continued broadcasting until '03. 

That was the first one.  Jenny no doubt has some other murders her legal team kept from the light of day…

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, notin said:

I have no problem with Boston expecting Anthony to hit.  It’s not like they threw him in there straight out of AA and expected it.  He legitimately thumped MLB pitching for half the season last year.  And he’s been crushing the ball this year as well, which you would know if you used your vaunted Eye Test to watch games instead of to look up baseball card stats incorrectly…

Hard to get an RBI if the guys at the back of the lineup all have OPS's near 600 or below. 

[mvp 78]

2 minutes ago, notin said:

That was the first one.  Jenny no doubt has some other murders her legal team kept from the light of day…

Can't believe she let Ricki Lake off the hook. 

[drewski6]

54 minutes ago, notin said:

He didn’t ignore the offense.  He just didn’t acquire the players you wanted.  Not the same thing.  But he added players, some of whom are not working out.  That’s not ignoring the offense at all.

He ignored the bullpen.  He added only a Rule 5 pick, which is about as Wild Card as it gets, and two 36 year old stragglers still looking for work on the cusp of opening day, one of whom we haven’t even seen in Boston yet.   That’s ignoring.

By the way, we’re playing Tampa, who is winning with pitching and defense like they have for the past two decades…

Breslow has been an absolute trainwreck.  Future looked bright under Bloom.  Now we're riding the struggle bus, and I cant even root for a turnaround from an organization  led by a pompous jerk.  Just listening to an interview recently , he was going on about how hes the boss and he gets final call.

Breslow insults people to their face and is a bad human.  These are bigger reasons why we stink.  He botched multiple key relationships and the team we have is full of pivots and consolation prizes. 

I am actively rooting against these jerks until Breslow is gone. 

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, mvp 78 said:

You can't say things like "I'm going to stop responding to your lies and BS" and then try to pile on elsewhere. 

Let's just relax a little bit everyone and take it down a notch. It's Friday.

Very funny. I bring up your post where you said Eyanson would not be promoted until June, at the earliest- a post I agreed with you on, by the way, and then you go on a search of posts from 2022 to find some where I got something wrong.

Red lies all the time and tries to change the meaning of words, when exposed. 

Take a look at  Red's posts. One could argue he stalks me, but I've yet to see you even hint to him to take it down a notch.

I'm taking it down a notch by ignoring Red, and you try to escalate it further.

Good job by the mod.

[mvp 78]

4 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Breslow has been an absolute trainwreck.  Future looked bright under Bloom.  Now we're riding the struggle bus, and I cant even root for a turnaround from an organization  led by a pompous jerk.  Just listening to an interview recently , he was going on about how hes the boss and he gets final call.

Breslow insults people to their face and is a bad human.  These are bigger reasons why we stink.  He botched multiple key relationships and the team we have is full of pivots and consolation prizes. 

I am actively rooting against these jerks until Breslow is gone. 

I don't think the future outlook is all that different to be honest. Under Bloom, the offense looked great, but the pitching was a big mystery. Now, the pitching looks solid up and down the org and the offense has a few young pieces, but needs help. You keep saying things like "pompous" towards Brez, but that's not really the vibe I get from him. I know he's a Yalie and very book smart. I think he's probably more aloof than pompous. He's just not a personable guy. To let that deeply affect your Sox fandom is kind of wild to me. When the game is being played, I don't find myself worried about the suits behind the scenes all that much. 

[moonslav59]

23 minutes ago, notin said:

I have no problem with Boston expecting Anthony to hit.  It’s not like they threw him in there straight out of AA and expected it.  He legitimately thumped MLB pitching for half the season last year.  And he’s been crushing the ball this year as well, which you would know if you used your vaunted Eye Test to watch games instead of to look up baseball card stats incorrectly…

I also had no problem leading Anthony off to start the season. This team has very few guys with proven OBPs that inspire lead off expectations. Anthony's sample size was small, but it was worth a try.

Maybe they kept him there, too long, but who was an OB machine in mid April?

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Very funny. I bring up your post where you said Eyanson would not be promoted until June, at the earliest- a post I agreed with you on, by the way, and then you go on a search of posts from 2022 to find some where I got something wrong.

Red lies all the time and tries to change the meaning of words, when exposed. 

Take a look at  Red's posts. One could argue he stalks me, but I've yet to see you even hint to him to take it down a notch.

I'm taking it down a notch by ignoring Red, and you try to escalate it further.

Good job by the mod.

I said for EVERYONE to take it down a notch. You don't always need to get the last word in. 

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Roman Anthony  - 128 OPS+
Junior Caminero - 125 OPS+

I think a lot of Anthony detractors suddenly praising Caminero as better missed out that a month ago, Junior was stepping up with a .699 OPS…

Anthony's "problem" seems pretty obvious to me - staying on the field.   

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, notin said:

He didn’t ignore the offense.  He just didn’t acquire the players you wanted.  Not the same thing.  But he added players, some of whom are not working out.  That’s not ignoring the offense at all.

He ignored the bullpen.  He added only a Rule 5 pick, which is about as Wild Card as it gets, and two 36 year old stragglers still looking for work on the cusp of opening day, one of whom we haven’t even seen in Boston yet.   That’s ignoring.

By the way, we’re playing Tampa, who is winning with pitching and defense like they have for the past two decades…

He certainly didn't do enough to fortify the offense. We are 24th in runs scored, meaning only six teams in baseball are worse. The Rays are 13th on a much smaller budget. BresLOW needs to go. So does Henry.

[drewski6]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

I don't think the future outlook is all that different to be honest. Under Bloom, the offense looked great, but the pitching was a big mystery. Now, the pitching looks solid up and down the org and the offense has a few young pieces, but needs help. You keep saying things like "pompous" towards Brez, but that's not really the vibe I get from him. I know he's a Yalie and very book smart. I think he's probably more aloof than pompous. He's just not a personable guy. To let that deeply affect your Sox fandom is kind of wild to me. When the game is being played, I don't find myself worried about the suits behind the scenes all that much. 

The starched collar with the sweater vest aint it, with his defensive body language always falling back to how hes the boss and quick canning the glue of the entire organization (the guy who called him a stiff). He also insulted Bregman to his face and btw Tek aint coming back.

I hope we lose every game remaining this year.  I care about kindness and professionalism.  I care about treating people with respect.  The Yale thing doesnt bother me.  But just because you are smart enough to get into an Ivy is not an excuse to dress like its 1997 with like a Brooks Brother button down with a stiff AF collar poking out from under a sweater vest.

Breslow looks like a worse version of the skinny dude from chromeo.  Only hes like 40x less cool.  If we got the skinny dude from chromeo (or even the talk box guy) , Id be right back on board.

Let me tell you that I saw your boy walking down the street.
He was all shaky, hands all sweaty
And he could hardly speak

Get rid of a boy like him, and get a man like me
Cuz we just aint the same

Oooh wouldnt that feel nice?
Little dinner and some candlelight
What we need, when it comes down to it,
Is some men who are down to fight.
 

[moonslav59]

8 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

 You don't always need to get the last word in. 

Like you just did?

Like I said, too funny, and your de-escalation techniques need work. 

[drewski6]

11 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I also had no problem leading Anthony off to start the season. This team has very few guys with proven OBPs that inspire lead off expectations. Anthony's sample size was small, but it was worth a try.

Maybe they kept him there, too long, but who was an OB machine in mid April?

Chasing OBP like its 2006.

[drewski6]

10 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I said for EVERYONE to take it down a notch. You don't always need to get the last word in. 

Okay, Ghandi 

I say kick it up a notch like Emeril.  Bam!

[Old Red]

31 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Hard to get an RBI if the guys at the back of the lineup all have OPS's near 600 or below. 

Must be hard to hit a HR too?

[drewski6]

6 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

He certainly didn't do enough to fortify the offense. We are 24th in runs scored, meaning only six teams in baseball are worse. The Rays are 13th on a much smaller budget. BresLOW needs to go. So does Henry.

Dont need a PhD to see that. But regardless, thanks doc.

[mvp 78]

7 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

He certainly didn't do enough to fortify the offense. We are 24th in runs scored, meaning only six teams in baseball are worse. The Rays are 13th on a much smaller budget. BresLOW needs to go. So does Henry.

Henry isn't going anywhere for a long time. We're stuck with FSG for forever. 

[moonslav59]

Just now, drewski6 said:

Chasing OBP like its 2006.

Well, we did win, when we focused on OBP and knocking the starter out by taking a zillion pitches, but the league has changed.

I do think it's good strategy to put a higher OBP guy up first. Only Durbin and Story have more PAs and a lower OBP than Duran.

His .333 OBP over the last 7 games is better, but still not great.

I guess f you want us to lose every game, it might be a good strategy... oh wait... you do!

😉

[Old Red]

26 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

Breslow has been an absolute trainwreck.  Future looked bright under Bloom.  Now we're riding the struggle bus, and I cant even root for a turnaround from an organization  led by a pompous jerk.  Just listening to an interview recently , he was going on about how hes the boss and he gets final call.

Breslow insults people to their face and is a bad human.  These are bigger reasons why we stink.  He botched multiple key relationships and the team we have is full of pivots and consolation prizes. 

I am actively rooting against these jerks until Breslow is gone. 

I agree pretty much with this except for the last line. I have heard lots of fans outside of here say it’s hard to root for the Red Sox, but root against JH, and Brez at the same time.

[mvp 78]

3 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Must be hard to hit a HR too?

His launch angle, exit velo and bat speed data are fine. He's even hitting the ball in the air as much as last season. With Roman, it's just SSS. There isn't much difference between what he's doing in the box this season and what he did last year.