Red Sox (Sandoval) vs Rangers (TBD): 09/15/26, 8:05 PM

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Remember the Sox lost their first game to the Royals in the last series.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It seems when the Sox get to 14 games over.500, it's time to put the team in reverse. Beep beep.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

23 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Knew it. 

Bum. Too many bums on this team

The Sox have the 3rd best record in the AL. Can you imagine how many more bums there are on the other 12 teams?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The Sox have the 3rd best record in the AL. Can you imagine how many more bums there are on the other 12 teams?

The simple truth is that there's too many teams in MLB and not enough talent.

This holds true for the other 3 major team sports.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The simple truth is that there's too many teams in MLB and not enough talent.

This holds true for the other 3 major team sports.

Even thinking about expansion is insane.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Just now, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Even thinking about expansion is insane.

Another truth that helps explain the above is that a lot of kids instead of being outside playing sports are in their house playing video games.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

2 minutes ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Another truth that helps explain the above is that a lot of kids instead of being outside playing sports are in their house playing video games.

When I was a kid my punishment was being exiled to my room. Nowadays, punishing a kid would be to send him outside.

[illinoisredsox]

Should anyone be shocked at tonight's result? Be realistic.  With Sandoval starting, the pitching matchup never favored the Sox, even when it was Bradford for the Rangers.  They had a better shot against Bradford, but that's it, a better shot.

Once Texas went with DeGrom, they had a huge pitching advantage, even moreso since DeGrom has been lights out his past 3-4 starts.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, illinoisredsox said:

Should anyone be shocked at tonight's result? Be realistic.  With Sandoval starting, the pitching matchup never favored the Sox, even when it was Bradford for the Rangers.  They had a better shot against Bradford, but that's it, a better shot.

Once Texas went with DeGrom, they had a huge pitching advantage, even moreso since DeGrom has been lights out his past 3-4 starts.

When DeGrom's healthy, which isn't often, he's one of the best.

[moonslav59]

Had our chances.

The offense needs a spark, or two, or three...

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

5 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Had our chances.

The offense needs a spark, or two, or three...

They need to face a starter as bad as Sandoval. But then I remember they faced Lugo and didn't do much against him.

[NHNative]

Tonight is another game.

[mvp 78]

9 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Remember the Sox lost their first game to the Royals in the last series.

Sandoval vs deGrom was a surefire loss TBH. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

30 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Sandoval vs deGrom was a surefire loss TBH. 

Red Sox are just getting fans ready for playoff offense. 

deGrom struckout 8 but the bullpen whiffed 7 more. Rangers can't hit either, with 10 Ks of their own (a lot of swing and miss at dirtballs).

Meanwhile, Arias has 24 home runs in the minors. Brooks Brannon has 22... (remember, Anthony and Mayer never reached 20, though Campbell hit exactly 20 once when he was Barry Bonds).

The last Boston farmhand to crack more than 20 twice was the Password and look at him now: 11 total HR at 3 levels in an injury-plagued year for Pittsburgh.

[moonslav59]

10 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

They need to face a starter as bad as Sandoval. But then I remember they faced Lugo and didn't do much against him.

I know the starting pitcher is the driving force behind setting odds on winning any specific game, but it seems like our history has shown we do pretty well vs the real good starters and often do poorly vs no-names and meh pitchers.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Red Sox are just getting fans ready for playoff offense. 

deGrom struckout 8 but the bullpen whiffed 7 more. Rangers can't hit either, with 10 Ks of their own (a lot of swing and miss at dirtballs).

Meanwhile, Arias has 24 home runs in the minors. Brooks Brannon has 22... (remember, Anthony and Mayer never reached 20, though Campbell hit exactly 20 once when he was Barry Bonds).

The last Boston farmhand to crack more than 20 twice was the Password and look at him now: 11 total HR at 3 levels in an injury-plagued year for Pittsburgh.

Good points.

BTW, 11 HRs in 306 PAs is over 20 per 650.

The ball being juiced at lower farm levels should make us think twice about 18-22 HRs by some of our prospects, but Arias and Brannon's homers are legit.

I know Brannon Ks a lot (115 in 350 ABs,) but he's batting .280 and has 30 2B+3Bs, too! His .355 OBP would likely not be matched at the ML level, but .325 and even .300 beats Duran.

Arias has 24 HRs in 430 ABs. He has 29 2B+3Bs, a .323 BA and .402 OBP.

I kinda wish he was our current SS with Story and Sogard/Seigler at 2B, but our middle infield has done much better than recent years, and I get why they want to keep Arias off the 40 as a work stoppage looms.

(Note: Tyler McDonough had 20 HRs for POR>WOO in 361 ABs, but I doubt he sees MLB action.)

Jo Garcia & Will Turner both had 18 HRs at POR in 320 ABs.

The lower level HR leaders:

21 Jackson (396 ABs GRE>POR)

20 Heyman (359 SAL>GRE)

20 Cespedes (442 GRE>POR)

19 Gonzales (421 GRE>POR)

18 Mason White (350 GRE>POR)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

13 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Arias has 24 HRs in 430 ABs. He has 29 2B+3Bs, a .323 BA and .402 OBP.

I kinda wish he was our current SS 

I'm with you, and I bet, a lot of other fans, too.

It's easy to look at those stats and dream of a young Lindor type star anchoring the infield for the next great Red Sox team...

... especially when we're all well aware of the limitations of Trevor Story on the eve of the postseason.

Last night's loss with that pop-up falling in for the decisive run was a combination of Story drifting back and Anthony floating forward: two "main" guys that just can't be trusted on defense (or on offense, to make contact) for a team vying for rings.

[Hugh2]

11 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

The Sox have the 3rd best record in the AL. Can you imagine how many more bums there are on the other 12 teams?

Everyone who isn't a perennial all star is a bum to some people. 

[moonslav59]

We've seen some nationally, highly- ranked prospects stumble, get injured or both, ao I hesitate to sound gushy over Arias, but I really think he will be the "real deal." I still feel the same about Anthony, too. I've not given up on Campbell, either, but Mayer is heading for major bust territory- at least with another team, anyway.

We've traded away a lot of top prospects and recent grads. Harrison was not really all that "recent," but he had a ton of control years left. Early looked like a smart pitcher and a keeper. Dobbins, Drohan & Priester may fizzle out- maybe not. Eyanson, Witherspoon, Perales, Clarke, Fajardo, Travieso, Sandlin, Uberstine, Aita and others have a lot of time to show up or show out. JH Garcia is still getting his feet wet. The Crochet deal has only really helped the CWS with one guy, so far, and he seemed like the throw-in: Meidroth. Time will tell on Teel & Montgomery. They still have many years to show up.

According to soxprospects.com, here is a list of the highest ranking prospects in order of highest slots since fall 2023:

(only notables listed if below #10)

1. Anthony, Tolle, Arias

2. Campbell, Eyanson

3. Early, Teel, Witherspoon

4. Ceddanne, Bennett, Bleis

5. Gonzales, Montgomery, Witherspoon

6. Perales, Azocar, Yorke, Jh Garcia, Cespedes, Romero

7 Perales, Primera, Valera, Phillips

8. Abreu, Godbout, Clarke

9 Fitts, Sandlin, Wikelman

10 Fajardo, Delzine, Soto, Zanetello

11. Meidroth

12 Romero

13. Holobetz, M Lugo, Uberstine

15 Drohan, Paulino

17 Wehunt, Ramos

18 Rivas

19 Blaze

20 Slaten, Travieso, Paez

21 DHam

23 Dobbins

24 Elmer Rodriguez

28 Hoppe

 

 

 

[NHNative]

48 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

I'm with you, and I bet, a lot of other fans, too.

It's easy to look at those stats and dream of a young Lindor type star anchoring the infield for the next great Red Sox team...

... especially when we're all well aware of the limitations of Trevor Story on the eve of the postseason.

Last night's loss with that pop-up falling in for the decisive run was a combination of Story drifting back and Anthony floating forward: two "main" guys that just can't be trusted on defense (or on offense, to make contact) for a team vying for rings.

Yup--that was a miss that should not happen--ever.

My wife and I were like--"what the heck was that".

[moonslav59]

23 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Everyone who isn't a perennial all star is a bum to some people. 

The AL is kinda lacking in the quantity of quality.

Everyday Players over ____ fWAR ...

1.5: AL 79/ NL 80 (call it a tie)

2.5: AL 43/ NL 48 (seperation begins)

3.5: AL 18 (including Ceddanne, Wilyer & Willson)/ NL 23

4.5: AL 8/ NL 7 (Ooops, there goes my point.)

5.5: AL 2 (Yordan & Witt)/ NL 2 (PCA & de la Cruz)

Pitching

1.5: AL 61> NL 54

2.5: AL 28> NL 23 (including Gray, Suarez & Tolle)

3.5: NL 10> AL 9 (including Suarez & Tolle)

4.5: NL 5 = AL 5

5.5: NL 4> AL 2

Overall, pretty damn even.

[Hugh2]

47 minutes ago, Hugh2 said:

Everyone who isn't a perennial all star is a bum to some people. 

 

12 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

The AL is kinda lacking in the quantity of quality.

Everyday Players over ____ fWAR ...

1.5: AL 79/ NL 80 (call it a tie)

2.5: AL 43/ NL 48 (seperation begins)

3.5: AL 18 (including Ceddanne, Wilyer & Willson)/ NL 23

4.5: AL 8/ NL 7 (Ooops, there goes my point.)

5.5: AL 2 (Yordan & Witt)/ NL 2 (PCA & de la Cruz)

Pitching

1.5: AL 61> NL 54

2.5: AL 28> NL 23 (including Gray, Suarez & Tolle)

3.5: NL 10> AL 9 (including Suarez & Tolle)

4.5: NL 5 = AL 5

5.5: NL 4> AL 2

Overall, pretty damn even.

Ok but this isn't a new trend unique to 2026.  The Sox won 108 games in 2018 and people still complained about "bums" 

[mvp 78]

4 hours ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

Red Sox are just getting fans ready for playoff offense. 

deGrom struckout 8 but the bullpen whiffed 7 more. Rangers can't hit either, with 10 Ks of their own (a lot of swing and miss at dirtballs).

Meanwhile, Arias has 24 home runs in the minors. Brooks Brannon has 22... (remember, Anthony and Mayer never reached 20, though Campbell hit exactly 20 once when he was Barry Bonds).

The last Boston farmhand to crack more than 20 twice was the Password and look at him now: 11 total HR at 3 levels in an injury-plagued year for Pittsburgh.

Don't get too excited about Arias's HR% in AA as it's a little inflated. His HR rate has gone back down a little since going to AAA. In AA and lower, they are most likely using a new ball and it has caused HRs to skyrocket across every league. Many teams are putting up a record amount of HRs and playing like it's the steroid era, except it's 19 year old kids. Brannon has some of the most legit power in the system, but he's comparable to Bobby Dalbec AND less likely to draw a walk. 

[mvp 78]

1 hour ago, Hugh2 said:

 

Ok but this isn't a new trend unique to 2026.  The Sox won 108 games in 2018 and people still complained about "bums" 

Leon - 89 G, -0.6 bWAR, 0.5 fWAR

Vaz - 80 G, -1.1 bWAR, 0.4 fWAR

Swihart - 82 G, -0.1 bWAR, -0.1 fWAR

Kinsler - 37 G (deadline acquisition), -0.3 bWAR, 0.1 fWAR, dreadful in the postseason too

Nunez - 127 G, -0.8 bWAR, -0.5 fWAR

Pomeranz - 74 IP, -0.7 bWAR, -0.4 fWAR

C and 2B flat out stunk for that team TBH. Pretty sure grampa called them bums at the time and he was right to do so. 

[Behindenemylines]

17 hours ago, FredLynn said:

Sandoval is useless 

The walks kill him because you know he is going to give up hits and that just means that there is a lot of traffic on the basepaths. I do not want see him again until the Sox clinch a playoff spot. He didn't even make it through the lineup once. 

[mvp 78]

14 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Even thinking about expansion is insane.

The real insane thing is they are seriously considering adding a third FL based team. Miami and Tampa are bottom 5 in attendance even in years when they are playoff bound. 

It just shows how much value there is in owning a team even in a small market. 

[Maxbialystock]

14 hours ago, illinoisredsox said:

Should anyone be shocked at tonight's result? Be realistic.  With Sandoval starting, the pitching matchup never favored the Sox, even when it was Bradford for the Rangers.  They had a better shot against Bradford, but that's it, a better shot.

Once Texas went with DeGrom, they had a huge pitching advantage, even moreso since DeGrom has been lights out his past 3-4 starts.

Agree.  DeGrom had way better stuff last night--and accuracy.   Sandoval striking out the side in the 1st was a false positive.  Getting killed in the 2d was deserved.  

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

36 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Don't get too excited about Arias's HR% in AA as it's a little inflated. His HR rate has gone back down a little since going to AAA. In AA and lower, they are most likely using a new ball and it has caused HRs to skyrocket across every league. Many teams are putting up a record amount of HRs and playing like it's the steroid era, except it's 19 year old kids. Brannon has some of the most legit power in the system, but he's comparable to Bobby Dalbec AND less likely to draw a walk. 

I did say it was just a dream: "It's easy to look at those stats and dream of a young Lindor type star" ... quouth myself

(it's just a way to cope in case of a nightmare)

[Maxbialystock]

32 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Don't get too excited about Arias's HR% in AA as it's a little inflated. His HR rate has gone back down a little since going to AAA. In AA and lower, they are most likely using a new ball and it has caused HRs to skyrocket across every league. Many teams are putting up a record amount of HRs and playing like it's the steroid era, except it's 19 year old kids. Brannon has some of the most legit power in the system, but he's comparable to Bobby Dalbec AND less likely to draw a walk. 

Agree on the dingers, but still think Arias is an instant plus-up at SS over Story, who, however, still has another year on his pricey contract.  His average WAR/season over 5 seasons with the Sox is 1.6.  

[Maxbialystock]

33 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

Leon - 89 G, -0.6 bWAR, 0.5 fWAR

Vaz - 80 G, -1.1 bWAR, 0.4 fWAR

Swihart - 82 G, -0.1 bWAR, -0.1 fWAR

Kinsler - 37 G (deadline acquisition), -0.3 bWAR, 0.1 fWAR, dreadful in the postseason too

Nunez - 127 G, -0.8 bWAR, -0.5 fWAR

Pomeranz - 74 IP, -0.7 bWAR, -0.4 fWAR

C and 2B flat out stunk for that team TBH. Pretty sure grampa called them bums at the time and he was right to do so. 

I absolutely agree with your data but not with your grandpa.  Winning isn't every thing--it's the only thing--and 2018 was the best Boston Red Sox team ever.  Their postseason record was 11-3.