mvp 78

Bello’s longest career start. He had never pitched over 7.0 before.

Best start of the year so far for Bello considering how he’s limited his pitch count.

Bello still dealing. Where has this guy been?

Even Masa’s outs look good right now.

Sox are wasting his career year.

Rafaela loves swinging at pitches 3ft outside the zone.

Missed opportunity at the bottom of the 1st. Bello stays out of trouble after. So good so far.

Good first inning. Bello seems to only struggle once a runner gets on.

No Devers. DHam hitting 2nd. Uh, Ok? Why not move Masa up in the order?

I guess every player that has signed an extension doesn’t have an agent?

Marcelo Mayer: “I fully expect to have a very normal offseason… You can be sure I’m going to work hard this offseason to come back stronger than ever next season.”

Alex Cobb - IL Lorenzen - IL Rogers - 7.11 ERA (expensive trade) Flaherty, Kikuchi and Eflin have been good, but I have no idea if the Sox were willing to give up the prospects that were given up in those deals. They let a lot of Rule 5 guys go and got a high ceiling guy back in Priester. Priester was shelled the first time out, but seems to have pitched better as of late as he's adjusting to the Sox pitching philosophy.

It's that the value will keep trending further downward, not that his value is down now and can only go up from here. He is still considered a solid prospect, another team would take him in a second.

It's not a bidding war if you sign the extension before Mookie becomes a FA. Also, there are payroll restrictions on all ballclubs. The reason LA has an advantage in FA has more to do with the entertainment business, weather and closer proximity to the Asian market.

Aside from 04, the other 3 WS teams all had top 7 defenses. I can't imagine another year where the Sox win a WS with a bottom ranked defense. It just doesn't seem very likely.

2004 Sox starters were 2nd in fWAR. The starters were 2nd in FIP. Overall, the Sox pitchers were 4th in fWAR. That team had great pitching. To say that the '04 team won with hitting is foolish.

It's just been unfun to watch.

Bello last 5: Date Tm Opp Rslt Inngs Dec DR IP H R ER BB SO HR HBP ERA FIP Jul 26 BOS NYY W,9-7 GS-5 5 5.0 5 3 3 2 4 1 0 5.27 4.58 Aug 6 BOS @ KCR W,6-5 GS-5 5 4.2 5 3 3 3 6 1 0 5.16 4.60 Aug 12 BOS TEX W,5-4 GS-6 5 6.0 4 1 1 3 5 0 1 4.97 4.55 Aug 17 BOS @ BAL W,5-1 GS-6 W(11-5) 4 6.0 2 1 1 3 6 1 0 4.80 4.56 Aug 23 BOS ARI L,2-12 GS-6 L(11-6) 5 5.1 7 5 5 4 2 0 0 4.95 4.56 After two good starts vs TEX and BAL, he had a bit of a stinker against ARI. We'll see if he can turn it around.

Well worth it IMO. If he's giving you 4+ bWAR, can field multiple positions, plus the star factor, he's worth the cost.

They also talked about the system briefly and suggested a top 4 rather than a big 3. Campbell has really barged his way in there as he just keeps hitting. To them, he should take over the 2B spot going forward. They were also higher on Teel than others and stated that he's a franchise catcher. May not be an All Star catcher, but someone that should be around for a long time.

He was dealing with an arm injury in Spring Training. His arm strength has gone from 82.2 MPH last year to 80.7 MPH this year. There could be some additional hangover from that injury.

Can't even go 4 innings.

Should we move this to the Game Thread Forum? Was it better having the thread in the regular forum? We could just move the thread the following day or when the new thread is posted?