Red Sox (Suarez) vs Dodgers (Henriquez): 7/31/26, 10:10pm

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

13 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

His fellow talking heads telling Nomar his number should be on display at Fenway. Yeah, hang a jersey number up there on the facade for a player who quit on the team.

What the Sox should do is retire Dewey's number. That's way overdue.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

12 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

His fellow talking heads telling Nomar his number should be on display at Fenway. Yeah, hang a jersey number up there on the facade for a player who quit on the team.

Similar to the Sox not putting Devers' number on the facade.

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Similar to the Sox not putting Devers' number on the ballistrade.

Devers number has been retired to the women’s restroom 

[Larry Cook]

That was a gutsy win tonight. 
down in the 5th inning but still win the game. 
different offensive hero every night 

this team is doing some incredible things!!!!

[illinoisredsox]

25 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

I'd consider Contreras getting hit in the head a downside.

I said one, right?

I was just going for a light hearted comment.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

13 minutes ago, illinoisredsox said:

I said one, right?

I was just going for a light hearted comment.

I was just adding another downside.

[Old Red]

RAWHIDE.👏

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

For those keeping score the Sox have now used 10 different leadoff batters so far this season.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

For those keeping score the Sox have now used 10 different leadoff batters so far this season.

Trial and error has ended up sorta working.

Demoting Duran was a big first step.

[Bellhorn04]

Monasterio has been a solid contributor.

[Old Red]

10 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Monasterio has been a solid contributor.

Pretty much all the guys that have come up from Woo have too.

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, Tedballgame said:

Durbin continues to rake. He has looked like a completely different hitter the last 6 weeks. The Harrison trade isn't looking so bad now. Red Sox have 3 big leaguers playing tonight from the trade. Also, now looks like they are going to win the Quinn Priester trade with the Brewers. John Holobetz made his AAA debut last night and won. He will be pitching for Boston soon. Also got Marcus Phillips and Y. Rodriguez in the trade.

Monasterio & Seigler have been big parts of our recent success. The sample size is small, but so were the Harrison on Drohan samples.

One  start taints these numbers, but  Harrison has a 6.15 ERA and 4.50 FIP in his last 6 starts- near the same time Durbin and them Monasterio & Seigler started coming alive

Drohan is 4.00/2.88 in last 6 GS but also 4.81/2.60 in last 4.

We could sure use both those arms, right now, but I like the trade.

The Priester trade is also very much TBD.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

19 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Monasterio has been a solid contributor.

Hear him talk, see him in specs, he's a normal humble guy.

Then he dives to stop a ball 20 feet away and hits nasty pitches really far and you realize the Red Sox have an elite professional ballplayer they should unleash on the world every night.

When we think back on the winningest month in Sox history it's a marvel reflecting on the Drohan trade. Sure, the Brewers got 2/5ths of a rotation for the cough, NL Central... but Boston got 3/4ths of a new, young and exciting starting infield... at least for one month.

[moonslav59]

It's very hard to put total trust in Monasterio, and to a lesser extent Siegler- only because Monasterio is the only real SS on the 26. Okay, Sogard can play SS, but in no way does any of us feel Sogard will lead us to a ring.

Middle infield has been such a major nightmare for a very long time. We've seen so many players come and go, and several had some decent but all-to-short stretches, before falling off the radar. I'm not convinced that either or both are the answers to those problems, but man, they have looked real good for a couple weeks, anyway.

From 2018 to 2026, we've had 42 players play 2B. Here are but a few with innings:

1248 Arroyo, 914 Holt, 832 Nunez, 825 EValdez, 813 Story, 679 DHam, 584 Kike, 556 Chavis, 471 KC &418 Romy. Nobody else had more than 300 innings! The fact that Valdez places 4th and KC places 9th on this list pretty much says it all.

SS is a bit better, as Bogey held down  the fort for many years- not great on D but very good overall. 5408 Bogey, 1913 Story, 692 Rafaela, 592 DHam, 566 Kike with nobody else over 300 innings. (Chang, Reyes, Holt and Lin over 175)

[JoeBrady]

32 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

but Boston got 3/4ths of a new, young and exciting starting infield... at least for one month.

The 600 AB projections total to 10.7 bWAR.  Seigler is the lowest at 2.65.  It's the type of production that enables us to spend some big money on FAs and more expensive trade targets.

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

For those keeping score the Sox have now used 10 different leadoff batters so far this season.

It remains our weakest batting order slot.  The 9 slots relative to MLB:

Split	sOPS+
Batting 1st	75
Batting 2nd	80
Batting 3rd	93
Batting 4th	123
Batting 5th	105
Batting 6th	107
Batting 7th	101
Batting 8th	104
Batting 9th	97

I know we are 29th in OBP at the 1-hole.  I don't like messing with our mojo right now, but I'd guess half the team is feeling antsy with Duran around, and Springer has spent almost his entire career leading off.

[moonslav59]

12 minutes ago, JoeBrady said:

The 600 AB projections total to 10.7 bWAR.  Seigler is the lowest at 2.65.  It's the type of production that enables us to spend some big money on FAs and more expensive trade targets.

It's truly stunning what those three have done, and while DHam has not done all that badly, his OPS is .639. (1.2 bWAR in 256 PAs comes to about 2.6 in 600. His 0.3 fWAR seems more believable, to me.)

Harrison & Drohan are doing very well, but we needed infield depth, and we now have 3 infield full timers.

[JoeBrady]

7 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It's truly stunning what those three have done, and while DHam has not done all that badly, his OPS is .639. (1.2 bWAR in 256 PAs comes to about 2.6 in 600. His 0.3 fWAR seems more believable, to me.)

Harrison & Drohan are doing very well, but we needed infield depth, and we now have 3 infield full timers.

For me, the beauty of the trade was that neither Harrison nor Drohan had a defined role.  Both were going to be in the BP or in AAA.  I always liked Hamilton, but he is mostly just a good UIF.  Except for when he had a good game in Boston and the pitiful RS writers wanted to know why guys like Hamilton could become stars for teams like Mil.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

July 2026: Red Sox 21 wins, 4 losses. 128 runs scored, 74 runs allowed, +54 run differential.

Jones .385, 4 XBH: Monasterio .339, 12 XBH; Cheng .333, 0 XBH; Contreras .323, 9 XBH; Rafaela .303, 14 XBH;

Yoshida .300, 5 XBH; Durbin .284, 6 XBH; Wong .222, 2 XBH; Duran .210, 3 XBH;

Seigler .192, 6 XBH; Romy .190, 5 XBH; Abreu .186, 12 XBH; Narvaez .172, 1 XBH.

[jad]

Kike sighting!  Another reason to keep watching LAD whenever i can.  

[JoeBrady]

16 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

July 2026: Red Sox 21 wins, 4 losses. 128 runs scored, 74 runs allowed, +54 run differential.

Jones .385, 4 XBH: Monasterio .339, 12 XBH; Cheng .333, 0 XBH; Contreras .323, 9 XBH; Rafaela .303, 14 XBH;

Yoshida .300, 5 XBH; Durbin .284, 6 XBH; Wong .222, 2 XBH; Duran .210, 3 XBH;

Seigler .192, 6 XBH; Romy .190, 5 XBH; Abreu .186, 12 XBH; Narvaez .172, 1 XBH.

The fun part is that I don't really see numbers that are unsustainable.  Monasterio is high, and Contreras & Ceddanne are a little high, but Abreu is a little bit low.  We're #5 in OPS in July, and I don't think that can be maintained, but I think we should still remain marginally above average going forward.

[Deja Doh]

Contreras stands almost on top of the plate.  I'm glad he seemed to okay, but a concussion is just that.  

Contreras HBP

[Bellhorn04]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Monasterio & Seigler have been big parts of our recent success. The sample size is small, but so were the Harrison on Drohan samples.

One  start taints these numbers, but  Harrison has a 6.15 ERA and 4.50 FIP in his last 6 starts- near the same time Durbin and them Monasterio & Seigler started coming alive

Drohan is 4.00/2.88 in last 6 GS but also 4.81/2.60 in last 4.

We could sure use both those arms, right now, but I like the trade.

The Priester trade is also very much TBD.

Harrison is on the IL.

[notin]

1 hour ago, JoeBrady said:

For me, the beauty of the trade was that neither Harrison nor Drohan had a defined role.  Both were going to be in the BP or in AAA.  I always liked Hamilton, but he is mostly just a good UIF.  Except for when he had a good game in Boston and the pitiful RS writers wanted to know why guys like Hamilton could become stars for teams like Mil.

Mostly because the Boston sportswriter community is a firm believer that bad news is the only news that sells.  It doesn’t matter how the Sox are actually doing, as long as we keep saying bad things.

I mean, Hamilton?

Boston: 79 OPS+ 

Milwsukee: 77 OPS+

Which Boston sports “journalist” called him a star in Milwaukee?

 

[notin]

12 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

Harrison is on the IL.

Anyone still complaining about the Harrison trade should have their NESN subscription permanently revoked.

The Sox are coming off their best month in their 123 year history, and 3/4 of their current starting infield for came from that one trade.  It’s been more than worth it…

[Bellhorn04]

12 minutes ago, notin said:

Mostly because the Boston sportswriter community is a firm believer that bad news is the only news that sells.  It doesn’t matter how the Sox are actually doing, as long as we keep saying bad things.

I mean, Hamilton?

Boston: 79 OPS+ 

Milwsukee: 77 OPS+

Which Boston sports “journalist” called him a star in Milwaukee?

 

In this game evaluations are constantly changing. 

Most of you guys were still in sell mode a week or two ago.

And I wanted Breslow fired a month ago.

[notin]

6 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

In this game evaluations are constantly changing. 

Most of you guys were still in sell mode a week or two ago.

And I wanted Breslow fired a month or two ago.

At what point in time was Hamilton properly evaluated as a “star”?

His numbers have ALWAYS been better in Boston.  And with those numbers here, he was a player - and I paraphrase - many wanted traded to prevent Cora from starting him.

But he puts up worse numbers in Milwaukee, but has one good game against Boston, and he’s a star?  Give me a break.

That’s not comparable to switching from sell to buy after a 21-4 stretch.  Not even close.  And comparing us to published journalists is also ridiculous…

[vegasbob]

6 minutes ago, Bellhorn04 said:

In this game evaluations are constantly changing. 

Most of you guys were still in sell mode a week or two ago.

And I wanted Breslow fired a month or two ago.

Let's see how we think  about Breslow Monday evening .

I am sure it is very tempting for him to do almost nothing and let this  crew just play it out.

These players have achieved record performances. but looking at the daily lineups do induce some cringe worthy moments.  But they have become our Idiots

[JoeBrady]

12 minutes ago, vegasbob said:

I am sure it is very tempting for him to do almost nothing and let this  crew just play it out.

I feel the same way.  My brain has certain ideas, but my heart says that these kids are building an identity that you can't analyze on FG.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 hour ago, notin said:

Mostly because the Boston sportswriter community is a firm believer that bad news is the only news that sells.  It doesn’t matter how the Sox are actually doing, as long as we keep saying bad things.

I mean, Hamilton?

Boston: 79 OPS+ 

Milwsukee: 77 OPS+

Which Boston sports “journalist” called him a star in Milwaukee?

 

There was only one star in Milwaukee and that was Bob Uecker.