Cubs vs Red Sox Doubleheader, 9/25/26: Game 1 @ 1:05pm (Holmes vs Gamboa); Game 2 @ 5:35pm (Peterson vs Bello)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Paez starts Game One on four days rest: Saturday, Sunday, Monday, yes Tuesday (sitting around all day to pitch that night makes it 96 hours -- that's enough for a 22-year old!).

[vegasbob]

Paez gets the W !

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

If the Padres win tonight or tomorrow, Sunday's game at the Mauseleum will be completely meaningless.

[moonslav59]

Gotta hand Bello some props. He's done very well since the 8 run game back on June 4th.

He had a couple back-to-back hiccups as AUG turned to Sept. (4 runs in both games,) but has let up - 0-1 ERs in all other 12 games counting today.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

1 minute ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

If the Padres win tonight or tomorrow, Sunday's game at the Mauseleum will be completely meaningless.

A perfect game for Sandoval to start.

[vegasbob]

What odds would you give on Brez trading Jed Paez at his current peak value (after the new CBA) ?

How about Bello , now a legit starter again

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

If the Padres do obtain home field, they should send the Sox a big thank you card.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

14 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

Gotta hand Bello some props. He's done very well since the 8 run game back on June 4th.

He had a couple back-to-back hiccups as AUG turned to Sept. (4 runs in both games,) but has let up - 0-1 ERs in all other 12 games counting today.

Hey, Moon, did you ever believe that Fenway would become a pitcher's ballpark?

[Tedballgame]

39 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

What a great player (Abreu)!

Good player. Not great.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

6 minutes ago, Tedballgame said:

Good player. Not great.

Defensively, IMHO, he is great. Offensively, no. His hot streaks are not as long as his cold streaks. 

Hopefully tonight's game winning double will get him hot against the Yankems. He's due.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

For a 22 year old pitcher Paez has a very good change up. IMHO, a good change up is the hardest pitch to develop.

[moonslav59]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Hey, Moon, did you ever believe that Fenway would become a pitcher's ballpark?

It happened a long time ago, so I do believe.

It seems worse in April and September.

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

A perfect game for Sandoval to start.

If the Padres win tonight tomorrow’s game should be canceled 

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, Tedballgame said:

Good player. Not great.

I think I was being a bit sarcastic. Great OFer; good with a bat-certainly not …..great. 
Except in G2

[JoeBrady]

3 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

Chuck Berry's or ELO's version. I love them both.

ELO's is fun.

[Behindenemylines]

Didn't see this coming! The start to Game 1 and when Paez was brought in to finish Game 2 I thought the Sox would be the one being swept. 

[notin]

22 hours ago, FredLynn said:

If the Padres win tonight tomorrow’s game should be canceled 

Only if the Phillies also lose

[notin]

23 hours ago, SPLENDIDSPLINTER said:

For a 22 year old pitcher Paez has a very good change up. IMHO, a good change up is the hardest pitch to develop.

Paez was abruptly judged but he’s not really all that bad…

[notin]

On 9/25/2026 at 7:27 PM, vegasbob said:

What odds would you give on Brez trading Jed Paez at his current peak value (after the new CBA) ?

How about Bello , now a legit starter again

Why?  We got some kind of depth lined up for next year?

[moonslav59]

15 minutes ago, notin said:

Why?  We got some kind of depth lined up for next year?

I doubt Brez trades any pitching depth, unless it's for pitching.

[Maxbialystock]

On 9/25/2026 at 4:57 PM, FredLynn said:

The pitching has been outstanding all year. But at the end of the day you also need to score runs. I think one more top flight hitter-and better luck on the health front-and we could have contended. 
Im not worried about RA. He’s too good to be a less than average hitter. I think that next year he’s a ..800 OPS guy. 

Funny thing, but when healthy the Sox have decent/good bats at RF, CF, LF 1B, 3B, and C.  That 20 yr old SS--Arias--at Worcester could be another.  That leaves DH and 2b.  Those slots should be filled by pricey Story and Yoshida, but really are not.  Story will get $25M next year and Yoshida $18M.  Duran's getting paid $8M this season. 

Now go back to the other 7 for their salaries:  Contreras $18M, Rutschman $7M, Anthony $3M, Rafaela $2M,  Abreu $800K, Durbin $700K, and Arias $700K--a total of $32M.   Story and Yoshida @ $43M will make Breslow relluctant to go for another good/pricey bat.   If Story can match last year's .743 OPS and play good defense at 2b (which he has done before for the Sox), he would be #8 and I think Yoshida still has potential to be a decent DH.  His OPS after 4 seasons is .759--.774 vs lefties (!!!) and .743 vs righties.  

So I think Breslow won't be wrong if he is reluctant to spend big for a bat.  Last year the Sox were 7th in MLB in runs scored and 9th in OPS.  Here's a comparison of 2025 and 2027 projected OPS's--

2005 OPS's                          2027 Projected OPS's

LF  Duran .774                      Anthony .825

CF  Rafaela .708                   Rafaela .780

RF  Abreu .786                     Abreu  .775

3b  Bregman .821                Durbin .721

SS  Story .741                       Arias  .750

2b Assorted .650                Story .740

1b Assorted .800                 Contreras  .800

C  Narvaez/Wong .650        Rutschman/Gasper  .750

DH  Assorted .775                Yoshida  .760

[moonslav59]

Good to hear from you. Max.

Brez has not added a pricey bat since Bregman, and that was a one and done.

Contreras was a trade and at a below market salary after STL paid down some of it.

AR and Mead were lower than market price additions.

Even the pitchers he added were below market value, except for Suarez. Gray at $21M was a bargain, Oviedo was a cheap stab in the dark, and RP'ers Guerrero, Coulombe, Kahnle and others were super low priced. Eric Miller was not high-salaried either.

Brez has formulated a strategy to pay a price but not beyond the market price. Bregman was an exception, but he was needed and the one year took away the higher risk. Buehler was one and done. Suarez was a gamble- his truly largest one.

In your breakdown, I don't see 2B as an issue anymore. I think Mead is the real deal. DH looks sketchy but there are so many options, I'm thinking one will work.

Anthony or Duran (non LF)

Mead or Story (non 2B)

Platoons:

Duran-Story/Romy

Duran-Jones/Romy

Story-Jones/Romy

Yoshida-Jones/Story/Romy

Gasper-Jones/Story/Romy

Casas

Campbell

Sogard-Brannon/Jo Garcia

The possibilities are near endless.

IMO, we can get by without a new bat, as long as we can keep Gray or replace him with Nick Martinez & Morejon. I'm not against adding a big bat, but this time it should be a LHB.

It does seem like DH is our weakest area on offense, but we could use Anthony there and add  LF'er. I don't think 2B is our next worst position by comparative outlooks: that might be CF or Catcher, if AR struggles or Ceddanne reverts to pre 2026 batting. I do NOT see us looking to upgrade at those two slot. We gave up a ton for AR and Mead, so I just don't see 2B, C or CF as upgrade slots.

Now, I've gone full circle back to DH.

 

 

[FredLynn]

13 hours ago, Maxbialystock said:

Funny thing, but when healthy the Sox have decent/good bats at RF, CF, LF 1B, 3B, and C.  That 20 yr old SS--Arias--at Worcester could be another.  That leaves DH and 2b.  Those slots should be filled by pricey Story and Yoshida, but really are not.  Story will get $25M next year and Yoshida $18M.  Duran's getting paid $8M this season. 

Now go back to the other 7 for their salaries:  Contreras $18M, Rutschman $7M, Anthony $3M, Rafaela $2M,  Abreu $800K, Durbin $700K, and Arias $700K--a total of $32M.   Story and Yoshida @ $43M will make Breslow relluctant to go for another good/pricey bat.   If Story can match last year's .743 OPS and play good defense at 2b (which he has done before for the Sox), he would be #8 and I think Yoshida still has potential to be a decent DH.  His OPS after 4 seasons is .759--.774 vs lefties (!!!) and .743 vs righties.  

So I think Breslow won't be wrong if he is reluctant to spend big for a bat.  Last year the Sox were 7th in MLB in runs scored and 9th in OPS.  Here's a comparison of 2025 and 2027 projected OPS's--

2005 OPS's                          2027 Projected OPS's

LF  Duran .774                      Anthony .825

CF  Rafaela .708                   Rafaela .780

RF  Abreu .786                     Abreu  .775

3b  Bregman .821                Durbin .721

SS  Story .741                       Arias  .750

2b Assorted .650                Story .740

1b Assorted .800                 Contreras  .800

C  Narvaez/Wong .650        Rutschman/Gasper  .750

DH  Assorted .775                Yoshida  .760

Projections for next year are just guesses, for the most part. THIS year, of the 15 AL teams, the FLOPS were 9th in runs scored, 8th in OPS, and 11th in HRs. That is not good enough. It has to improve next year. It SHOULD have been better THIS year except that Breslow failed to improve the offense enough and Henry failed to allocate the money for him to do it.

[notin]

13 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I doubt Brez trades any pitching depth, unless it's for pitching.

The notion of trading Bello is beyond ridiculous.

”Bello had some rough outings but ended really, really well.  We should trade him and free up money to sign a better free agent pitcher willing to sign long term for Mike Lorenzen money.”

If Gray returns, that’s one thing.  Beyond that the Sox will have Crochet, Tolle, Suarez, Bennett, Houck, Bello, Paez, Oviedo, and Crawford (if tendered) all competing for spots…

[notin]

9 minutes ago, FredLynn said:

Projections for next year are just guesses, for the most part. THIS year, of the 15 AL teams, the FLOPS were 9th in runs scored, 8th in OPS, and 11th in HRs. That is not good enough. It has to improve next year. It SHOULD have been better THIS year except that Breslow failed to improve the offense enough and Henry failed to allocate the money for him to do it.

They’re in the postseason and had a remarkable year.  This level of wildly inaccurate entitled whining can stop now…

[moonslav59]

29 minutes ago, notin said:

The notion of trading Bello is beyond ridiculous.

”Bello had some rough outings but ended really, really well.  We should trade him and free up money to sign a better free agent pitcher willing to sign long term for Mike Lorenzen money.”

If Gray returns, that’s one thing.  Beyond that the Sox will have Crochet, Tolle, Suarez, Bennett, Houck, Bello, Paez, Oviedo, and Crawford (if tendered) all competing for spots…

The major factor is Gray or replacing him close to in kind (Nick Martinez?)

I'm thinking they may want Houck in the pen- maybe Crawford instead or also.

Bello will be handed a rotation slot and deserves it. He's over the starter yips, and after missing time in June, he put together an excellent 2.5 to 3 month, 14 game stretch:

55.1 IP with just 45 hits and 12 BBs. The 48 Ks is not great but not bad.

2.11 ERA and 2.81 FIP is mind-boggling.

Only 4 of those 14 games were starts, but he went long in most other outings, and if you take away the back-to-back games in the middle of that stretch (7.1 IP and 8 ERs, 12 hits+ 3 BBs) those remaining 12 games had this look:

48 IP 33 Hits 9 BBs 5 ERs

0.94 ERA

Crochet is no given, but apparently he looks sharp, now. I could see this:

Crochet, Tolle, Gray, Suarez, Bello (Bennett, Oviedo/Houck/Crawford in pen?)

I hope Brez does not think Crochet replaces Gray and this is enough: Crochet, Tolle, Suarez, Bello & Bennett)

I'm not thrilled with the AAA depth of Paez, Holobetz, Wehunt, Ziehl, Mullins but there are worse groups out there in MLB, and with Houck, Crawford and Oviedo slotted before needing them, maybe it's enough.

 

[FredLynn]

1 hour ago, notin said:

They’re in the postseason and had a remarkable year.  This level of wildly inaccurate entitled whining can stop now…

The apologist posts can stop first. Last year they did a one and out. This year it’s very much looking like the same thing. Last year I was ok with just making a guest appearance in the playoffs. This year I’m not satisfied with it-because it could have-SHOULD HAVE-been a much better season. You can be satisfied with another one and out. I’m not. 

[notin]

1 hour ago, FredLynn said:

The apologist posts can stop first. Last year they did a one and out. This year it’s very much looking like the same thing. Last year I was ok with just making a guest appearance in the playoffs. This year I’m not satisfied with it-because it could have-SHOULD HAVE-been a much better season. You can be satisfied with another one and out. I’m not. 

They haven’t lost yet.  And they play a team they were 6-7 against.  Considering this team  hasn’t seen their ace/MVP play since April 25th, this has already been a great year.  Third best record in the AL does trump 9th best OPS.

Just because they didn’t get one guy you wanted doesn’t mean Breslow didn’t do his job.  After all, the guy he acquired that you didn’t want (Sonny Gray) wound up being an excellent acquisition.

[FredLynn]

50 minutes ago, notin said:

They haven’t lost yet.  And they play a team they were 6-7 against.  Considering this team  hasn’t seen their ace/MVP play since April 25th, this has already been a great year.  Third best record in the AL does trump 9th best OPS.

Just because they didn’t get one guy you wanted doesn’t mean Breslow didn’t do his job.  After all, the guy he acquired that you didn’t want (Sonny Gray) wound up being an excellent acquisition.

The will likely lose to the Yankmees-again. Alonso would have been a great acquisition but the bottom line is that we needed at least one more good bat in addition to the good players BresLOW signed. He did HALF of the job. It could have been-should have-been a much better season. 
 

No more excuses 

[notin]

3 hours ago, FredLynn said:

The will likely lose to the Yankmees-again. Alonso would have been a great acquisition but the bottom line is that we needed at least one more good bat in addition to the good players BresLOW signed. He did HALF of the job. It could have been-should have-been a much better season. 
 

No more excuses 

He had a different vision for the team than you.  His was grounded in reality, whereas as yours was not. “They signed IKF instead of Alonso.”  “Alonso could have replaced Yoshida.”  “They could have benched their second best offensive player from last year.” 
 

Those are all statements you made that are just plain idiotic.  I will admit to paraphrasing the last one snd typing “their second best offensive player from last year” instead of just typing “Duran.”

Breslow actually did a very good job, which pains me to say because he seems like a total a-hole.

And acquiring Alonso doesn’t guarantee hetting past the Yankees.  It wouldn’t even move the needle..,