Currently doing. Need to see it over the long haul. Houck has never pitched a full season. Crawford will not end the season with a 0.66 ERA. Crawford's xFIP is 3.89.
Is it out of it if they were 2-3 games out? Sometimes!
Sox lost 2 of 3 in OAK prior to the deadline and the final 3 games in July. They were going the wrong way. It seemed obvious at the time. Once they hit the September AL East heavy schedule, they were going to struggle and not be able to stay in it.
The players that fell off after the deadline:
Masa -0.7 fWAR
Refsnyder 46 wRC+, supposed to be a great clubhouse guy
Turner 714 OPS was ok, but really just do to him being old and the season being long
Dalbec sucks anyway
Duran was injured
Wong just didn't have a good season anyway
The player who complained the most of all at the deadline had the highest fWAR from 8/1 - end of season: Raffy.
I haven't seen any of his starts, but he does have mid 90's velo with a very good changeup. His problem wasn't his "stuff" but his control. So far, he's limited his BB's this year.
If they are really in it (not 5 games out of the WC), then maybe they don't sell. If they are still dealing with a lot of injuries and trending down, they should sell IMO. I'm not stating they definitely will. I have no inside information. I do know that they should have sold in 2022 and 2023 and I advocated for it heavily.
@PortlandSeaDogs
Matthew Lugo has been named the Eastern League Player of the Week! Lugo hit .438 in five games with 3 doubles, a triple, a home run, and a league-best 10 RBI.
And he still hasn't turned 23 yet.
They have similar AAA outputs. We don't know whether Kavadas can make the jump. Hard to say unless they give him a chance. It may be one of those seasons.
@SoxNotes
The Red Sox are 13-10 (.565), a 91-win pace.
Most recent Red Sox teams to go 13-10 or better through 23 games:
2024
2021*
2018*
2016*
2013*
2009*
2008*
2007*
*Made Postseason