I saw JD taking BP on the backfields in Spring Training 2020, and his bat slowed. He had an awful 2020 shortened season, but then he had an excellent bounce back season on ‘21. He certainly looks finished, but who knows for sure.
i can see resting a guy if you have a wild card spot, but if every game counts to stay in the race, the manager has to ride his best horses down the stretch.
When you load up your rotation with a bunch of guys who live on the IL and pitchers recovering from surgery, this should be expected. Not a good excuse imo. Also not a good idea to start the season with a mid 30’s closer who had a nightmarish second half in 21 and didn’t make the playoff roster. And not a good idea for your big bullpen acquisition to be a guy that throws less than 50% strikes. No excuses. Accountability is in order for building a team that most people thought had major holes that went unaddressed. The staff he built was foreseeably awful and he never filled the 1B hole or RF.
I was watching my old home town of Massapequa, NY play Hawaii in the Little League World Series rather than watch the stink Sox. The little game was a blow out and at 10 or 12 to zero, I decided to watch the big leaguers. Another blowout.