Red Sox (Tolle) vs Dodgers (Yamamoto): 8/1/26, 9:10pm

[moonslav59]

12 minutes ago, Randy Red Sox said:

this is 2026 no the end of  2025 and he has been amazing on both sides of the ball.  A total 100$ untouchable right now.

After August 1, 2015, Rafaela hit...

.720 from 8/2 to 8/11

.910 from 8/26 to 9/2

1.109 in his last 9 games

He did not suck the whole last two months of the year. He had some ups and downs, like all players do, but for some reason, Fred is hypersensitive to Ceddane slumps. Probably because he had no faith in him getting any better from day one, when the guy was historically bad with his K:BB ratio.

Want some bigger sample sizes?

.776 over his last 17 games- hardly "ending the season sucking."

Why choose AUG 1st? He hit .730 in his last 85 games (June 20>>>)

.756 in his last 105 games.

We all know why he chose AUG 1st. It's the date that gives him the worst look he could find. He actively seeks out anything and everything he can to make Ceddanne look bad. H convinces himself he is fair and balanced by saying "nice hit" when he does well.

What other Sox player has he sought so much negative fodder than Ceddanne. It's neither "fair" nor "balanced."

No doubt, Ceddanne still shows signs of swinging at more bad pitches than most players, but he also hit bad pitches better than most, and his overall numbers look good and have been improving from season to season for 3 straight seasons. His defense is outstanding.

fWAR 2025-2026:

7.5 Ceddanne

4.4 Abreu

3.9 Duran

The kid has arrived. We should celebrate it and not pick him apart.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

7 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

After August 1, 2015, Rafaela hit...

.720 from 8/2 to 8/11

.910 from 8/26 to 9/2

1.109 in his last 9 games

He did not suck the whole last two months of the year. He had some ups and downs, like all players do, but for some reason, Fred is hypersensitive to Ceddane slumps. Probably because he had no faith in him getting any better from day one, when the guy was historically bad with his K:BB ratio.

Want some bigger sample sizes?

.776 over his last 17 games- hardly "ending the season sucking."

Why choose AUG 1st? He hit .730 in his last 85 games (June 20>>>)

.756 in his last 105 games.

We all know why he chose AUG 1st. It's the date that gives him the worst look he could find. He actively seeks out anything and everything he can to make Ceddanne look bad. H convinces himself he is fair and balanced by saying "nice hit" when he does well.

What other Sox player has he sought so much negative fodder than Ceddanne. It's neither "fair" nor "balanced."

No doubt, Ceddanne still shows signs of swinging at more bad pitches than most players, but he also hit bad pitches better than most, and his overall numbers look good and have been improving from season to season for 3 straight seasons. His defense is outstanding.

fWAR 2025-2026:

7.5 Ceddanne

4.4 Abreu

3.9 Duran

The kid has arrived. We should celebrate it and not pick him apart.

That's a really long post of data lauding the arrival of Rafaela to MLB stardom.

Meanwhile, back at bb-ref, a quick click shows Ceddanne second only to McConigle in the AL in overall WAR -- 5.6 to 5.2 -- even better than Yordan Alvarez, Bobby Witt Jr and Junior Caminero.

Rafaela is also tied for the best dWAR and most doubles in the league...

... and in this day and age, Ceddanne is also in the Top 10 race for the coveted batting crown, currently tied with Contreras at .288 (be still, Yaz).

[Behindenemylines]

This is a game the Sox would not have won early in the season. Hitting two homeruns and manufacturing a go ahead run in the eighth. Scoring the winning run on a double play I was glad to see. Early in the year Sox leave runners on the corners and the final two guys would have struck out. Good to see Chappy with a clean ninth and leaving Ohtani on the on-deck circle.

[FredLynn]

9 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

After August 1, 2015, Rafaela hit...

.720 from 8/2 to 8/11

.910 from 8/26 to 9/2

1.109 in his last 9 games

He did not suck the whole last two months of the year. He had some ups and downs, like all players do, but for some reason, Fred is hypersensitive to Ceddane slumps. Probably because he had no faith in him getting any better from day one, when the guy was historically bad with his K:BB ratio.

Want some bigger sample sizes?

.776 over his last 17 games- hardly "ending the season sucking."

Why choose AUG 1st? He hit .730 in his last 85 games (June 20>>>)

.756 in his last 105 games.

We all know why he chose AUG 1st. It's the date that gives him the worst look he could find. He actively seeks out anything and everything he can to make Ceddanne look bad. H convinces himself he is fair and balanced by saying "nice hit" when he does well.

What other Sox player has he sought so much negative fodder than Ceddanne. It's neither "fair" nor "balanced."

No doubt, Ceddanne still shows signs of swinging at more bad pitches than most players, but he also hit bad pitches better than most, and his overall numbers look good and have been improving from season to season for 3 straight seasons. His defense is outstanding.

fWAR 2025-2026:

7.5 Ceddanne

4.4 Abreu

3.9 Duran

The kid has arrived. We should celebrate it and not pick him apart.

Just can't stop whining, eh Moon? Its time to move on and enjoy the run.  The team has been a lot of fun to watch, unexpectedly, and Rafaela has been part of it. 

We will agree to disagree that he sucked last year, especially at the end of the year. And now he is performing at superstar level. Hopefully he can keep it up.

[JoeBrady]

11 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Mono hit the double.

We got lucky.  That was a bad pitch for an 0-2 count, but it seems like those things happen when you're running well.

[Maxbialystock]

3 hours ago, Behindenemylines said:

This is a game the Sox would not have won early in the season. Hitting two homeruns and manufacturing a go ahead run in the eighth. Scoring the winning run on a double play I was glad to see. Early in the year Sox leave runners on the corners and the final two guys would have struck out. Good to see Chappy with a clean ninth and leaving Ohtani on the on-deck circle.

I would not limit this game comparison to this season.  The Dodgers are hands down the best team in MLB and Yamamoto is their temporary ace until Skubal joins them and Ohtani returns.  The game was played in Dodger Stadium (Chavez Ravine).  

So forget this season and go back 8 seasons to 2018 for a comparison when the Sox beat the Dodgers 4 games to 1 in the WS.  

The two dingers by Rafaeli--the Sox only two hits until the 8th inning--were out of this world.  

Meanwhile the Dodgers were getting 9 hits, including a dinger, but scoring just 2 runs in 6 IP against Tolle. The Dodgers had him on the ropes in the 2d inning when with 2 runs in and runners on 2d and 3d Tracy gave Ohtani an intentional pass to 1b followed by Pages grounder for the 3d out.   Tolle pitched 4 more innings without giving up another run.  Along the way he was helped when red hot Freeman GIDP'd.   

Then Slaten, Guerrero, and Chapman gave up 1 hit and 0 runs to nail down the win (thanks to the 8th ibnning run).  Slaten==yes, Slaten--gets the win.  

While the players have to get the lion's share of the credit, I think Breslow gets credit for building an unprecented Sox team (great pitching, good fielding, and so-so hitting) and Tracy for being an effective manager.  The Intentional pass to Ohtani in the 2d was huge.  Saving Whitlck for tonight was also neat.  Sticking with Duran and his crucial bunt single in the 8th made it possible for Wong's GIDP to bring home the winning run.  

[moonslav59]

2 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Just can't stop whining, eh Moon? Its time to move on and enjoy the run.  The team has been a lot of fun to watch, unexpectedly, and Rafaela has been part of it. 

We will agree to disagree that he sucked last year, especially at the end of the year. And now he is performing at superstar level. Hopefully he can keep it up.

Why is you saying "he sucked last year" not "whining?"

Out of all the Sox players to rant about sucking, you choose the guy who finished 2025 with the 42nd highest fWAR (2nd on the Sox.)

I know you count offense as 99% of all team value, and granted Rafaela was below the average in most batting categories, but just barely and certainly not worthy of a "sucks" label.

171 out of 277 batter with 300+ PAs in OPS (62nd percentile)

124th in HRs (44th percentile) and 113th in RBI (40th percentile)

The question is, out of 13 everyday players on the roster and 9 starters, you chose Rafaela to badmouth more than everyone else combined.

Sure, 3-4 years ago there was plenty of reasons to do so. You chose him then, and rather than be fair and balanced, you kept bashing him rather in some vain attempt at saving face rather than just moving on to someone else.

Throwing tidbits of praise periodically, often followed by absurd points, such as Ceddanne losing a game (that we ended up winning) because he failed to move a runner over is but one case. Even now, you claim he "sucked in 2025." That is neither fair nor balanced.

Getting over yourself might be a good starting point, but we all know you enjoy that attention and troll for it.

 

[moonslav59]

16 minutes ago, Maxbialystock said:

I would not limit this game comparison to this season.  The Dodgers are hands down the best team in MLB and Yamamoto is their temporary ace until Skubal joins them and Ohtani returns.  The game was played in Dodger Stadium (Chavez Ravine).  

So forget this season and go back 8 seasons to 2018 for a comparison when the Sox beat the Dodgers 4 games to 1 in the WS.  

The two dingers by Rafaeli--the Sox only two hits until the 8th inning--were out of this world.  

Meanwhile the Dodgers were getting 9 hits, including a dinger, but scoring just 2 runs in 6 IP against Tolle. The Dodgers had him on the ropes in the 2d inning when with 2 runs in and runners on 2d and 3d Tracy gave Ohtani an intentional pass to 1b followed by Pages grounder for the 3d out.   Tolle pitched 4 more innings without giving up another run.  Along the way he was helped when red hot Freeman GIDP'd.   

Then Slaten, Guerrero, and Chapman gave up 1 hit and 0 runs to nail down the win (thanks to the 8th ibnning run).  Slaten==yes, Slaten--gets the win.  

While the players have to get the lion's share of the credit, I think Breslow gets credit for building an unprecented Sox team (great pitching, good fielding, and so-so hitting) and Tracy for being an effective manager.  The Intentional pass to Ohtani in the 2d was huge.  Saving Whitlck for tonight was also neat.  Sticking with Duran and his crucial bunt single in the 8th made it possible for Wong's GIDP to bring home the winning run.  

I really hate putting too much value on one game or even one series, but this game came about as close as ever in convincing me a team is damn good.

[notin]

3 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

I really hate putting too much value on one game or even one series, but this game came about as close as ever in convincing me a team is damn good.

Playing an ungodly 27-5 in their last 32 games hopefully swung a few people...

[FredLynn]

32 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Why is you saying "he sucked last year" not "whining?"

Out of all the Sox players to rant about sucking, you choose the guy who finished 2025 with the 42nd highest fWAR (2nd on the Sox.)

I know you count offense as 99% of all team value, and granted Rafaela was below the average in most batting categories, but just barely and certainly not worthy of a "sucks" label.

171 out of 277 batter with 300+ PAs in OPS (62nd percentile)

124th in HRs (44th percentile) and 113th in RBI (40th percentile)

The question is, out of 13 everyday players on the roster and 9 starters, you chose Rafaela to badmouth more than everyone else combined.

Sure, 3-4 years ago there was plenty of reasons to do so. You chose him then, and rather than be fair and balanced, you kept bashing him rather in some vain attempt at saving face rather than just moving on to someone else.

Throwing tidbits of praise periodically, often followed by absurd points, such as Ceddanne losing a game (that we ended up winning) because he failed to move a runner over is but one case. Even now, you claim he "sucked in 2025." That is neither fair nor balanced.

Getting over yourself might be a good starting point, but we all know you enjoy that attention and troll for it.

 

Still whining, eh? My plan is to keep posting a fair and balanced assessment, IMO of course, and I really don't give a rats ass if you like it. If Rafaela or anyone else screws up and fails to play sound fundamental baseball I will call them out on it. If they do their job well I will comment on that too. That is my style of posting. Its much better than your incessant whining.

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Still whining, eh? My plan is to keep posting a fair and balanced assessment, IMO of course, and I really don't give a rats ass if you like it. If Rafaela or anyone else screws up and fails to play sound fundamental baseball I will call them out on it. If they do their job well I will comment on that too. That is my style of posting. Its much better than your incessant whining.

You don't balance bash. You are kidding yourself.

You whine about Rafaela every chance you get and since batters fail much more than they succeed, you whine about 75% of Ceddanne's ABs.

That's much more than I do in my lifetime.

[moonslav59]

33 minutes ago, notin said:

Playing an ungodly 27-5 in their last 32 games hopefully swung a few people...

It hasn't flipped Fred to buyer mode, although he's stopped the sell talk.

[FredLynn]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

You don't balance bash. You are kidding yourself.

You whine about Rafaela every chance you get and since batters fail much more than they succeed, you whine about 75% of Ceddanne's ABs.

That's much more than I do in my lifetime.

Case in point. Get your act together Moon. Its time to move on. If you don't have anything intelligent and relevant to write here I see no point in responding to your nonsense.

[FredLynn]

4 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It hasn't flipped Fred to buyer mode, although he's stopped the sell talk.

You are obsessed with me. 

Try to pay attention. In yesterday's game thread I posted that I thought that our needs at the TD are catcher and LF>SP, that we do not need a SS. 

[Old Red]

13 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Still whining, eh? My plan is to keep posting a fair and balanced assessment, IMO of course, and I really don't give a rats ass if you like it. If Rafaela or anyone else screws up and fails to play sound fundamental baseball I will call them out on it. If they do their job well I will comment on that too. That is my style of posting. Its much better than your incessant whining.

Seems fair to me.👍

[Old Red]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Case in point. Get your act together Moon. Its time to move on. If you don't have anything intelligent and relevant to write here I see no point in responding to your nonsense.

Watch out he’s bragged before he always has to get the last word in. It’s a Curse, and not a gift, so he can’t help himself.🤭

[notin]

1 minute ago, FredLynn said:

You are obsessed with me. 

Try to pay attention. In yesterday's game thread I posted that I thought that our needs at the TD are catcher and LF>SP, that we do not need a SS. 

I hope they don’t waste time upgrading catcher.  There’s a reason catchers rarely move at the deadline.

LF, SP and RP.  And if they add a veteran bench bat like a Ty France, that’s fine

[JoeBrady]

9 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

It hasn't flipped Fred to buyer mode, although he's stopped the sell talk.

Fred lays out all his opinions so he can claim he is right, no matter what happens.  He doesn't really have opinions as such.

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, notin said:

I hope they don’t waste time upgrading catcher.  There’s a reason catchers rarely move at the deadline.

LF, SP and RP.  And if they add a veteran bench bat like a Ty France, that’s fine

There is an argument to be made NOT to change catchers. Our pitching is now 2nd in the AL in ERA. I would guess that our pitchers are comfortable with our current catching duo though Narvaez isn't hitting much at all. Perhaps its better to improve the team in the OF (LF in particular-Duran is a distraction who isn't contributing) and getting a decent SP to eat some innings that our younger SPs shouldn't be forced to eat. I think Springer would be a good addition even though he is having an off year.

[FredLynn]

7 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Watch out he’s bragged before he always has to get the last word in. It’s a Curse, and not a gift, so he can’t help himself.🤭

Its fine. I don't mind him getting the last word in sometimes. Its a small price to pay for me living rent free in his head.

[moonslav59]

11 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Case in point. Get your act together Moon. Its time to move on. If you don't have anything intelligent and relevant to write here I see no point in responding to your nonsense.

Sounds like a guy who knows he's wrong.

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Sounds like a guy who knows he's wrong.

Sounds like a guy who knows he is right to me. 

How's letting me live rent free inside your head working out for you?

[moonslav59]

10 minutes ago, Old Red said:

Watch out he’s bragged before he always has to get the last word in. It’s a Curse, and not a gift, so he can’t help himself.🤭

You and Fred are two peas in a pod. When exposed, you divert from the issue and attack the poster.

Where is the evidence to support that "Rafaela sucked in 2025."

By rallying to Fred's side just to jab at me, are you supporting his point or just whining about moonslav, because you "can't help yourself?"

[moonslav59]

2 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Sounds like a guy who knows he is right to me. 

How's letting me live rent free inside your head working out for you?

Another construct in your own mind projected on another.

[FredLynn]

1 minute ago, moonslav59 said:

Another construct in your own mind projected on another.

There you go. Your last word. Now lets move on from your nonsense. I doubt many other posters here are interested in your vendetta.

[moonslav59]

7 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

I don't mind him getting the last word in sometimes. Its a small price to pay for me living rent free in his head.

The definition of trolling.

[moonslav59]

Just now, FredLynn said:

There you go. Your last word. Now lets move on from your nonsense. I doubt many other posters here are interested in your vendetta.

LOL. What is this post?

Check the mirror, dude. LMAO

[FredLynn]

Just now, moonslav59 said:

LOL. What is this post?

Check the mirror, dude. LMAO

OK...one more post then I am done. I am not attacking YOU (at least I wasn't until you starting your whining campaign against ME). I was commenting on Rafaela, giving him a fair shake, complimenting him when he played well and criticizing him when he screwed up, which was often last year. You decided to make it personal, but I am out. Now you can get the last word in. I am returning to discussing baseball, fair and balanced.

[moonslav59]

4 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

OK...one more post then I am done. I am not attacking YOU (at least I wasn't until you starting your whining campaign against ME). I was commenting on Rafaela, giving him a fair shake, complimenting him when he played well and criticizing him when he screwed up, which was often last year. You decided to make it personal, but I am out. Now you can get the last word in. I am returning to discussing baseball, fair and balanced.

It's not a personal attack to call it absurd to say a 3.8 fWAR and 4.9 bWAR season sucks.

Saying it's trolling is personal, but you admitted you take delight in it, so was it really an attack?

[Old Red]

24 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

You and Fred are two peas in a pod. When exposed, you divert from the issue and attack the poster.

Where is the evidence to support that "Rafaela sucked in 2025."

By rallying to Fred's side just to jab at me, are you supporting his point or just whining about moonslav, because you "can't help yourself?"

Thanks for the kind words. I’ve never had a problem with the RAF Man’s hitting like others have had, because it wasn’t good enough, and some even suggested he should just be a utility player. Oh how the here, and now changes things.🤔