Red Sox (Early) vs Royals (Wacha): 5/20/26, 7:40pm

[moonslav59]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

2 out of 15. Pretty sad AL.

Could be the only reason we have life in Sept.

[JoeBrady]

32 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Notice when Fred stops watching, we win?

I doubt he watches.  He probably just looks at the score on CBS before deciding whether or not to troll us.

[Larry Cook]

1 hour ago, Tedballgame said:

Kyle Harrison tonight: 7 innings, 2 hits, no runs, 11 K's. 1.77 ERA. What a terrible trade sending him to Milwaukee for non-hitting 3B Caleb Durbin. 

And David Hamilton with an inside the park home run!!!  
 

I think the brewers, dodgers and braves should be on the bres-slow no trade list! 

[vegasbob]

8 minutes ago, Larry Cook said:

And David Hamilton with an inside the park home run!!!  
 

I think the brewers, dodgers and braves should be on the bres-slow no trade list! 

Hamilton shows what happens when a marginal player gets on  a very good team.  They up their game or their gone

[Oscars]

This version of Duran is so much fun to watch.

hopefully he can carry the team for a while 

[Yaz Fan Since 67]

Yeah is sure was good to see the old Duran back, hope it continues. I can't believe the Sox are 2 games out of the wild card, that's just so bizarre.  Chapman has been the man but he hung a splitter right over the heart of the plate on that final out.  

And David Hamilton will always suck.  

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

I saw a kid bunt for an inside-the-park home run once in Little League.

Is it possible for a batter to get hot vs. a bad team and sustain the heat for another week? If so, Duran's club could be in a wild card spot soon...

... or he can at least up his trade value -- if you read Theo Epstein's quotes this week, Brez is working right now on adding a bat. Hope it's an Alvarez model.

[Old Red]

8 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Damn straight!

Wow! A few days ago you were saying how absurd it was to put the Red Sox worst hitter meaning Duran in the leadoff spot. Saying Duran was the worst hitter was kind of harsh.🤔

[notin]

9 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

And David Hamilton with an inside the park home run!!!  
 

I think the brewers, dodgers and braves should be on the bres-slow no trade list! 

It was a triple that was dropped by Seiya Suzuki.  Incredibly tough play in the corner of Wrigley, but the ball did hit his glove. Hamilton then scored on a wild pitch.

Hamilton has 0 home runs so far this year…

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

8 hours ago, vegasbob said:

Hamilton shows what happens when a marginal player gets on  a very good team.  They up their game or their gone

It could also show how a player can improve by playing in a less high pressure environment. Hammy wouldn't be the first.

[mvp 78]

8 hours ago, Larry Cook said:

And David Hamilton with an inside the park home run!!!  
 

I think the brewers, dodgers and braves should be on the bres-slow no trade list! 

Should not be a HR. Should be a 1B and an E. Official scorers are horrible now. 

[notin]

14 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

It could also show how a player can improve by playing in a less high pressure environment. Hammy wouldn't be the first.

Pressure from team to team and player to player is unknown.  Especially for a marginal player like Hamilton, who has always faced demotion to the minors, which I’d think would be a bigger factor than anything the press could ever write…

[mvp 78]

1 minute ago, mvp 78 said:

Should not be a HR. Should be a 1B and an E. Official scorers are horrible now. 

Per the boxscore, it was a single.

Dom Smith also had a Little League HR last night (3b and an E). 

[notin]

2 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Should not be a HR. Should be a 1B and an E. Official scorers are horrible now. 

It wasn’t a home run.

[moonslav59]

Finally, some fun games to watch.

[Hugh2]

I know it was against a crappy team but the Sox have looked better, and Duran getting going is so big.  Also, if these other guys are hitting it takes so much pressure off someone like Anthony when he comes back. 

[moonslav59]

9 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

I know it was against a crappy team but the Sox have looked better, and Duran getting going is so big.  Also, if these other guys are hitting it takes so much pressure off someone like Anthony when he comes back. 

Duran could easily be the key to 2026. Maybe Anthony could be more impactful, but as of right now, Duran looks like the difference maker.

Much of his jump is over these past 2 games, so we should be cautious about over-pumping him up, but who else looks like they can or might step it up a couple notches?

Since going to the #1 slot on May 1st:

.310 OBP and .514 SLG

but it was .270/.379 in the 16 games before Tuesday's game.

We needed a third guy to step up, and hopefully he will do it.

Now, who can be the 4th guy?

Anthony or Mayer?

Narvaez?

Does Rafaela have another notch to climb?

.794 Narvaez after first 12 games (last 21 games)

.643 Mayer in last 26 games

.555 Durbin after first 6 games

Yoshida has been heading downwards.

.770 Gasper in 10 games

.732 Sogard in 4 games

.682 Monasterio in 26 games (.769 last 14 games)

.674 IKF after first 4 games (last 20 games) .850 last 12 games

 

[notin]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

It could also show how a player can improve by playing in a less high pressure environment. Hammy wouldn't be the first.

The infield grass is always greener, I guess.

Hamilton puts up an OPS+ of 80 in Boston and gets vilified for it.  He goes to Milwaukee, puts up an OPS+ of 80, and now he’s having a great year and we can never trade with Milwaukee again.

Hes literally doing the exact same thing.  But he’s being appreciated more for doing it someplace else…

[moonslav59]

This whole talk of DHam was and still is silly.

Harrison is another topic.

Durbin, Monasterio & Siegler are too.

[mvp 78]

17 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

This whole talk of DHam was and still is silly.

Harrison is another topic.

Durbin, Monasterio & Siegler are too.

Brez needs to hit big on the Comp B pick. 

[moonslav59]

6 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Brez needs to hit big on the Comp B pick. 

If Harrison returns to earth, the trade could end up being a push, although the negative input from Durbin might keep the deal a bad one.

I'm not writing Durbin off, just yet. Monasterio and Siegler won't likely make a significant difference.

Yes, the Comp pick might be the best part of the trade.

The Priester trade got us Phillips.

[notin]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If Harrison returns to earth, the trade could end up being a push, although the negative input from Durbin might keep the deal a bad one.

I'm not writing Durbin off, just yet. Monasterio and Siegler won't likely make a significant difference.

Yes, the Comp pick might be the best part of the trade.

The Priester trade got us Phillips.

It’s a deal that looks bad early, but since both players have plenty of control, it’s far from judgment day.

As someone who gave up on Durbin 3 weeks ago, but is back on giving him another chance (which apparently makes me more wishy-washy than open-minded), I do think its odd that many have given up on Durbin for a bad two month stretch, but keep insisting Alonso/Bregman types are going to come around obviously.   It’s early for all of them.

Hamilton vs Monasterio is a battle over which utility infielder you like better.  I think Hamilton is better overall, but Monasterio does do some things - notably hit - better than Hamilton.  But if the complaint anout this trade is that the Sox got jobbed in the utility infielder department, chalk that up as a fair trade…

[moonslav59]

53 minutes ago, notin said:

It’s a deal that looks bad early, but since both players have plenty of control, it’s far from judgment day.

As someone who gave up on Durbin 3 weeks ago, but is back on giving him another chance (which apparently makes me more wishy-washy than open-minded), I do think its odd that many have given up on Durbin for a bad two month stretch, but keep insisting Alonso/Bregman types are going to come around obviously.   It’s early for all of them.

Hamilton vs Monasterio is a battle over which utility infielder you like better.  I think Hamilton is better overall, but Monasterio does do some things - notably hit - better than Hamilton.  But if the complaint anout this trade is that the Sox got jobbed in the utility infielder department, chalk that up as a fair trade…

I can understand the belief that longtime vets like Bregman & Alonso have a better chance of turning it around than 2nd year Durbin.

That being said, I'll take my chances with Suarez & Durbin over Alosno & Bennett or Bregman & Bennett.

Expand it to this and to me, it's I choose the same...

Contreras, Gray, Suarez & Durbin

vs

Alonso, Bregman, Harrison & Bennett

[JoeBrady]

5 hours ago, Old Red said:

Wow! A few days ago you were saying how absurd it was to put the Red Sox worst hitter meaning Duran in the leadoff spot. Saying Duran was the worst hitter was kind of harsh.🤔

I didn't get this at all.  Over the past three seasons, Duran's 1-hole numbers are:

• .923
• .835
• .742

That's perfectly adequate.  A little short on OBP, but the speed and SLG make up for it.  Not to mention the inconvenient truth that we have no lead-off hitter.  Give me someone with a .375-.400 OBP, I will re-consider.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, notin said:

Hes literally doing the exact same thing.  But he’s being appreciated more for doing it someplace else…

I've mentioned this before, but part of the issue with these discussions is that some RS fans (and I am being generous with 'some') have no idea what the stats are.  Hamilton's 2024 stats, extrapolated to 600 ABs, are 16 HRs, 66 SBs, with a great glove.  50% of the RS fans probably don't know that.

But that said, this is the opportunity for them to come in and admit they were wrong.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Much of his jump is over these past 2 games, so we should be cautious about over-pumping him up,

If you are cautioning Red Sox fans about not paying too much attention to small sample sizes, then your mission is doomed.  Let's start with something more basic like, he is unlikely to be as good as 2024, but unlikely to be as bad as 2026 start was.

Even that I doubt some will understand.

[drewski6]

29 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

If you are cautioning Red Sox fans about not paying too much attention to small sample sizes, then your mission is doomed.  Let's start with something more basic like, he is unlikely to be as good as 2024, but unlikely to be as bad as 2026 start was.

Even that I doubt some will understand.

y r u especially passive aggressive today?  did you not sleep well?

[drewski6]

30 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

If you are cautioning Red Sox fans about not paying too much attention to small sample sizes, then your mission is doomed.  Let's start with something more basic like, he is unlikely to be as good as 2024, but unlikely to be as bad as 2026 start was.

Even that I doubt some will understand.

Also: everyone understands what you are doing....

"Im going to create a giant range (Duran 2024 season to Duran 2026 chopping off before his 2 game hot streak) and then take that massive middle ground that I myself created to portray myself as more reasonable than the typical RS fan whom I cant go 3 posts without crapping on."

I can do that too.  I predict I will take between 3 and 60 poops between now and the end of may.  I just have to average more than 1/3 poop / day and less than 6/day
 

[drewski6]

Im in a brown mood today it would appear.  I think my ratio number of times saying poop/crap/s*** per post is higher today than its ever been since I joined.  

 

[mvp 78]

Connelly Early HR/9 2025: 1.5

Kutter Crawford HR/9 Career: 1.5