Dojji

He's adjusting to Fenway's eccentric left field and probably had some "learning curve moments" early in the year. If I had to guess, that number will get better as he gains experience out there.

Sounds like paving the way to return Trevor Story to active duty. Alvarez takes over that roster spot on the WooSox.

3.82 xFIP is hardly the end of the world. If his ERA rose to match the xFIP, he'd still be considered an effective pitcher. I do get what you're saying though, Murphy's gotten some luck and will probably regress a bit.

Lurking behind the opener to come in and dominate in the early to middle innings seems to be working for Pivetta in away you almost never see. From a disaster of a season in the traditional rotation role, Pivetta has risen into a unique self-made role, and he isn't really eating less innings as a result, he's just starting later in the game with less pressure on him to come storming out the gate. I think the key here is the reduced pressure. Pivetta is often coming in with an early lead in a way that starters don't normally have the luxury of. As long as the bats keep creating early runs for him Pivetta can relax on the mound and focus on just being the pitcher he can be. And Pivetta's stuff has always been excellent, so a situation that places him in a good headspace has been key to unlocking the potential he's always had. It's such a unique and effective solution that I wonder if other teams aren't studying it. It's not really a new notion, but seeing it succeed this dramatically to turn a pitcher's career around makes me think other teams may start experimenting with it if they have a guy with starter stuff who's just not in a good headspace.

The goal would be to have Sale and Pivetta take a whole game between them. Sale goes 3, Pivetta goes 6. Or Sale goes 2, Pivetta goes 6, someone gets a garbage time inning, everyone else gets the day off. You need that kinda day if you're going to be leaning heavily on the pen in other games.

He's probably right, much as we don't wanna hear it. I do expect some kind of talent coming in at the waiver deadline but a big deal at the trading deadline is a pipe dream.

BTW these are the guys we got back for Kike. Both look like they have potential utility as pitchers who can ride the bus between Worcester and Boston and fight for the lower spots in the pen Nick Robertson -- righty with a drop or two of MLB experience who got roughed up with a 6+ ERA but a FIP in the 3's which suggests that he pitched better than that. Minor league numbers good. Misses a lot of bats. Above average command. Looks like he has some potential as middle relief. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roberni01.shtml Ten there's Justin Hagenman. 26 years old, so he is what he is. Hasn't seem the bigs yet. Not as overpowering as Robertson, but shows much better command. Gives up some hard contact and is prone to the long ball but keeps the ball in the strike zone. Has 5 starts this year and the game log shows a lot of multi inning appearances. Looks like one of those guys you park in the minors unless you need a garbage time arm, but could surprise us. https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=hagenm000jus# Neither of these guys are exactly gonna be the next stud, but they both look like they could have some utility to the team and of course we have full control over them for years to come. Robertson in particular looks like he could be competitive with a few of our lower echelon relievers right now so you never know.

Whhat part of that contradicts what I said?

Crazy idea: ease Sale in by using him as Pivetta's opener. Sale goes 2 or 3, Pivetta eats most of the rest of the game. The righty coming in after the lefty has been a useful trick. If thhe best thing we can do for Sale is go easy on him, then an opener ole behhind one of our 2 longmen might be the way to get him back into the rhythm and flow while giving him time to rest his aches and pains. Ultimately I'd be willing to tolerate a Chris Sale that finished this year in the bullpen. When a guy has been this consistently hurt you need to throw out what you used to know and deal with the man as he is. He's still got a power arm, and I'd trust him in high leverage siituations. It might be the best thing for everyone if Sale just doesn't go back into the rotation. Maybe he'll even be another one who enjoys the Pivetta Special.

I don't think any team in the modern era has been this successful with basically a 3 man rotation and 2 opener/longman slots. BTW don't let what Pivetta is doing blind you to the fact that Chris Murphy is also being extremely effective in the same role. It's not totally inconceivable to me that Murphy in particular pitches his way into some honest-to-god starts in the next few months or years. We've seen that Pivetta struggles at this, but Murphy is a clean slate, and it may be worth seeing what we have there. Either way, if the kid keeps this up he's gonna get paid by someone. Successful long men are hella rare.

No he isn't. He's a utility guy, like Brock Holt. you don't want guys like that starting every day and if they are, somethhing has gone wrong. They can be quite useful off the bench in situations that provide favorable matchups for them. That's how Brock Holt was Brock Holt for us for many years. Guessing that's how the Dodgers intend to use Kike. That said, getting 2 young cost controlled pitchers back is a good deal, especially if they look like they might be able to earn a few trips to the majors here and there in the next few years. We got utility back from a guy who looks like he might be cooked, so that was a great outcome

A pitcher like Gabbard is dependent on his infield defense. if his defense isn't good he's gonna have to throw a lot more pitches to get out of the situations. This is true of a lot of sinkerball pitchers. The Texas infield defense was IIRC horrific that year.

He was actually in Fenway when he got hurt. I remember because I was interested in the guy because he debuted on my birthday. Fell off the mound on a pitch in the middle of a start against us and blew out his shoulder or elbow, don't remember which. Never managed a decent outing after that. His command went to hell after that.

Proper asset management, avoiding overcommitting to insane trades, and showing skill in the draft, are literally the 3 key descriptions of an excellent GM. Frankly I'm absolutely impressed that Bloom has managed to commit to, and execute, this wild opener/longman schtick, and even moreso, that it's working. That takes a lot of trust in multiple guys to work together correctly, and being able to put guys who can handle a challenge like this in a position to do so takes a good eye for unconventional talent, which if you know me from of old, is a thing that I absolutely live for. Not just that but doing it in 2 different rotation spots at the same time, successfully, is insane. I'm not sure anyone in the modern era has done this on purpose before.

Our farm has been on fire in the last 2 years. Wong, Casas, Crawford, Bello, Duran all showing up and becoming key players to the team. Plenty of lesser lights like Chang and Murphy helping to add depth and robustness to our roster too. Chris Murphy is legit one of the best young long relievers I've seen in years and may wind up in a starting role if he continues to stretch out as effectively as he has. Or alternatively may graduate to throwing higher leverage innings. All depends on what the Red Sox see his future as and how the league responds when it's seen him a few times. I'd b e intrigued to see if that severe reverse split of his holds up.

Yes, I remember back in 06 a complete nobody was dragged onto the scene by all the injuries, named Kason Gabbard. Literally I remember posting saying who TF is this guy in the forum I was on at the time. As it turns out he was a 23 year old Lefty with average control but a good change and a sinker that got ground ball outs. Debuted on my birthday against the Mariners, and pitched well, but he couldn't beat Ichiro, which in fairness, nobody could. IIIRC he went 5 2/3 with 3ER in a loss, so for a debut performance, from a "scrub" rookie, he got my attention. Nobody had him on the radar but he quickly established himself in the rotation that year and the next, as a reliable guy who could get you 5+ innings at a time when that was desperately needed. Spun some gems for the Sox down the stretch in 07 and raised his stock to the point that he was the main asset in the Gagne trade. Which is another story since Eric Gagne was an abject disaster, but definitely suggests that the kid raised his value in the league's eyes since he was considered a AAAA nobody before that happened and managed to make himself a desired commodity. Unfortunately it ended just as quickly as it began. the Rangers managed to wreck the guy's arm the next year and that was that. But you're right, every now and again these guys show up, like Gabbard, or like Bernardino, and I'm always there for the underrated guy

Mata is currently in sitting at more than a walk per inning on the Worsox. Drohan is also quite wild and not that effective Neither of these guuys are going to be what people with pieces like Lorenzen or E-Rod are gonna look for. Try again with Anthony, Perales and Romero and then start thhining about what more we can offer.

Why do I have this weird feeling that Ohtani is going to go to the Mariners and wreck his arm within 2 months of arriving?

Not to mention, Aaron Judge is 31 years old. The Angels are not close to being a force in the AL West. He's the last thing the Angels need right now.

ROFL the Angels wouldn't touch that.

His skin is rich.

Averaging nearly 6 innings per start has my undivided attention. Lorenzen is at 5.85 IP/G Man eats innings like they're in the office candy dish.

Oh no, a sports fan made a spelling mistake, alert the Geneva Convention All the playoff teams have pitching and hitting. You don't get to the top of your division without it. The best teams have pitching, hitting and defense. Good D is a difference maker. evidence: 2014 and 2015 Royals, who were only average hitters but made the WS twice in a row and won once, on the back of top end D. Absolutely untrue. All 4 of those teams had speed as well as power. 04 had Damon, Roberts and OCab, 07 had Coco, Ellsbury, Lugo and Pedey, 13 had the Flyin' Hawiian, and 18 had a whole outfield full of speed. That's only true in 13 where Ross and Salty platooned. Tek was high end in 04 and 07, CV is a top end catcher, around the league, ask anyone who the top 5 defenders behind the dish are, CV will be in the list somewhere. He was hitting at a high rate too in 18.

Wrong thread

I'd say don't fix what ain't broke. Let bernardino play opener and keep Pivetta in this unique little role he's carved out for himself. Between them they just ate almost an entire bullpen game and we're going into tonight's game with a bunch of rested arms, which isn't where I think we all thought we'd be