mvp 78

Betts and XB were both Theo guys.

Not really. DD still hasn't solved the problem of Pedroia getting the largest 2b contract when it was signed and his overall diminished value to the team.

From the Globe: The Sox were prepared to let Ramirez stay in the lineup and let the option vest if his production warranted it. But after he went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts Thursday, he is now hitting .254/.313/.395 for the season, with a .708 OPS that ranks 30th among 44 first basemen with at least 100 plate appearances. Yet while Cora continued to pen Ramirez into the lineup, the production cratered this month. Starting with an 0-for-6 game May 1 and continuing through the 0-for-4 night Thursday that extended his hitless stretch to five games (0 for 20), Ramirez struggled to a .163/.200/.300 line this month while seeing his ground-ball rate soar (59 percent of balls in play in May). The poor numbers aren’t isolated. They represent a step down from his 2017 struggles (.242/.320/.429), and likewise hearken to his 2015 season (.249/.291/.426). Over a two-season period beginning last year, Ramirez ranks in the bottom five among big league first basemen in Wins Above Replacement as calculated by Fangraphs. In contrast to Jackie Bradley Jr., another Red Sox player who has been in a tailspin this month but whose glove has kept him in the lineup, Ramirez offered negative defensive value at first base relative to former Gold Glover Mitch Moreland. Yet the Sox were willing to take that risk rather than part with another player from the big league roster — whether by trading Blake Swihart, optioning Bradley or Brock Holt to Triple A, or placing Eduardo Nunez on the disabled list — for a few reasons. First, Ramirez is limited to first base and designated hitter. Whereas Swihart (catcher, first, third, left), Holt (every position except catcher), and Nunez (third, short, second) all give the Red Sox depth options at a number of positions, Ramirez plays only a position where Moreland looks like the superior two-way option. Swihart has theoretical upside that the Sox have been unable to explore, in part because he has been behind multiple players at every position he can play. The departure of Ramirez might open more playing time for Swihart at first, and it should maximize the roster flexibility. Moreover, had the Sox parted with Swihart, they would have left themselves in a vulnerable position with their catching depth should either Sandy Leon or Christian Vazquez suffer an injury. Furthermore, an unknown loomed about how Ramirez might respond if reduced to a part-time role that would jeopardize next season’s earnings. He repeatedly said that he wasn’t concerned about the $22 million vesting option, and that his sole focus was the team’s performance, but in designating him, the Red Sox won’t have to test that proposition.

@HanleyRamirez Thank you #RedSoxNation. It’s been real. Love you always

Yeah, he’s probably having a rough day.

Wrong

People are worried about next year's budget. Saving $22M from not letting Hanley vest is a good way to help re-sign the other players they have.

Unfortunately, Sam Travis has sucked this year. Swihart needs to make the most of this opportunity.

This can't be real tho

Pinch me because I just f***ing died...

Yup, like I've said before even fans of the best teams go to bed upset 70 times a year. Sox are on pace for 110 wins and lead the division.

We need to beat up on the Jays now before they get good.

Last night's game was pretty s*****. Rather than piss and moan about it, I just followed along on mlb.com and watched The Magicians.

I'm calling this: Swihart DFA'd to allow Pedroia to be activated today. Swihart then hangs out in purgatory for the weekend but is sent to the ChiSox for a reliever and a PTBNL.

Which is EXACTLY why they haven't been able to disprove the existence of clutch.

At least this chapter in our TS lives will finally close today...

What the f*** are you even talking about here. This is a bunch of pseudo racist ******** and offers no analysis on anything grounded in reality. Please adjust your tinfoil hat. It doesn't seem to be working right.

I'm glad you like to see the best of me.

https://www.overthemonster.com/2018/5/25/17393562/red-sox-catcher-depth-chart-christian-vazquez-sandy-leon The Red Sox are 34-16. They have the most wins in baseball and the highest winning percentage in baseball and show no signs of slowing down as summer approaches. They have MVP candidates in Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez and will get a former MVP back today when Dustin Pedroia makes his season debut. They have Chris Sale and Craig Kimbrel and a 25-man roster that largely makes your eyes pop out of your head in awe. They’re that good. Hell, they’re great. There are exceptions, of course, and no one is more exceptionally mediocre on this team than its ragtag group of catchers. Christian Vazquez and Sandy León are uninspiring no matter what you think of backup ‘catcher’ Blake Swihart (who may be traded or designated for assignment by the end of the day to make room for Pedroia), but there are no truly good options among them. It is a relative weak spot, to be sure, but it’s -- obviously -- far from an Achilles heel. The Sox are successful despite their catchers, but the important part is that they’re successful. This doesn’t seem to be a universal opinion, and it’s not just about the catchers. Be it the Swihart Wars, batting order woes, day-off shenanigans or bullpen choice worries, Red Sox analysis seems hellbent on making the perfect the enemy of the good. I understand that this is a feature of being a baseball fan, not a bug, and despite my constitutional resistance this sort of thinking, even I almost lost it on Wednesday after another Vazquez screwup. To recap, Eduardo Nunez tried to score from second in a 1-1 game on a ball to the wall and found himself barreling toward home plate, behind which the on-deck batter Vazquez stood, arms raised, telling him not to slide. The problem was that the ball was indeed coming into the infield, and Nunez needed to slide, and didn’t, and was tagged out. It could easily have cost the Red Sox the game and Vazquez, the brainy catcher, seemed in a stupor about the whole thing, when in reality it was a play so easy Swihart would have made it. Probably. Then the Red Sox won, I went to sleep happy, but in last night’s game León didn’t catch a ball, and Swihart Twitter was back on its ********. Let’s be clear about something right now: Getting rid of Swihart will solve the first-order problem of shoehorning him into cherry-picked observations like this, but it won’t do much for the second-order problem of letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. Every team can be better, yes. Speaking of which, here’s a gentle reminder that Swihart, the savior that isn’t, has a .379 OPS, and that León actually can catch throws straight at him, which he does, as a catcher. Also there’s this: Red Sox catcher Sandy Leon is (10-for-28 .357 batting average) with a homer, double, three RBIs, six runs, four walks, seven strikeouts in May Every time I think I’m willing to overlook this half-honest, half-crazy analysis in the name of Sox solidarity and friendship and not being a terrible scold online I start wondering if I’m actually the crazy one for not doing it. Baseball is obviously popular because it gives frustration-adjacent people a chance to be frustrated virtually ad infinitum. I used to be one of those people on a minute-to-minute, and I know depressive Yankees fans, for God’s sake. Success doesn’t kill it; by drawing attention to flaws, it probably exacerbates it. Since we’re all helpless in the face of the action, it’s tempting to shout out the answers to what looks like a puzzle when you’ve found them. I’m a crossword guy, dammit: I get that part. But solving a baseball team is not like solving a crossword puzzle. Or, at least, solving this Red Sox team isn’t like solving one. It’s a jigsaw puzzle. We have the picture on the box to guide us, and in that picture, for this season, León and Vazquez are the catchers, Hanley is the de facto third hitter and players have regular, strangely scheduled, off days, just as they did under John Farrell. Like Farrell last season and Vazquez and León this year, they are what fits for this team and trying to smash other pieces together is a wasted effort. First off, it doesn’t work. Second, and more importantly, the picture doesn’t get much prettier than this. I’m gonna try my best to enjoy it. It probably won’t be good enough, but it really is beautiful.

Leon has been on a roll lately, but you still complain...

^^^^^^

Kevin Love is no Scottie Pippen.

Porcello has pitched into the 8th both games against the Rays giving up 3 earned runs each time. May need a couple of extra runs tonight just to be sure!

Snell vs the Sox this year: 13 innings, 2 earned runs, 11k, 3 bb, 0.846 WHIP. Snell has a 1.07 ERA at home (25.1 innings, 3 earned runs). Third time is a charm!