a700hitter

Good summary. I think you are pretty accurate on this.

Cycle There velocity was markedly lower (most notably Sale) when they broke camp. They weren’t prepared for the season to start.

It is about the economics of the game and the fans do not factor into these decisions. In the long run, that attitude is stupid business.

Oh, okay.

Their throwing program in the spring was delayed. That is not a disputed fact. Sale did not get up on a mound throwing to batters until at least a couple of weeks after ST started. I don’t think he made his first game appearance for until week 3. This set back the process of building arm-strength.

Per Pete Abraham on Twitter: Betts is hitting 8th in place of Bogaerts, so unlikely he will bat in the game unless the AL sends seven men to the plate in the 8th. Kind of strange.

i don’t see the Guardians parting with him while they are competing for the wild card.

That can end a friendship if you are not careful.

Links: https://nesn.com/2019/01/red-sox-reportedly-will-be-cautious-with-pitchers-in-spring-training/ https://bosoxinjection.com/2019/04/02/red-sox-spring-training-plan-starting-pitchers-backfired/ https://www.bostonherald.com/2019/02/23/mastrodonato-red-sox-spring-training-prompts-new-questions-for-2019/ This next link discusses holding back Sale in specific: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/02/16/red-sox-pitchers-spring-training/ https://985thesportshub.com/2019/03/06/red-sox-starting-pitchers-cleared-for-spring-debuts/ But it didn't happen.

Okay, it didn't happen unless there is a link. Okay.

We didn't make it up here. It was their strategy and it has been discussed during broadcasts etc. Let's not act like it didn't happen or that it was so insignificant that it wouldn't make a difference one way or the other - early or late in the season. It was designed to have an effect later in the season. To deny that they changed the throwing program in any significant manner during ST is just making up s*** as U.N. used to say. People need to stop making up s*** on this issue.

Occasionally, a team will offer free hot dogs during those delays and very very rarely they will offer a free ticket to an upcoming game provided that you stay until the end. What other business would treat it's customers so shabbily. After a certain preset period of time, refunds or exchanges should be mandatory.

The truth is that they threw a lot less during spring training and they started throwing later during camp. IP in the spring is a very misleading stat.

So, Cora implementing a throwing program with the stated purpose of keeping their arms fresh until later in the season was either a lie or just bogus on his part?

It was pretty obvious that Sale had not built the requisite arm strength in Spring Training. His velocity was way down at the start of the season. There was a game when he was at 89. That was eye-opening from him. Also, let's turn around your argument. If the 4-6 less innings isn't enough to affect their readiness for the season, how could it possibly positively affect their freshness in August and September. The number of spring innings is misleading. Often the aces are sent to the minor league complex to work against minor league hitters. That would not get reflected in their spring stats. This season, the throwing program was delayed and they just didn't throw off the mound anywhere near as much as prior years. It was a conscious decision and the team did not hide from the strategy. The difference was not just 4 to 6 innings. people here are trying to deny that the coaching staff implemented a throwing program that was designed to limit their mound throwing and it resulted in insufficient arm strength at the start of the season.

No, because there are only 3 major league arms in the bullpen and they are little more than mediocre. The rest are bush leaguers.

Porcello has been terrible throughout the first half. Sale has rebounded after building his arm strength and velocity. He was better in the first half last season, but he was in his own universe before the All Star break last season. It's unrealistic to expect that level of play every year, unless your name is Scherzer.

But it is the worst bullpen in the league. It is not mediocre.

Owners don’t want to sacrifice the revenue to schedule double headers. I think the players would like it as it would give them additional days off.

Could you give me a precise time for these stats on June 6th to make them more meaningful?

Despite having no 5th Starter and Porcello has been sucking, our starters have more Quality Starts 33 than the Yankees 30. The Red Sox Bullpen has the most blown saves in the league (18) and the lowest percentage of save conversions (50%).

Don’t start bitching about the hot weather. People in the NE are not going to cry for you. LOL!

Ridiculously long, especially since the are starting the season in March and the WS can go to November. The scheduling of MLB games is another problem. I hate when they have 3-4 hour rain delays due to scheduling needs and economic considerations. It is so unfair to the fans. For any rain delay in excess of 2-3 hours or more they should have to give a refund.

If they stick with this supercharged Baseball the stats in baseball will have no historic comparative legitimacy. Part of the greatness of baseball is its history and comparing players across generations. This baseball is producing stats that can’t be compared to stats of just 10 years ago. And I don’t think that it is increasing interest in the game. A number of things have reduced the enduring and future popularity of the game and most of them involve the economics of the game. First and foremost is that there are almost no Day games and no Day World Series games. In the pursuit of advertising dollars they have sacrificed generations of kids who are safely sleeping in bed before games get to the 5th inning. Another problem is that kids in many cities and states are never able to develop an attachment to players because they leave in FA as soon as they become stars. Kids feel abandoned when that happens and it sours them on the game. The games have become intolerably long and a attention spans are too short. Obviously, ticket prices are too high for kids to go to a game with their allowance money and they have to starve if they get in, because you can’t bring in food or drinks and the food costs as much as the ticket. These are major problems that will affect the future popularity of the game. This is not going to be fixed by a juiced baseball or by playing in Europe or Japan or anywhere else.

Yes, please forward this to DD ASAP.