mvp 78

If Durbin was playing GG defense, I'd have more hope. He's lucky that he's throwing the ball to Contreras because he gets bailed out all the time. If Casas or Dalbec was over there, his numbers would be trash.

Tek has been around this team for years as the run prevention guy and the team hasn't really prevented runs. I don't know how great of a job he'd do at managing. This team probably needs a brand new voice in there to take control.

Crazy

Going a little long here IMO

Damn dude!

Well, first 3 innings were good.

WTF Durbin

Willson bails out Durbin

Wood has reached his power potential. Roman Anthony may never get there.

Romero will get a look at some point. His k% is much lower this year, but I think they want him to pull the ball more and keep that k% down for more than just a few weeks. His 710 OPS isn't really telling the whole picture, but I think they'll want him to have more on field success before giving him the callup. Capra is just a 29 year old journey man. He didn't perform all that well in stints with the White Sox or Brewers last year. He can hit AAA pitching and that's good enough to keep the fans in WOO happy.

He led off twice for the Brewers last year, but hit no higher than 6th otherwise. His most frequent BOP was 8th or 9th.

Throwing a name around isn't really trying.

He can magically bunt now too. He was rotten when he was here.

The ship will reach its destination eventually. It just won't be what they originally booked.

You're welcome.

DD is lamenting the lack of a cleanup hitter.

FanGraphs has a good article on the Sox's woes today. https://blogs.fangraphs.com/crochets-struggles-are-just-the-start-of-bostons-problems/ Some highlights: Crochet’s average four-seam fastball velocity is down 0.5 mph, and he’s reduced his use of the pitch in favor of his sinker. But even more noticeable is his change in arm angle, which was as high as 56 degrees in 2021, when he was a full-time reliever. It’s dropped from an average of 35 degrees last year to 31, and while it’s cost him less than an inch of movement in any plane with regards to any of his offerings, I wonder if it’s cost him deception as well. Our two pitch modeling systems see declines in both his stuff and command/location... This is Gray’s fourth trip to the IL since the start of 2022 due to a right hamstring strain. Fortunately in the other three (two in 2022, one in ’24), he averaged just 17 days on the sidelines, and this sounds similar. “I threw that last 3-2 pitch, and I felt a grab in my right hamstring,” Gray said afterwards. “It’s something that I have felt before. In the moment, I kind of knew what it was. I knew I needed to at least throw a warm-up pitch before I felt comfortable continuing.” In games where their starter has pitched at least six innings, the Red Sox are 8-0, but in anything shorter, they’re now 1-15, with Gray’s abbreviated start the only one they’ve won. League-wide, teams are 168-79 (a .680 winning percentage) when a starter goes six, and 200-289 (.409) when falling short. The short starts have taxed a bullpen that was supposed to be among the best... but has instead been rather shaky. Closer Aroldis Chapman and top setup man Garrett Whitlock have been fine, but their other higher-leverage righties, Greg Weissert and Zack Kelly, have scuffled. The unit’s 3.56 ERA ranks a respectable 10th in the majors, but they’re 24th in FIP (4.60) and WAR (-0.1), 25th in home run rate (1.35 per nine), and 24th in xERA (4.60). Regarding that last stat, in very small samples somehow nine of the 13 relievers they’ve used have double-digit barrel rates, with Chapman, Weissert and Whitlock all at 13.6% or above. While they strike out enough hitters to help offset that, not all of Boston’s other relievers do. For now it will suffice to say that that the team is hitting a combined .226/.310/.333, ranking dead last in the majors in slugging percentage — how does a team playing in Fenway Park even do that? — and 28th in wRC+ (81). In light of those struggles, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow’s major roster construction decisions — trading Rafael Devers last year, letting Alex Bregman depart as a free agent and replacing him with the much less powerful Durbin, holding onto the glut of outfielders instead of using the surplus to upgrade the lineup elsewhere — don’t look any better. But starting pitching was supposed to be this team’s strength, and instead it’s just another reason the Red Sox are running last.

Ben - 2012-15 DD - 2016-19 Bloom - 2020-23 Breslow - 2024-? My guess is Breslow gets another offseason to fix his mess. Pulling the plug after 3 years would be a nasty bit of business for Henry unless he has an internal candidate.

He hasn't stolen 60 in a year in MiLB before, but he'll steal 40 more in MLB while getting on base less vs better catchers? Ok.

Bohm has been horrible for a long time and it's not looking better this year. Just saw a video of Vientos running through his coach's stop sign at third. He'd fit in well here.

Give me a 3-5 WAR me first guy over who they have put on the field so far. That last guy received his share of unfair criticisms and still does.

Bennett has an 0.86 ERA in 5 starts in AAA. What else do you want him to do? He has 2 more options after this year. In his last option year, Perales is struggling with a 5.06 ERA in 4 starts. Seems like a good trade to me.

That's less than AZ asked for over the winter.