Rays (Martinez) vs Red Sox (Tolle): 5/10/26, 1:35pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Okay, let's try this again, shall we? Can Payton Tolle's mustache defeat the hot Tampa Bay Rays?

	TUE	WED	THU	FRI	SAT	TOT
Zack Kelly	0	25	0	0	0	25
Tyler Samaniego	0	31	6	0	0	37
Ryan Watson	0	0	51	0	0	51
Jovani Morán	0	0	0	0	0	0
Greg Weissert	0	11	11	0	0	22
Garrett Whitlock	0	0	0	10	0	10
Brayan Bello	94	0	0	0	0	94
Aroldis Chapman	0	0	0	18	0	18

[notin]

Nick Martínez is proof the Rays can just get the most out of any player somehow…

[JoeBrady]

Minor technicality, but Moran threw 38 pitches on Tuesday, albeit as an opener.

[Old Red]

The Great Gasper catching today.

[moonslav59]

Yoshida up 4th, again.

Story still up 5th, while the hit hand Rafaela bats 8th.

I like seeing the attempt to boost the offense by using Gasper at Catcher, but I worry about the defense and how he works with Tolle. (Did he ever catch Tolle in the minors?)

11 hits in the last 21 innings is not a good sign, and it's a bit concerning to think Rafaela has been our third best hitter as we near the one quarter mark of the season.

.873 Abreu

.843 Willson

.758 Rafaela

.728 Yoshida

.702 Wong

.675 Anthony (IL)

.631 Mayer / .628 Monasterio

.599 Narvaez/ .583 Duran

.514 Story/ .513 Durbin

.449 IKF

n/a Gasper

That being said, our team OPS was .636 after 25 games and it's .721 over the last 14 games. Cherry-picking, of course, because it's .524 over the last 3 games.

 

[Old Red]

21 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Yoshida up 4th, again.

Story still up 5th, while the hit hand Rafaela bats 8th.

I like seeing the attempt to boost the offense by using Gasper at Catcher, but I worry about the defense and how he works with Tolle. (Did he ever catch Tolle in the minors?)

11 hits in the last 21 innings is not a good sign, and it's a bit concerning to think Rafaela has been our third best hitter as we near the one quarter mark of the season.

.873 Abreu

.843 Willson

.758 Rafaela

.728 Yoshida

.702 Wong

.675 Anthony (IL)

.631 Mayer / .628 Monasterio

.599 Narvaez/ .583 Duran

.514 Story/ .513 Durbin

.449 IKF

n/a Gasper

That being said, our team OPS was .636 after 25 games and it's .721 over the last 14 games. Cherry-picking, of course, because it's .524 over the last 3 games.

 

And does this all say it adds up to being 25th in the league in runs scored while being 27th in HR? If it doesn’t it doesn’t tell much of a story!🤔

[moonslav59]

Big game for Tolle and the Sox. Yes, it's just May 9th, but the Rays are likely a team we will need to pass to get into the dance.

A loss means -1 to them.

A win means +1 vs them.

It's a 2 game swing with the Rays, today.

[Jasonbay44]

I’m getting alerts on MLB app telling me game is about to start but ESPN has game as postponed?

[Old Red]

12 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

I’m getting alerts on MLB app telling me game is about to start but ESPN has game as postponed?

PP will be made up as a DN doubleheader on July 17th.

[Jasonbay44]

Damn, that kinda sucks, I was looking forward to watching Tolle today. 

[moonslav59]

At least we can't lose, today!

[notin]

23 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Big game for Tolle and the Sox. Yes, it's just May 9th, but the Rays are likely a team we will need to pass to get into the dance.

A loss means -1 to them.

A win means +1 vs them.

It's a 2 game swing with the Rays, today.

Ummm.

Their loss brings Boston 1/2 game closer.  The Sox win brings them another 1/2 game closer.

One game swing…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

At least the Sox have the best defensive RF in MLB.

[JoeBrady]

6 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

At least the Sox have the best defensive RF in MLB.

Who was the poster that was complaining non-stop about him a few days back?  I don't usually listen to the ramblings, but Abreu should be an AS.

[UtahSox]

Have we started every at bat 0-2? Watching 94mph fastballs right down the middle. 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Well, at least, Story can't hit.

[iortiz]

I won't get tired to say that Story is killing this team and they seem won't do anything about it. 

[Jasonbay44]

Trevor Story can’t hit, doesn’t get on base, is clearly not a capable defender at SS.. and he still bats 4th or 5th and is penciled in at SS every day. I don’t get it 

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 minutes ago, Jasonbay44 said:

Trevor Story can’t hit, doesn’t get on base, is clearly not a capable defender at SS.. and he still bats 4th or 5th and is penciled in at SS every day. I don’t get it 

I'm guessing Breslow wants him in the line-up because of Story's salary.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

The Sox 2  power bats are now reduced to 1.

[moonslav59]

44 minutes ago, notin said:

Ummm.

Their loss brings Boston 1/2 game closer.  The Sox win brings them another 1/2 game closer.

One game swing…

I was speaking about head to head with the TBR.

Now:

25-13 TBR

17-22 BOS -8.5

Assume we beat TBR, today:

25-14 TBR

18-22 BOS -7.5

Assume TBR wins:

26-13 TBR

17-23 BOS -9.5

That's a 2 game swing as one team has to win, while the other has to lose.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

31 minutes ago, iortiz said:

I won't get tired to say that Story is killing this team and they seem won't do anything about it. 

Just add Story to the list of Sox FA long-term contracts that sucked.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

That's only Story's fifth K in his last 6 at-bats.

[JoeBrady]

There goes the play of the game.  Guy on 1st, no outs, and Story swings at a 3-2 pitch 3 inches below the knees.  This after swinging a a 1-0 count that was about 6 inches outside.

[JoeBrady]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

That's only Story's fifth K in his last 6 at-bats.

If a guy is in a slump, like Anthony is, or Duran (hopefully) was, then I don't even pay any attention whatsoever.  But Story is at a point where I truly believe a pitcher can go an entire game throwing nothing but balls, and Story still couldn't get a walk.

If I were the TB pitching coach, I'd tell my pitcher to not throw a strike unless he gets down 3-0 in the count.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

With this Sox offense there's no room for their pitchers' mistakes.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

11 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

With this Sox offense there's no room for their pitchers' mistakes.

Or errors.

[JoeBrady]

That 3-2 pitch should've been challenged.  There is a huge difference between a guy on 1st with -0- outs, and no one on and one out,

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Bad offense+ Bad BP = High Draft Pick.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Hopefully, Slaten can stay healthy until Father's Day.