mvp 78

It's not quite the offensive position it used to be. Only 8 3b's had 20 HR's last season. Only 6 had an 800 OPS or higher.

The Angels really didn't sign that many great players. They had Trout, Ohtani and Rendon. Rendon stunk. They didn't surround those hitters with ANY pitchers. Before Rendon, they had Pujols, but no pitchers to go with him and Trout. The last time they signed a significant pitcher was 2012 when they signed CJ Wilson for 5/77.5.

Show your work! Also very weird to start going with "new money" as a payroll metric.

SS? D!

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/brayan-bello-is-going-through-it/ For his whole career up to this point, he has lived in the low 30-degree range; last year, it was 33 degrees. This year, his arm angle is up to 42 degrees... So whether the arm angle change is the cause of Bello’s woes or a symptom of some larger systemic issue, the real problem is he’s lost about a mile an hour of velocity this year, and his fastballs — all three of them — are getting crushed... But he is also leaving more hittable changeups over the heart of the plate. Last year, only 9.5% of his changeups ended up in Statcast’s Heart zone. This year, that’s up to 22.7%. And it gets worse when you look at his four-seamer. Truth be told, Bello’s four-seamer has never been great; it’s got average velocity and dead-zone movement. There’s a reason he throws mostly sinkers. But his four-seamer is still useful as a chase pitch and to keep hitters from sitting on the sinker. Usually, Bello throws the fastball up in the zone, or even above it.... This year, Bello’s either totally lost his fastball command or he’s throwing high on purpose. Only 31.8% of his four-seamers have been in the strike zone this year, and if that’s a deliberate strategy, it is super not working... In other words, Bello’s four-seamer has led to seven hits and three outs this season, and one of those outs was on purpose. This is the pitch whose reintroduction has arguably made him more effective, because the cutter wasn’t working either. He does get a decent amount of in-zone whiffs with his cutter, but when he’s not locating the pitch well, he’s getting torched. You see the problem. He’s already given up as many home runs on cutters in 2026 as he did in all of 2025. There are lots of ways to get hitters out consistently, but generally a pitcher needs at least one of velocity and command, and Bello has been bleeding both this year.

Couldn't even go with "Can they do it again or will they Falter?"

When Sonny k'd Bobby Witt Jr for the 9th k of the game, it gave him his 1,955th k of all time which ties him all time with Bobby Witt Sr.

White seems to be 2b only profile. He can really impact the ball. On the most recent SP podcast they mentioned that his ceiling is limited due to his size. Also, the really are discounting the High A numbers this year due to ballpark factors and pitching. Greenville is tied for the league lead in HR with 64 (tied with Greensboro who play in a known band box).

Seems like Bello has found his calling.

Sox have scored 2.1 runs per game over the past 10 games. They have lost 8 games when allowing 3 or less runs. They had only lost 3 games when allowing 3 or less runs at this point in the season last year.

Craig trying to win every game 1-0 like Claude Julien.

If a tornado were big enough it could move the stadium a few miles down the road to Kansas TBH. I believe the new stadium will be much closer to the state line as well.

Adames: 1st percentile range at SS 186 Career HR, 140 Projected at Fenway 🤩

The bullpen is 11th in fWAR and has been ok enough. The problem is that early on the starters weren't going long enough. Every bullpen gives up a lead or two (just not when playing the Sox). The starters have been great lately, but Bello really skews the overall numbers down (bottom third in MLB). Even in a small sample of just May, they are 17th in fWAR.

The results haven't been great so far!

For sure.

I don't want Adames or Chapman. Just give me one aging contract, not three.

He was playing with this injury since ST and the team knew about it???????? WTH? I mean, that tracks. 😣

Contreras continues to hit dingers and play great defense. He's been way better than a B. Rafaela has been having his best offensive season so far. How is that a C+? Giving 3b an F, but SS is a D is wild. Is this just an offensive rating? Durbin -0.1 fWAR. Story -0.4 fWAR. At least Durbin can field the position. C should be higher than D. They are 12th overall in fWAR. Narvaez has been very good defensively and Wong stopped being a train wreck offensively.

🫠

💯

Mrs Varitek is as messy as this ballclub. 💣

At least Tolle and Early are ready. Arias? Who knows?

We all agree it should have been Contreras AND another bat. No argument.

I'd rather have Harrison, Bregman and do the Contreras trade again (Dobbins, Aita, Fajardo). Bregman and Contreras would be a solid clubhouse.